Crime is human beings
Today I watched ‘El Chacal De Nahueltoro’. This is a black and white film set in Chilie based on the prison system. A man commits a murder of a family and then is sent to prison and sentenced to death. We hear the context of his life from start to end.
The framing for looking at this movie was “What are prisons for?”
This film made me think a lot about the prison systems worldwide, even though it was specific to Chilie. How can prisons be seen as a place for reforming and rehabilitation? Arguably, prison was the best home the Jackel had. Knowing the context of upbringing and seeing his life beyond the crime did not excuse the crime but drew me to the wider picture.
For me, it related to society making acts inhuman. As a society we have to be able to say “This is awful, I would never do this” to feel better about ourselves. This allows for othering. It allows a” I’m good this person is bad” mentality to arrive. Therefore how are we ever meant to see people in prisons as human? We are able to disconnect from and forget about prisoners because we convince ourselves they are incomprehensible. Therefore how can we expect these people to rehabilitate when they are outcast and forgotten about by society, even though the majority of prisoners are released back into our societies.
Crime is human beings.
The question ‘What are prisons for?’ is a difficult question to grasp. On the one hand, rehabilitation is a word that is constantly used, because this is what prisons are meant to be for. However to what extent is rehabilitation effective? And how can we work harder as a society to help these people who commit crimes before they commit them? This would lead to smaller numbers in prison and a larger sense of communities working together and taking care of everyone. I believe we as a society are not doing enough to change the way prisons are viewed from the outside and to acknowledge what is taking place inside.
Resources-
http://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-jackal-of-nahueltoro
El chacal de Nahueltoro / The Jackal of Nahueltoro (1970, Chile)
Hello Holly,
Thank you for sharing this blog.
Ive also been looking into this idea of what are prisons for.
Here is an article by Professor Andrew Coyle that explores this idea based on his experience working within prisons
https://inspire.rcs.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/133098/mod_resource/content/1/04_What_are_Prisons_for_Prof_Coyle_July12.pdf