Why don't we put the prison population to work?

[OBLAMA2009]

I've always wondered this. People talking about how the prisons are too expensive to run, how law abiding citizens are the ones to feed, clothe, shelter, and guard those who have wronged us.

There's gotta be something that all that excess labor in the form of the prison population can do, to at least make the prisons break even, no?

people in prisons are scum, but what youre proposing is called "slavery" and given that 95% of the prison population is black, that isnt going to look very good

 

[werepossum]

people in prisons are scum, but what youre proposing is called "slavery" and given that 95% of the prison population is black, that isnt going to look very good

95% of the prison population isn't black, it's more like 30%. And if you correct for single parent households and poverty, blacks are jailed at no higher rates than are whites. But I agree with your point, forced labor is arguably slavery and shouldn't look good in any skin tone.

 

[epidemis]

I love watching the bizarre punishment fantasies of people play out here. Some disturbing psyches at work on this here website!

Alright, in America putting your prisoners to work is bizarre, but calling for them to be buttraped isn't.

 

[Thump553]

Prison labor works well for Red China.

 

[mattpegher]

I suggest we combine this thread and the using humans to generate electicity thread in OT. The thought of prisioners in bubbling baths just made me laugh.

 

[rpanic]

I suggest we combine this thread and the using humans to generate electicity thread in OT. The thought of prisioners in bubbling baths just made me laugh.

Just thinking the same thing.

We could hook something like this to generator.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVI9MULtv8g

 

[CitizenKain]

I think putting prisoners to work is better than letting them sit around all day and think of ways to become better criminals. The prison system in the US is just a revolving door once the criminal gets out he/she goes right back in. At least having the non violent prisoners would teach some them responsibility and they might think of working for living when they get out vs. just become a better criminal to do more damage to society.

Most people in prison aren't thinking of how they can be a better criminal when they get out, they are thinking how much they don't ever want to go back in. But, the stigma of having served time will effectively prevent you from integrating back into society. So you have people leaving prison with chance of getting a job, likely no education and in many cases, the inability to vote. If you have no hope outside, might as well go back in where at least you get fed.

 

[borosp1]

Most people in prison aren't thinking of how they can be a better criminal when they get out, they are thinking how much they don't ever want to go back in. But, the stigma of having served time will effectively prevent you from integrating back into society. So you have people leaving prison with chance of getting a job, likely no education and in many cases, the inability to vote. If you have no hope outside, might as well go back in where at least you get fed.

The prisoners might be thinking they never want to go back to jail but Prison is proven to NOT rehabilitate most offenders and most re offend go back right into jail. Its like people who are successful want to be around other successful people witch just breads success... When your around criminals the only thing it breads is more criminal behavior.

 

[CitizenKain]

The prisoners might be thinking they never want to go back to jail but Prison is proven to NOT rehabilitate most offenders and most re offend go back right into jail. Its like people who are successful want to be around other successful people witch just breads success... When your around criminals the only thing it breads is more criminal behavior.

I'm not sure you really understand prison here. You see, a prison is full of prisoners. Therefore, prisoners tend to be around other prisoners all the time. Its kinda the point. Sticking non-violent prisoners in with violent prisoners tends to end up with injured non-violent prisoners. A guy in for not paying his taxes is not going to encourage someone in for stabbing another gang member to suddenly take up white collar crime.

Seriously, breads success. That's hilarious.

 

[pau1]

Are we all oppressed? Wanting to take our frustrations out on people who we think are weaker than ourselves? What could be more revealing than some of you suggesting involuntarily forced labor to any person.

Quote below taken from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discipline_and_Punish

In examining the construction of the prison as the central means of criminal punishment, Foucault builds a case for the idea that prison became part of a larger "carceral system" that has become an all-encompassing sovereign institution in modern society. Prison is one part of a vast network, including schools, military institutions, hospitals, and factories, which build a panoptic society for its members. This system creates "disciplinary careers" [1] for those locked within its corridors. It is operated under the scientific authority of medicine, psychology, and criminology. Moreover, it operates according to principles that ensure that it "cannot fail to produce delinquents." [2]. Delinquency, indeed, is produced when social petty crime (such as taking wood from the lord's lands) is no longer tolerated, creating a class of specialized "delinquents" acting as the police's proxy in surveillance of society.
The structures Foucault chooses to use as his starting positions help highlight his conclusions. In particular, his choice as a perfect prison of the penal institution at Mettray helps personify the carceral system. Within it is included the Prison, the School, the Church, and the work-house (industry) - all of which feature heavily in his argument. The prisons at Neufchatel, Mettray, and Mettray Netherlands were perfect examples for Foucault, because they, even in their original state, began to show the traits Foucault was searching for. They showed the body of knowledge being developed about the prisoners, the creation of the 'delinquent' class, and the disciplinary careers emerging.

 

[pau1]

A modern day example:
Why does our mainstream media think it's bad that some high schools have a 40% or higher dropout rate? A significant % of public high schools are institutions that create submissive docile graduates. So why is it wrong for persons to give the finger to those institutions and why does our society punish them by thinking they are unemployable. Are people thinking for themselves unemployable? What does that say about the employer-employee relationship?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I've always wondered this. People talking about how the prisons are too expensive to run, how law abiding citizens are the ones to feed, clothe, shelter, and guard those who have wronged us.

There's gotta be something that all that excess labor in the form of the prison population can do, to at least make the prisons break even, no?

We could turn our prisons into slave labor camps, just like China. Brilliant!

What happens if the prisoners refuse to work? Would they be shot? Starved to death?