The following is my social psych term paper, written in March, 1996 in Walla Walla state penitentiary (just before they stopped offering college level classes to prisoners).
What Is Wrong With Our Society?
Fallacies of Crime & Punishment
What is wrong with our society? I've heard that question many times from people bemoaning the perceived unchecked spread of crime & immorality in this country. If taken at face value, it's a valid question; but most of the people mouthing those words are not really asking. They are merely complaining about things they feel they have no control over--something being done to them. But if it is 'our society', then we are a part of it. If there is a problem with our society, then the individual members of that society are (at least passively) part of the problem. When people use the words, 'our society', what they're really talking about is the dominant paradigm--the consensual mind-set of the majority of people. So, what is wrong with our society? Really means, what is wrong with the way most of us think?
In recent years the United States tripled its prison population, while the crime-rate fell by three percent. What's wrong with this picture? Why do people see crime as an epidemic? Crime-rates are not rising, even with the continued addition of new laws making more things 'criminal' than ever before. In order to explain our society's attitude toward crime, we must answer the question: what is crime?
From a social-psychological standpoint, crime can be viewed as the disregarding of enforced social norms. The majority is frightened by the dissolution of the dominant paradigm--as more and more of the social norms they've taken for granted become obsolete, insupportable, and disregarded by many. They see their majority slipping, and their society unraveling--so they attempt to tie up the loose ends by changing laws to make more of their norms enforceable and by demanding harsher punishments for those who refuse to conform. This is social pressure to conform taken to the extreme--but it's not working. In their desperation to repair society's crumbling fabric, the majority is ignoring the principle of reactance. As our laws become increasingly unfriendly to the rights of the individual, the non-conformists are not complying or accepting--they are reacting. Instead of homogenizing, our society is quickly becoming more polarized--as social minorities (from militia groups to homosexuals) become more vocal and militant in demanding legal respect of their rights, and the majority (from the 'morally correct' right to the 'politically correct' left) become more vocal about their right not to be offended.
So--why isn't it working? Why isn't increased incarceration having the desired effect? To answer this, I'll isolate the three primary rationales of incarceration and explain what's wrong with them.
I. Deterence
Rationale: Make prison time harder and sentences longer, and people will be more likely to stop and consider the consequences before committing a crime.
Reality: 1. Many crimes are committed 'in the heat of the moment' or out of desperation. No matter what the consequences are, they are unlikely to be considered.
2. For many inner-city youths, criminal activity is the best (or only) career option. Crime is their business, and the threat of prison is simply part of the over-head. They don't enjoy being incarcerated, but neither is it something they dread. They may be re-united with friends & relatives in prison, as well as making new 'business connections'--and when they return to the streets and their 'chosen profession', a prison term looks good on their 'resume'.
II. Punitive Isolation
Rationale: We'll send you to your room and take away your toys to give you time to think about what you did wrong and why you shouldn't do it again.
Reality: As a form of discipline for children, this method has proven to be, not only ineffective, but counter-productive. As 'rehabilitation' for adult criminals, it is even less effective. With children or adults, 'time to think about what you did wrong' usually translates into time to brood on how unfairly you've been treated by the authorities, and how to get even or get away with it next time'. Further, incarceration is counter-productive because it isolates and disconnects criminals from mainstream society and groups them together with other criminals--thus causing a polarization of attitudes and intensifying the 'us vs. Them' mentality. Being incarcerated allows inmates to learn tricks of the trade from one another, and makes it difficult to obtain legitimate employment upon their release--thus increasing the likelihood of re-offending.
III. Protective Isolation
Rationale: Keep criminals off the street where they won't be a danger or a nuisance to us and our children.
Reality: For this to be truly effective, the government would need to lock criminals up for life--otherwise, they might re-offend. That is the rationale behind the new 'three strikes' laws--but those pushing this legislation fail to consider the enormous cost of incarcerating more and more people for longer periods of time. As a result of the 'war on drugs', 60 percent of California prisoners are serving time for non-violent offenses. If half of those prisoners were released, the state would save $848 million annually--money which could be used for drug treatment programs, job training, and increasing education opportunities.
Conclusion: Our government is showing an increasing tendency to take choices away from us. This is the least effective way to encourage people to conform, and a very effective way to encourage them to react--and react violently.
What is wrong with our society? Our society is like a cartoon character who has run off the edge of a cliff and keeps on running on the mere illusion of solid ground. It is only a matter of time before we look down and notice how far below us the ground really is. Then, with the illusion shattered, there'll be nothing in our future but that long and final fall.
What Is Wrong With Our Society?
Fallacies of Crime & Punishment
What is wrong with our society? I've heard that question many times from people bemoaning the perceived unchecked spread of crime & immorality in this country. If taken at face value, it's a valid question; but most of the people mouthing those words are not really asking. They are merely complaining about things they feel they have no control over--something being done to them. But if it is 'our society', then we are a part of it. If there is a problem with our society, then the individual members of that society are (at least passively) part of the problem. When people use the words, 'our society', what they're really talking about is the dominant paradigm--the consensual mind-set of the majority of people. So, what is wrong with our society? Really means, what is wrong with the way most of us think?
In recent years the United States tripled its prison population, while the crime-rate fell by three percent. What's wrong with this picture? Why do people see crime as an epidemic? Crime-rates are not rising, even with the continued addition of new laws making more things 'criminal' than ever before. In order to explain our society's attitude toward crime, we must answer the question: what is crime?
From a social-psychological standpoint, crime can be viewed as the disregarding of enforced social norms. The majority is frightened by the dissolution of the dominant paradigm--as more and more of the social norms they've taken for granted become obsolete, insupportable, and disregarded by many. They see their majority slipping, and their society unraveling--so they attempt to tie up the loose ends by changing laws to make more of their norms enforceable and by demanding harsher punishments for those who refuse to conform. This is social pressure to conform taken to the extreme--but it's not working. In their desperation to repair society's crumbling fabric, the majority is ignoring the principle of reactance. As our laws become increasingly unfriendly to the rights of the individual, the non-conformists are not complying or accepting--they are reacting. Instead of homogenizing, our society is quickly becoming more polarized--as social minorities (from militia groups to homosexuals) become more vocal and militant in demanding legal respect of their rights, and the majority (from the 'morally correct' right to the 'politically correct' left) become more vocal about their right not to be offended.
So--why isn't it working? Why isn't increased incarceration having the desired effect? To answer this, I'll isolate the three primary rationales of incarceration and explain what's wrong with them.
I. Deterence
Rationale: Make prison time harder and sentences longer, and people will be more likely to stop and consider the consequences before committing a crime.
Reality: 1. Many crimes are committed 'in the heat of the moment' or out of desperation. No matter what the consequences are, they are unlikely to be considered.
2. For many inner-city youths, criminal activity is the best (or only) career option. Crime is their business, and the threat of prison is simply part of the over-head. They don't enjoy being incarcerated, but neither is it something they dread. They may be re-united with friends & relatives in prison, as well as making new 'business connections'--and when they return to the streets and their 'chosen profession', a prison term looks good on their 'resume'.
II. Punitive Isolation
Rationale: We'll send you to your room and take away your toys to give you time to think about what you did wrong and why you shouldn't do it again.
Reality: As a form of discipline for children, this method has proven to be, not only ineffective, but counter-productive. As 'rehabilitation' for adult criminals, it is even less effective. With children or adults, 'time to think about what you did wrong' usually translates into time to brood on how unfairly you've been treated by the authorities, and how to get even or get away with it next time'. Further, incarceration is counter-productive because it isolates and disconnects criminals from mainstream society and groups them together with other criminals--thus causing a polarization of attitudes and intensifying the 'us vs. Them' mentality. Being incarcerated allows inmates to learn tricks of the trade from one another, and makes it difficult to obtain legitimate employment upon their release--thus increasing the likelihood of re-offending.
III. Protective Isolation
Rationale: Keep criminals off the street where they won't be a danger or a nuisance to us and our children.
Reality: For this to be truly effective, the government would need to lock criminals up for life--otherwise, they might re-offend. That is the rationale behind the new 'three strikes' laws--but those pushing this legislation fail to consider the enormous cost of incarcerating more and more people for longer periods of time. As a result of the 'war on drugs', 60 percent of California prisoners are serving time for non-violent offenses. If half of those prisoners were released, the state would save $848 million annually--money which could be used for drug treatment programs, job training, and increasing education opportunities.
Conclusion: Our government is showing an increasing tendency to take choices away from us. This is the least effective way to encourage people to conform, and a very effective way to encourage them to react--and react violently.
What is wrong with our society? Our society is like a cartoon character who has run off the edge of a cliff and keeps on running on the mere illusion of solid ground. It is only a matter of time before we look down and notice how far below us the ground really is. Then, with the illusion shattered, there'll be nothing in our future but that long and final fall.
VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
inkedgirl:
I just wrote a research paper in college about Prison Healthcare Reform.
inkedgirl:
I appreciate your comments. Sometimes I feel like a 'little worm on a big fukkin' hook'. A lot of judgment goes on around here. I expected a place like this to be different, but I shouldn't have been so naive. Judgment is everywhere... people are always going to get upset because you express a non-popular opinion. Oh well. Bring it on.