Stanley-Eric-Captive-Genders-Trans-Embodiment-and-Prison-Industrial-Complex

Captive Genderslitical circumstances. Moreover, prison-based rehabilitation programsoperate within coercive and disciplinary contexts and rarely coincidewith adequate economic and social supports following release. Bycontrast, voluntary harm-reduction programs that take place withinsupportive community settings are generally more successful—andmuch less expensive. 95The systematic failure of imprisonment is not only noted by antiprisonactivists, but also widely recognized among criminologists, legalprofessionals, and even government officials. As the Daubney Commission(appointed by a Conservative Government) in Canada reported,It is now generally recognized that imprisonment has not been effectivein rehabilitating or reforming offenders, has not be shown tobe strong deterrent, and has achieved only temporary public protectionand uneven retribution…. The use of imprisonment as a mainresponse to a wide variety of offences against the law is not a tenableapproach in practical terms. 96Addressing violence within and against our communities is a far tooserious, urgent, and widespread an issue to be left to a system that hasproven to be an utter failure when it comes to community safety.10. Alternatives to prisons will better prevent violence, strengthenqueer and trans communities, and foster social, economic, andracial justice.Prison abolition is not a call to suddenly fling open the prison doors withoutenacting alternatives. Nor is it an appeal to a utopian ideal. Abolitionis a broad-based, practical vision for building models today that practicehow we want to live in the future. Practicing alternatives requires differentstarting points, questions, and assumptions than those underlying the currentsystem. The existing criminal justice model poses two main questionsin the face of social harm: Who did it? How can we punish them? (Andincreasingly, how can we make money from it?). Creating safe and healthycommunities requires a different set of questions: Who was harmed? Howcan we facilitate healing? How can we prevent such harm in the future? 97Developing alternatives with these latter goals in mind prioritizes theneeds of people who have been harmed and emphasizes more holistic,prevention-oriented responses to violence. Such frameworks not only re-252