Shawshank Redemption Prison

The film Shawshank Redemption takes place almost entirely within the walls of a prison, and depicts an intimate view of prison life from the perspective of prisoners. I enjoyed this film because it made me think about prisons from a different perspective- through the experiences of individual prisoners. We often discuss prisons and the criminal justice system from an operational, logistical, and economic viewpoint. It is not as common for us to look at prisons as an individual, social experience. Life in prison is restrictive and access to resources, both social and physical, are minimal. There are a variety of ways that prisoners must use to adjust to this new life-there are both formal and informal rules and hierarchies that prisoners need

He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for murdering his wife and her lover. He maintains he is innocent of the murders, which we find out later to be true. When he arrives in prison, he does not bring any prison experience with him. He is alone and completely new to the prison environment. The first two years of his sentence he suffered greatly from abuse and rape by other aggressive prisoners. He tries to stay isolated and to himself, but the other prisoners did not permit that and took advantage that he had no one to protect him but himself. Over the next 20 years of incarceration, Andy does find social support and friendship in a group of other prisoners. Andy would fall in between what Clear, et al defines as adaptive roles of ‘doing time’ and ‘gleaning’. He tries to maintain a friendly relationship with fellow prisoners and staff and eventually earns privileges from the warden and guards so that he is able to work in the prison library. This allows him to take on the role of ‘reforming character’, as defined by Edwards, and is able to get funds to expand the library into the largest prison library in New England. He is a well educated person and uses his skills to try and inspire and educate others. Ironically, Andy does become involved in illegal activity with the warden and staff and says to his friend Red, a fellow prisoner, “Funny thing is on the outside

Brooks’ is fully prisonized and his adaptive role, according to Clear, et al would be a cross between ‘doing time’ and ‘jailing’. Brooks does not have a role with power over other prisoners, but he has over the years earned a certain amount of freedom from the staff. He runs the prison library and spends hours each day walking past each cell to offers prisoners a selection of library books and periodicals. He gets to spend time alone organizing and documenting his work for the library so for a prisoners, he is alloted an unusual amount of quiet and alone time. Under the adaptive roles defined by Edward’s, Brooks is a cross between ‘inmate representative’ and ‘penitent’. Again, Brooks does not hold much power over other inmates but due to his age and his important role as the sole librarian, Brooks has a meaningful existence and lives peacefully with the other prisoners. Because he is a senior he receives respect and since he is the only librarian, other prisoners leave him alone, possibly for the greater good- he is the only librarian and if something happens to him the prison may not give them