Lot's Wife Edition 2 2016

OPINION
Behind bars:
failures of the prison system
by Maddy Luke
There is something very wrong with our criminal justice
system.
From a very early age, we’ve had it ingrained into us
that naughty people who break the law go to prison, and that
prisons make the problem go away. The strange thing about this
notion is that it sees prison as an end, and not as the means to
help an offender improve their behaviour. While we might like
to think that putting somebody in prison solves the problem,
in the case of minor crimes such as theft and drug use, it often
just makes it worse.
In an ideal world, an individual shouldn’t be going to
prison more than once in their lifetime. If the system worked
as effectively as it should, an individual would make a mistake,
serve their sentence, receive some kind of rehabilitation and
then come back into society with a new chance at life.
Yet, in an age dominated by the political rhetoric that we
should ‘lock ‘em up and throw away the key’, this couldn’t be
further from the truth. It’s important to compare the reality
of incarceration with the ideal world we perceive whenever a
particularly bad one finally makes it into the slammer.When
thinking about punishment, a few aims come to mind thanks to
the rote learning of VCE Legal Studies: retribution, protection
of society, and rehabilitation.
Without a doubt, prisons serve a very painful retribution
on offenders. Formally, they face a crippling isolation, as they’re
cut off from the rest of the world, alongside a loss of liberty and
privacy. There’s also the black mark on their record that heavily
impacts all aspects of their life once they’re released.
Informally, however, things get uglier. There’s a high
prevalence of sexual abuse within prisons, initiated by inmates
and workers alike. On top of that, there’s a distinct shame
placed on offenders by workers. Studies show that females
face this more harshly than males, almost as if they’re being
punished for not only breaking the law, but for not conforming
to gender roles as well. This creates an ‘us and them’ mentality,
heightening the hostility between inmates and the workers who
represent ‘the system’.
Next, there’s protection of society. I’m half-half on this
one. Obviously, prisons are damn effective at keeping offenders
away from the population. It’s pretty hard to mug somebody
when you’re behind bars, and as much as cartoons would love
to convince us that freedom is as easy as digging through your
cell wall with a spoon, I’m certain that reality paints a different
picture.
But there’s a reason I’m not sold on this idea, that prisons
are the pinnacle of societal protection. While prisons are secure
enough to keep an inmate detained for the length of their
sentence, what happens once they’re released? This brings me to
the final aim: rehabilitation.
When 60% of current prisoners have already been incarcerated
before, I can’t help but be dubious about how effective
the rehabilitation programs within prisons actually are. In
June 2015, the grand total number of prisoners in Australia
hit 36,134. That’s 36,134 very complex, very different individuals
that are trying to be rehabilitated. It’s simply not possible
to take into account every person’s needs. Though there are
programs available that focus on dealing with issues like drug
abuse, is it really enough? The programs assume that every
drug user faces the same experience, and this one-size-fits-all
approach simply doesn’t work, as shown by the high rates of
recidivism. Furthermore, inmate participation in some drug
programs is limited due to a lack of funding. Just how are some
inmates chosen over thousands of others to use this rehabilitation
program? What test could possibly prove that somebody’s
circumstances aren’t severe enough to get them the help that
they need?
26 | Lot’s Wife