More handpicked essays just for you.
Short note on various dimensions of structural violence
The failure of the American prison system
Short note on various dimensions of structural violence
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Structural violence is the term used to refer to a form of violence where some social structure or social institution may harm people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs. In the book “Pathologies of Power” we read about how the prison system is corrupt. The prison system is intended to maintain some stability and help to rehabilitate the incarcerated so when they released they can live successful lives and hopefully not return to a life a crime that would lead them to returning back to prison. However, the prisons are working to keep people of low income and economic class stay in prison. This keeps them from leading successful lives and working their way up to be part of the upper class. This also keeps them from interacting
“Conflict theory looks at society as a competition for limited resources”, which eventually leads to “individuals and organizations [who are able to] keep more resources than others, and these ‘winners’ use their power and influence to maintain social institutions” (Openstax College 16), and it seems that the “winners” of OITNB were taking advantage of their position of power and influence, and abusing it. Instead of maintaining social institutions, they created havoc. In addition, German sociologist, Georg Simmel believed that “conflict can help integrate and stabilize a society” (Openstax College 17). However, although there has always been passive conflict that kept reoccurring in the prison, nothing was done about it. When a conflict finally ensued, it was volatile, and did not not result in stability. Hence, a power shift from the powerful, to powerless, due to disagreement of the distribution of power is seen the main plot of the
A study concerning the causes of prison riots by Scraton, Sim & Skidmore (1991), indicate that most explanations of riots fall into two categories. The first explanation is the deprivation theory, a response to poor prison conditions. The deprivation theory explains that prisoners will revolt in the face of food shortages, overcrowding, oppressive custodial discipline, sadistic staff, racism or any other inhumane circumstances (Rule 1988).
Although it has varied in its forms, punishment is largely influenced by the theories and socially constructed views of criminal activity. It is important to acknowledge how the forms of punishment have progressed from public humiliation and executions to solitary confinement and into today, with forced labor and firmly established routines. Even how the structures have changed with the number of those incarcerated. From initially only being two-story houses to being massive communities hidden behind penitentiary walls, it becomes important to question what their true purpose really is. Although it can be argued that prisons are still a form of rehabilitation for offenders, when you examine what it is that the inmates are actually doing, they are benefitting the economy more than they are benefitting themselves. Making budget cuts towards education and counseling services, which are necessary to reform offenders, is only going to continue to increase rates of incarceration. Instead, that money is currently being invested in ways to further expand the prison enterprise and displace those who are marginalized. Racism and economic greed has been embedded into prison functioning. In order to reduce recidivism rates there needs to be more of a focus on decreasing crime and the rates of incarceration by focusing more heavily on resources and
As laws became stricter, especially on drugs, imprisonment began to rise steeply starting in the 1980s according to a graph given by the Sentencing Project. Private companies saw the opportunity to make use of the criminals and chose to use them as cheap manual labor. In fact, one of the points made by Angela Davis is that industry depends on racist structures and ideologies in order to make incarceration profitable. This exploitation of people has led to profit being the sole motivation for incarceration of people rather then to help them reenter society. Davis states in her article that mass incarceration has been the most used form of government social program of our time. I believe that prison may be useful in helping formerly incarcerated people join society again, but instead it is doing nothing to help them learn to live a life free of crime. Due to the limited resources given to a former felon, they tend to follow Robert Merton’s strain theory. The strain theory argues that an individual will become deviant if they are not given the
The treatment of the prison system has become a form of relax for prisoners. Some criminals commit crimes just to get into prison. Prison offers a nice warm bed for convicts to sleep and most of the time they are treated even with a pillow. Criminals in prison are fed three times a day, some may say,“but yes it 's nothing like the comfort of a suburban home”, but most don 't realize that criminals outside of prison don 't have a place to sleep and food to eat. Prison offers a type of safe haven from the outside, giving them shelter, food, and a comfortable place to sleep won’t change a criminal, it just gives them more incentive to keep committing the same
As Johan Galtung describes in his article, Violence, Peace, and Peace Research, structural violence is where social structure can inflict harm on individuals by preventing them from meeting basic needs. In regards to the February 2016 New Yorker Article, The Meaning of Life Without Parole, the social structure created by the prison system has caused a separation between people. Instead of being viewed as a human-being, offenders are labeled as criminals and become marginalized from the rest of society. Along with the stigma of conviction that has been created, offenders, especially those that are juvenile, are also subjected to structural violence through the sentences they are given.
The most problematic issue that the institutional correctional facilities are facing is gangs. The most dangerous gangs in the U.S is Black Guerilla Family, Nuestra Family, Nazi Lowriders, Aryan Brotherhood, and Mexican Mafia. The reason why this is problematic is because most of the gang members who are sent to prison are already gang members before they got incarcerated. Some of the people who go to prison have no affiliation with a gang, but when they get in there they join one of the prison gangs. The reason why so many people join gangs in prison is because they want to be protected. Gangs can be very dangerous when they are at rival with each other. If the Black Guerilla Family is in the same prison as the Nazi Lowrider, a murder will
Environmental and space factors do play a role in forging or deterring violent behavior. One environmental factor is the age and layout of the correctional facility. Newer facilities are designed better to observe inmates, and knowing this can be enough of a deterrent (Wooldredge & Steiner, 2009). Similarly, a prison that is over-crowded could also provide inmates more opportunity to commit assaults because guards would have a difficult time keeping an effective watch on those inmates (Wooldredge & Steiner, 2009). Over-crowded prisons may also provide a platform for those prisoners that feel they have nothing to lose to commit assaults (Wooldredge & Steiner, 2009). Another factor over-crowding can cause is less opportunities for work programs
As the current prison structures and sentencing process continues to neglect the issues that current offenders have no change will accrue to prevent recidivism. The issue with the current structure of the prison sentencing process is it does not deal with the “why” the individual is an social deviant but only looks at the punishment process to remove the deviant from society. This method does not allow an offender to return back to society without continuing where they left off. As an offender is punished they are sentenced (removal from society) they continue in an isolated environment (prison) after their punishment time is completed and are released back to society they are now an outsider to the rapidly changing social environment. These individuals are returned to society without any coping skills, job training, or transitional training which will prevent them from continuing down th...
The punishment of offenders happens in several different ways. The first and most obvious way is prison life in general. The offenders are away from their family and friends so the effect of this punishment is not always immediately evident to the inmate. Sometimes they are not in a frame of mind to realize how having a family member in prison can damage the relationships of the entire family unit. Once incarcerated, the institution now controls all aspects of the inmate’s life. Institutional rules dictate when inmates can work out, eat, shower, what they can buy, who can visit them and when they have to go to bed. Some states still have hard labor that inmates must perform while incarcerated; the term chain gang may be familiar to may people and often paints the picture of inmates doing manual labor while connected together by chains and shackles (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition. September 2013). Many states have moved away from this form of punishment, while in other states it is still widely used (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition. September 2013). Some states are now having offenders, who have been classified as low risk, go into the private sector and work regular jobs even while incarcerated. The offenders are able to ease themselves back into society by having a job where they can learn a trade but then return to the prison after their work day is done. Offenders also are able to keep this job after they leave the prison, which helps them to stay grounded as they start a new chapter in life.
It is certainly undeniable that the decision to commit a crime is ultimately individual, despite the fact that circumstances may make crime the option with greatest utility. It is also undeniable that central motivations for certain crimes are purely psychological or personal, like sexual assault without theft, or school shootings. Reform and rehabilitation, then, must be conducted individually, with respect and consideration of the emotional and psychological needs of criminals. The question is: can prisons meet these kind of needs? This is certainly a component of the governmental motivation behind nearly all prisons, or perhaps more of a justification for the stringent regulations placed upon the liberties of prisoners, such as physical confinement, structured time, manual labor, etc. It is suggested that these rules are for the good of the prisoners, but while these regulations are convenient for directing prisoners institutionally, the deprivation of liberties and dehumanization could have serious impacts on an individual’s psychological state. The physical and sexual violence most prisoners face from fellow inmates and from guards (Villines, 2013) compounds their punishment on a psychological level. Given that the justice system causes these psychological trauma to inmates, it
This all shows how different things in and around us can influence or cause us to behave in a certain manner. Whether it be, domestic violence or another criminal act. The sociological concept allows for blame to be taken away from some individuals, victims and or perpetrators and have it placed on society. This is a good thing as it allows us to look into ourselves, and see where we can be responsible for some of the evils of the world. It forces us to take some of the blame instead of always pointing fingers on the other person. Though not all criminal behavior follow along with this concept, many do, and it is therefore important for everyone to be familiar with it and be able to put it to use.
Over the centuries slavery and corporations have been tied hand by hand, where poor people are forced to work against their will, and corporations are the tyrannies of history by suppressing people and forcing them to work. The necessity of power among society has led elites to push down masses by controlling the environment which helps elites maintain their status. However, when the new modern civilization is compared with the ancient civilizations the scenarios seem to be the same, where the poor are poorer and the rich are richer, and where the rich people amass fortunes by exploiting and diminishing the less fortunate people. However, in the present era minorities and poor people plague prisons, which account for approximately five percent
Structural violence is the way in which a social structure will harm people by not providing, by limiting or by barring people from receiving basic needs. Structural violence impacts people on the bottom rung of society. People who live in poverty or are not considered being of a high social standing. This could be because of a person’s age, sex, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, or any other aspect that makes them different from the majority of the population or different from what people consider to be the norm. However, structural violence does not necessarily need the majority of the population to define it, it can manifest by a few people in the country or out making decisions for the populace.