lecture 6 - prison abolition Flashcards
the number crisis reform
- HMP berwyn capacity
- downside of this capacity and location
more than 2,100 prisoners
location and larger size of prison means more distant from families
the crisis of conditions 3 main reforms
improvements post…
smarter and better…
importance of…
- improvements post woolf
- smarter and better prisons
- importance of rehabilitation
criticisms of the crisis of conditions reform
- what is still an issue
- justifed on what type of basis
- location still an issue
- justified on consequentialist basis based on prisoner responsibilities and reducing reoffending
crisis of injustice reform has meant procedural…
- procedural fairness and decent living conditions
criticism of crisis of injustice reform
prisoners now have what expectation
but still dont have what?
prisoners have legitimate expectation to be treated fairly BUT not an absolute legal right to be treated humanely
what do attempts at penal reform tend to do?
reproduce the prison and consolidate its rationale and form, rather than transforming it
how have reforms failed (3 examples)
become…
based on same…
result is the reproduction of…
- become monotonous
- based on same techniques and knowledge
- result is the reproduction of homologous prisons
why is reformism seen as MAD and FUTILE
because its repeating the same action but expecting a different result
whats a durkheimian argument for reform
a nexus of prison reform
What problems can reform solve?
- the number crisis
- crisis of conditions
- crisis of injustice
what enduringattachment is there to prisons
enduring attachment to prisons and imprisonment as a social institution
what does prison abolition question
questions the efficacy, morality of incarceration
what does abolitionism challenge?
what does it question?
- challenges traditional legal conceptions of justice
- questions the deeply problematic nature of crime and punishment
what type of reforms do prison abolitionists want to see for how we handle and thinj about crime
STRUCTURAL reforms
prison abolitionists argue that it is not enough to simply reform our current cjs, what do they argue needs to happen?
needsto be…
in its place society must invest in…
needs to be completely dismantled
- in its place society must invest in communities and address harm in other ways
what do reformists fail to acknowledge about the cjs as it is currently constructed is a
social problem itself
why is the concept of criminal justice challenging
raises questions to why some…
why these x are chosen…
how what specificity shape responses over time
- raises question to why some acts are criminalised and others not
- why these responses are chosen
- how historical and material specificity shape responses over time
what notion of criminal justice is suspectful?
justice for all
what affects what types of actions are seen as illegal and how cjs responses to it?
what theory?
power
inequality
conflict theory
punishment therefore shaped not just by patterns of criminality but how we have chosen to manage…
marginal groups
- marxist
what does martin et al 2014 state the prison emphasises?
what aspects of control?
what dynamics?
the problematic and illegitimate aspects of control
problematic power dynamics affecting those whose lives are touched by prison experience
the idea that we can make prisons more legitimate, humane decent is a what
a sham
what does abolition exist in tension with
efforts to reform penal system
what does ryan and sim 2007 argue is needed for reform
strategies that….
move towards…
strategies that DENATURALISE the prison
move towards radical REDUCTION in use of imprisonment
denaturalise and reduce impriosnment
who uses the term non-reformist reforms
TM
AD
term used by prison abolitionists
- thomas mathieson
- angela davis
what are non-reformist reforms strategies
strategies which work to undermine or shrink a harmful system, rather than strengthen or normalise it
examples of 3 non-reformist reform strategies
work to reduce….
challenge assumptions that…
link to wider vision of change that will…
- work to reduce size, scope and power of system
- challenge assumptions that underpin and sustain the system
- link to wider vision of change that will reduce our reliance on prisons
what would traditional reformers do for problems caused by ageing prison population?
call for new?
call for new funding for specialised services
what would abolitionists do for problems caused by the ageing prison population?
push for?
push for early or compassionate release
what would traditional reformers do for problems caused by overcrowding?
call for more?
call for more resources to be invested in prisons
what would abolitionists do for problems caused by overcrowding?
call for particular groups..
recommend repeal of…
- call for particular groups of prisoners to be immediately released
- recommend repeal of laws and policies that funnel marginalised people into prison in first place
what do penal reductionism/ attrition argue about the prison?
UL UB
prison should be USED LESS but should also be USED BETTER
what did frances cook argue for penal reductionism?
what should we start with doing?
prisons are fundamentally unjust, requiring radical overhaul,
starting with a swingeing reduction in number of people imprisoned
arguing for the total abolition of prisons is thought to be a hopelessly what type of goal
hopelessly utopian goal
cruiclaly abolitionists do not stop at the prison walls, its is about what?
changing…
investing in…
addressing…
changing society
investing in communites
addressing harm in other ways
