Criminal Justice System And Reformatory Capabilities Discussion

Throughout history and into present day, common themes have formed around punishment, oppression, and society standards–creating individuals who are docile and society contract upholders. As shown throughout all of the assigned readings, colonization and the beginning of capitalism set up a destructive path for groups and individuals that appeared “different” from the original colonizers. This carried on for centuries to come and into today’s society as well. As one group agrees on a “social contract,” another group is oppressed by the same contract. Throughout Dobbz’s article, she referenced the different views that the colonizers and Native Americans have for land; resource vs money. Native Americans were seen as “savages”—different from what the colonizers were in agreement of as “civilized.” As Dobbz shows, as recently as 1971, Native Americans were “punished” for “squatting” on Alcatracz by use of removing resources (food, water, electricity,etc). These actions did not change the Native American mindset, the way that the others intended, rather removing these items brought more support for the Native American groups. This broke the “society contract” and eventually led to the political move to offer certain lands to the Native American people, to in a sense quiet the issue before the next elections. This theme continues into Foucalt’s and Linebaugh’s articles, through the use of corporal punishment being used to deter private property crimes. At the time of corporal punishment usage, the main crimes punished were those of property crimes, causing large class segregation. Poor individuals were seen as “less than”, criminals, and at that point, worthy of death and pain. This continued until there was a rise in empathy for the “punished” and more anger towards the individual “punisher”. Eventually, punishment became more private and moved towards punishing the psyche through isolation, removal of rights, and removal of freedom/liberty. In many of today’s communities, poor and POC are still seen as such and are confined by either walls or reservation lines. This can actively be seen through community borders, gentrification, large prison populations, and reservation territory issues.

Question: As seen throughout the above articles, punishment and societal contracts differ between groups and classes. The goal for most systems, past and present, is to create a community that follows the outlined social contract and force individuals into being compliant and docile. How has this been perpetuated in today’s society of imprisonment of POC and individuals with mental health issues? Are the systems pushing individuals into being docile human beings or perpetuating a larger issue that is being suppressed behind current agendas?

Dobbz, H. (2012). Nine-Tenths of the Law: Property and Resistance in the United States. Oakland: AK Press. (pp.13-32)

Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books. (pp.3-31)

Linebaugh, P. (2006). The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteenth Century. New York: Verso. (pp.xvii-xxix)

Lecture: The Creation of Docile & Useful Bodies