Keywords
prison, rehabilitation, reform
Abstract
The problem of prisons and prison reform has become a subject of much discussion and study in our country. It has been suggested that it is in society’s best interest to invest substantial resources to develop prisons as rehabilitation centers and not as factories of crime so ex-prisoners will return to society as useful citizens. Wright sets forth why crime and prisons will remain fundamentally the same until a radical change is made in society itself. Levels of crime in America are substantially the result of ‘political choices’. After establishing who goes to prison and why, Wright concludes that prisons do not exist to deter criminal activity but to deter the criminal activity that threatens the chosen social structure suggesting ‘rehabilitation’ is simply a means of compelling conformity. He believes there is hope for creating better prison conditions but not in changing the nature of our prison system but does not provide solutions to the problem.
Recommended Citation
Warrren Richmond,
The Politics of Punishment: A critical analysis of prisons in America,
2 Fordham Urb. L.J. 451
(1974).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol2/iss2/14