September 20, 2015 - 17:11
I've had a question circling around in my head since our tour guide asked it at Eastern State Penitentiary yesterday: "To what extent are we using prisons to control the rest of the population?" The idea of eliciting fear in a population by constructing a monstrous and daunting prison and making it visible to the entire city of Philadelphia has made me think. It seems to be something of a shaming tactic as well--as we keep mentioning, Tocqueville described the experience of breaking the law in the United States vs. Europe, explaining that because a criminal in the U.S. has broken a law established and agreed upon "by the people," he is automatically alienated and labeled an enemy of the community. Surely, being locked away in a prison that could at one time be seen by all of the city was somewhat like being on display, whether you were personally visible or not. This, in itself, seems that it would affect people's decisions to break the law--some fear shame even more than punishment.
When we walk through the doors of the prison each Friday, I wonder which aspects of design were selected simply to frighten outsiders (consciously or otherwise). Some of the guards have a rough exterior, but many are friendly toward us and smile as we pass by, reminding us to have a good day. As we have been told, some of the practices of entering the prison change from visit to visit, and part of this is a matter of the system exercising its authority over us--but this seems to be less about fear, and more about a reminder that we are merely civilians who must be obedient.
I wonder if some of the pushback against incorporating educational programs into prison is, in fact, related to the impressions such visits give educators. If we enter the space as educators and are able to engage in lively conversation with real human beings in the prison, the space seems far less daunting and unrelatable than expected (although this is by no means to imply that the life of a prisoner is desirable). Surrounded by high walls and barbed wire fences, prisons are constructed to appear untouchable to outsiders, and are presented as places that should be avoided at all costs. Simply becoming acquainted with the space seems enough to chip away at this culture of fear mongering, making prisons just a little less powerful in the way they control the rest of the population.