Pension vs Prison - Channel Seven Today Tonight
I came across this story recently, the first impression I had after watching it was - "OMG, this is how far the discrepancy was!" Being locked up in prison these days means you are placed in a secure, clean and private room, with access to most technologies, not to mention that all meals and snack would be brought to the cell by a guard, who would also check on you every 20 minutes, making sure that you stay safe and healthy. With access of all sorts of recreational activities, plus eligible to claim a Crisis Payment (one week's payment of the basic Centrelink pension for every week you spent in the prison), guess it's more like the Tax payers are being punished for these. Totally wasn't aware of the fact that prisoners are taking better care of, compare to the rest of 20 million pensioners in Australia!
But then I think it's better off to hear both side of the story, especially when TT is known as one of the highly exaggerated TV programs, dramatize anything and everything. So I did went on doing some researches, and I found the following video on YouTube:
Basically two videos contrary one to another, and it appears to me that the TT program is half truths and non-truths mixed with limited degrees of reality to make prison life appear far more better than it really is. Think about this: why would there be fences and walls if the cell was so fantastic to be live in?
During last week's lecture on Media Representations of Imprisonment, Alyce showed us a film The Shawshank Redemption, and a documentary from BBC journalist Louis Theroux Behind Bars, two totally different portrayals of prison, a comparison of 'Reality' and 'Fictional Representations' of Prison was showed.
In the weekly readings, Mason (2006) argued that prison was constructed by the media as the essential cornerstone of criminal justice, that the meaning of prison "is shifted from a place to pain delivery to one which treats and train". At the end of the day, what we must consider is: what exactly is the meaning of prison? Certainly it is a place for the confinement of persons convicted of crimes in lawful detention, imprisonment that what we call it. But how should we justify the condition of it, in order to call it fair? Is it meant to be a place of cruelty where the convicted are being punished, or should it be a peaceful place where the convicted are being educated about the right and wrong?
One or another, what we must consider next time we come across with the Media is:
Is it really that we shouldn't be fooled by hysterical attention seeking television personalities because they mess with the real truth?
Great post Zoey. It is interesting to see those contrasting depictions of prison, and how we judge those extremes I guess does come down to our expectations of what it is we think prison should be doing- punishing or rehabilitating. I like your use of the Mason reading to look at the bigger picture issues. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteAlyce
Love the blog! Although you spoke about Australian prisons, I am going to answer in regards to an Austrian one!
ReplyDeletePrisons act as a general deterrence - this refers to the wider impact imprisonment is assumed to have on others i.e. if you are punished for committing a crime, many other people will be less likely to commit crimes because they don't want the same thing happening to them (McGuire, 2004, p.75). However, if you look at the gaol, built on the premise of rehabilitation in Leoben, one wonders what kind of punishment it really is.
Old-style prisons with depressing surroundings might not be the best for rehabilitation purposes but good programs can be implemented into these kinds of gaol. Is the state-of-the-art technology and luxury surroundings really going to deter people from committing crimes? One must remember -these people have done something wrong and should be punished - not rewarded!
As for specific deterrence, the influence of punishment on the individual ie. if you are punished for committing a crime, you will be less likely to do it again - the same argument applies! If offenders find their punishment, i.e. imprisonment too comfortable - gaol can become an incentive rather than a deterrent!!
I am sure the pensioners of Australia (and although I'm not a pensioner the gaol looks pretty good to me!) would LOVE to be accommodated in Leoben.