The movie “Shawshank Redemption” presents some of the correctional stereotypes that were so prevalent in correctional facilities and which seemingly did not work. Although some of the correctional strategies are no longer in use, some still are in use presently. Just to provide a snippet, the major actor in the movie is Andy Dufresne, who is wrongly given two life sentences for allegedly murdering his wife and girlfriend. He is taken to a Shawshank confinement facility, where he was to spend his life in prison. Andy was a banker and was obviously bright because while in prison, the wardens sought his services on financial matters. This brilliance helped him get preferential treatment from the wardens. For instance, he was ‘promoted’ to take charge of the prison library and Warden Samuel Norton took advantage of him to help him in his money laundering plans. With the help of a friend in the prison, Red, who helps Andy get a sledge hammer, Andy digs a tunnel for twenty years, and escapes one day. He later exposes the atrocities committed by the wardens as well as the money laundering activities of Warden Samuel Norton before crossing the Texas border to Mexico.
The correctional stereotypes were mainly propagated by Warden Samuel Norton and Byron Hadley. Firstly, the wardens in the movie believe that prisoners must cease to be humans once they are put to prison; that they are supposed to regret for their actions for their entire lives. It is perhaps the reason all prisoners were given bibles immediately after being admitted to the facility. The strategy was meant to ensure that the prisoners break down emotionally and adapt to prison life. This strategy was enhanced by the single small cells that hindered any communication among the prisoners. They would spend lengthy periods of times in their cells only being allowed to bask in the sun for few minutes. The only time the prisoners would interact was during meal times, which were too brief.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
According to the wardens in the movie, prisoners should not have freedom of expression. One prisoner in the movie cries and laments in his cell only to have himself tortured and killed by the wardens. When Warden Byron Hadley complains about his taxation difficulties in an upcoming inheritance, and Andy offers to help, the warden nearly throws him off a building they are working. Even in most of the current prisons, wardens curtail prisoners’ freedom of speech. This obstruction sometimes has resulted into disasters. For example, in the movie, when a new prisoner is admitted to the prison and is about to unveil the truth about Andy’s conviction, he is murdered. It is likely that a significant number of people in confinement have been convicted wrongfully, and wardens are not ready to help them seek justice. To the wardens, once individuals are given prison sentences, they are supposed to follow orders and be subjected to hard work.
Through Andy, and the movie, correctional interventions in prisons need to guarantee prisoners certain basic rights and freedom. Prisoners should not be locked totally from the outside world or else they will find it difficult to survive in the outside world when they are released. For instance, Brooks hangs himself after being released on parole after spending 50 years in prison. He simply found it difficult to adjust to the outside world. Prisoners also need to be given the opportunity to advance themselves while in prison, such as reading, and writing. Summarily, prisons need to rehabilitate and not just to punish prisoners. If prisons only punish offenders, the prisons risk being turned into dens for gangs and criminal activities, the same way the prison in the movie turned.
