The paradox of the Prison system

I don't hold myself in such high regard to think that I am the first to have ever written these thoughts down. I just thought them. So here they are.

The prison system in this country has two functions, to hold criminals to protect the greater good of society and to rehabilitate criminals so that they can return to society. There is the punishment element. Commit a crime, deal with the consequence. And there is the education element. Commit a crime, learn why it was a crime and resolve to not commit a crime again.

One of my new favorite shows is Life on NBC. The show is about Detective Charles Crews. Crews, at the beginning of the first season, has just been released from a life sentence due to new evidence in a murder case. After wrongfully serving twelve years in prison part of his settlement is $50 million and he is reinstated as a detective in the LAPD. The most recent episode, called A Prison Education references the Stanford Prison Experiment, which studied the effects of being a prisoner or being a prison guard. Twenty four male students were chosen to participate, told they would be part of a mock prison. Twelve as guards and twelve as prisoners. The experiment went totally awry. It ended after 6 days, not the intended 14, due to the effects of the students being in those scenarios.

Even though each participant was told it was a "mock" prison, one third of the guards exhibited "genuine sadistic tendencies." Keep in mind these are under graduate students at Stanford University.

I believe in the intrinsic dignity of all human beings, even those who commit heinous acts against society. I also believe that no matter how low someone goes, it is my responsibility never to let myself fall to that level. Just simply as an American following the ideals that the Framers of the Constitution held, we are to hold ourselves to a higher standard. This is why the CIA torture news is such an issue. If we drop our morality to the level of those against which we are fighting then what are we fighting for? Aren't we just two sides of the same coin?

When I read about things like the Stanford Prison Experiment, or even things like the Civil War and the issue of slavery, I try to put myself into that situation and based on the time period, where I am at personally, what side of the issue would I have been on? I can be honest with myself. I honestly don't know, based on the fact that most of my formative years were in Louisiana, if I would have been an abolitionist had I been born in 1850. Of course, we know slavery in all forms is wrong. But still we see racism. I still see it in my own family on occasion and it is just as ugly as the first time I was exposed to it. If I were a guard in the Stanford Prison Experiment, would I have been violent? Would I have let that side of my human nature show itself? Or would I have, feeling as deeply as I do about the dignity of ALL humans, been able to stand up to those who were abusing their power?

To be a prison guard you have to hold that position with two faces. On one side you have to believe that the prisoners are human beings and that no matter what they have done, simply because they are human beings, there is some good in them. On the other side you have to maintain a level of control over the prisoners. To maintain a level of control over anyone is to believe them less than you, less than human, almost an animal. How then can one believe that the prisoners on their roll are human but maintain the kind of control needed to keep peace? This is the problem.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely." When anyone is in a position of power the temptation to abuse that power is there. The greater the power the greater the temptation. What the Stanford Prison experiment shows us is that even in a situation where all the participants are aware of the pretend nature of the game, the power can be exploited and abused, even if only for the sake of the game. It is not my intention to paint prison guards in a bad light. Not all prison guards abuse their power. I would even go as far to say that no prison guards abuse their power. But the profession of guarding (notice that guard is a synonym of protect) prisoners is a difficult job. And to do that job for any length of time will cause your mind set about the people that hang around that profession to change.