Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Importance Of Prisons
Purpose for prison
Importance of prison to society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Importance Of Prisons
Imagine how fast life can go from being free to being trapped inside a cell with just one simple mistake. Jenji Kohan created the show Orange is the New Black. Kohan created a world full of murderers, rapists and drug dealers inside an all womens’ prison called Litchfield. The show is mostly based around the life of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schelling.) In the first couple episodes of Orange is the New Black Piper realizes that prison isn’t that great. She gets starved from an older lady who runs the kitchen, and she ends up reuniting with the girl that got her in prison in the first place. Orange is the New Black isn’t just about life inside prison, it’s layered with backstories of how most of the inmates ended up in prison. These backstories are important to younger viewers that don’t realize that it only takes one simple mistake sometimes to end up in prison. The backstories range from prostitution, theft, racial injustice, mental illness but mostly drugs. Kohan created a show that could have been easily picked apart by the media and parents because of the glorification of prison. Kohan sparked interest by somehow doing the complete opposite. Orange is the New Black glorifies how strong people can be regardless of how bad the situation is. Orange is the New …show more content…
Black is one of the most important shows on television right now, because it talks about real personal problems, the consequences of the mistakes we made and some inner personal emotional issues as well. Orange is the New Black follows a very diverse cast inside the prison.
The majority of the prison has been divided by race. The division doesn’t make the inmates separated or feel divided. Although, you see the Latinas with the Latinas, and the African-Americans with the African-Americans. Regardless of their race or the social situation of people, the inmates take care of each other most of the time. The women have adapted to life inside prison. Some women will be in there for less than a year, while others will spend the rest of their lives there. Prison is a lonely place, and in order to survive, friendships have to be made. The inmates learned to rely on each other and support each other through any
hardship. Backstories on Orange is the New Black aren’t just meant for entertainment, or to add another layer to the show. The backstories play a part in the way people should live their lives. The majority of us run around doing the same thing the inmates did before they landed in prison. The main message the writers were doing with the plots was to make them relatable to the viewers. The inmates experience problems that we’ve experienced. Ending up in prison doesn’t make you a huge criminal, sometimes it’s just about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. “Blood Donut” which is the seventh episode of season one. The backstory and plot are mainly focused on inmate Janae Watson (Vicky Jeudy). Watson was top of her class, a track star, and she was penned to get a scholarship to any school that she wanted to go. Although, teenagers that succeed in school often feel like they’ve neglected their social life. Watson ended up going to a party with a bunch of people from her school after she broke a high school award for fastest runner. The party was filled with alcohol and drugs, and she was confronted by a guy that told her to leave. It wasn’t her scene, and she was going to make it out of that town. Unfortunately, she doesn’t take his advice and she goes with this guy to rob a liquor store. She wanted to go out and feel normal, and one stupid decision landed her in prison for a couple years. In the episode “A Whole Other World” the backstory of Lorna Morello (Yael Stone) is revealed. Lorna is seen in prison talking about her fiancé, and how she’ll get married as soon as she gets out. She spends most of her time making their wedding plans. In the backstory, the man that’s supposed to be her fiancé is the whole reason that she ended up in jail. Lorna got charged with stalking and terrorizing. Lorna was obsessed with this guy after the first date, and he thought she was crazy. Eventually it was revealed that she tied a bomb under his car, and that was the reason she was put in prison. The importance of this backstory was that someone with a mental illness is put in prison without ever getting help.
After reading the book I have gained a new understanding of what inmates think about in prison. Working in an institution, I have a certain cynical attitude at times with inmates and their requests. Working in a reception facility, this is a facility where inmates are brought in from the county jails to the state intake facility, we deal with a lot of requests and questions. At times, with the phone ringing off the hook from family members and inmates with their prison request forms, you get a little cynical and tired of answering the same questions over and over. As I read the book I begin to understand some of the reason for the questions. Inmate(s) now realize that the officers and administrative personnel are in control of their lives. They dictate with to get up in the morning, take showers, eat meals, go to classes, the need see people for different reason, when to exercise and when to go to bed. The lost of control over their lives is a new experience for some and they would like to be able to adjust to this new lost of freedom. Upon understanding this and in reading the book, I am not as cynical as I have been and try to be more patient in answering questions. So in a way I have changed some of my thinking and understanding more of prison life.
Coyne uses paradigms within the text to describe the horrible situation in a maximum security federal prison. In “The Long Goodbye: Mother’s Day in Federal Prison”, she describes maximum security as “Pit of fire…Pit of fire straight from Hell. Never seen anything like it. Like something out of an old movie about prisoners…Women die there.” (61). Using this paradigm draws the reader in and gives him or her a far fetched example of what maximum security federal prisons are like. Amanda Coyne backs up her claim with many examples of women in the federal prison who are there for sentences that seem frankly extreme and should not be so harsh. For example, in “The Long Goodbye” Mother’s Day in Federal Prison” we learn about a woman named Stephanie. The text states that Stephanie is a “twenty-four-year-old blonde with Dorothy Hamill hair
In 1981 women only made up around 4 percent of inmates in prison. The criminal justice world is very set on race. For example in the book Criminal Justice a brief introduction by Frank Schmalleger, it says that race is so marginalized that even though in the united states population there are only about 13 percent of African Americans, African Americans that are incarcerated account for somewhere around 50 percent. This shows that African American women are more likely to encounter incarceration has opposed to white women. This is also why women’s prisons are study less than men’s prisons. Because there are less violent crimes committed in a women’s prison and there are significantly less women inmates than men. .However, this could soon change in the years coming if the crime rate in women keeps rising like it
How does being sentenced to prison affect someone later in his or her life? Many people pose the question, but they have yet to form an immutable response. Oscar Wilde once said, “one of the many lessons that one learns in prison is, that things are what they are and will be what they will be”, this quotation engenders the philosophy of prison, which consists of one being held responsible for his or her wrongdoings. The book Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman explores how a once drug money launderer goes to jail for a crime which she committed almost a decade earlier. At the time she committed the crime, she considered herself lost and naive in regards to her life. Throughout the book, the audience witnesses Kerman’s struggles and how she ultimately overcomes them in order to better herself for the future. After examining the book, one can see that Kerman uses many rhetorical elements in her writing such as ethos, the rhetorical triangle, narration, and myriad others to make her memoir a timeless piece of non-fiction.
In the novel “Black Boy” by Richard Wright, Richard’s different character traits are revealed through multiple different instances of indirect characterization. Indirect characterization is a literary element commonly used in the novel. It is when the author reveals information about a character through that character's thoughts, words, actions, and how other characters respond to that character; such as what they think and say about him. Richard is put into many circumstances where the way he acts, the things he says and thinks, and the way others respond to him clearly show his character. Richard shows his pride when he refuses to fight Harrison for white men’s entertainment, principles when he doesn’t take advantage of Bess even though he has the opportunity, and ignorance when he sells KKK papers.
The creation of prisons and penal system was meant to be used to create an institution to detere crime and create rehabilitation. The ideas put into this new institution did not try to fight crime but instead use the institution as a way of social control. Blacks and Hispanics have become the target of social control as a way to keep the whites and minorities segregated through legal ways. The book Assata an Autobiography, follows the story of an African American women’s struggle with the racist south as well as the inhumane treatment of the penal system. Assata demonstrated the unlawful way police and justice system treat blacks, but not only was it this institution but society as a whole. The hypersexualization of being a black female and
Many Americans pretend that the days of racism are far behind; however it is clear that institutional racism still exists in this country. One way of viewing this institutional racism is looking at our nation’s prison system and how the incarceration rates are skewed towards African American men. The reasons for the incarceration rate disparity are argued and different between races, but history points out and starts to show the reason of why the disparity began. Families and children of the incarcerated are adversely affected due to the discrimination as well as the discrimination against African American students and their likelihood of going to prison compared to the white student. African American women are also affected by the discrimination in the incarceration rate. Many white Americans don’t see how racism affects incarceration rates, and that African Americans are more likely to face discrimination from the police as well as being falsely arrested.
Prisons exist in this country as a means to administer retributive justice for those that break the laws in our society or to state it simply prisons punish criminals that are to receive a sentence of incarceration for more than one year. There are two main sub-cultures within the walls of prison the sub-culture of the Department of Corrections (which consists of the corrections officer, administrators, and all of the staff that work at the prison and go home at the end of their day) and the actual prisoners themselves. As you can imagine these two sub-cultures are dualistic in nature and this makes for a very stressful environment for both sides of the fence. While in prison, the inmates experience the same conditions as described in the previous
Today there are many controversial subjects discussed throughout the media. One of the most discussed is race and the Black Lives Matter movement. Recently, I came across an article titled “The Truth of ‘Black Lives Matter’”, written by The Editorial Board. The article was published on September 3, 2015, to the New York Times. In the article, The Editorial Board writes about what they believe African Americans are facing as challenges in society today, including the all-too-common police killings of unarmed African-Americans across the country. The Editorial Board is right that some African Americans have been treated unfairly, but all ethnicities have been. Life is a precious thing that comprises all ethnicities. This brings us to ask; why
Jim Crow, a series of laws put into place after slavery by rich white Americans used in order to continue to subordinate African-Americans has existed for many years and continues to exist today in a different form, mass incarceration. Jim Crow laws when initially implemented were a series of anti-black laws that help segregate blacks from whites and kept blacks in a lower social, political, and economic status. In modern day, the term Jim Crow is used as a way to explain the mass incarcerations of blacks since Jim Crow laws were retracted. Through mass incarceration, blacks are continuously disenfranchised and subordinated by factors such as not being able to obtain housing, stoppage of income, and many other factors. Both generations of Jim Crow have been implemented through legal laws or ways that the government which helps to justify the implementation of this unjust treatment of blacks.
Instead of providing a place where segregation is at a minimum, prisons all across America are dealing with gang violence and race issues. These issues are known as “Prison Politics” to some. No matter who you are, or where you’re from, when entering prison you become identified by your skin tone. The level of gangs and cultural groups are so high, that often inmates have no choice but to follow the crowd. Sure, they could choose not to cooperate in the gang life, but where does that leave them? Then they will become the targets with no defense. The pressure to become accepted is so important in prison survival, that some inmates will throw away their morals just to protect themselves. Prison officials often condone the promotion of racial segregation. If one person of a specific race was found suspicious, they have the right to lock down every person of the same nationality. They often bunk same races together to cut down the risk of altercations. This is probably for the best at the time being, but it makes you wonder why they don’t attempt to do something about gang involvement. You hear about classes on drug intervention, schooling, and religion. Why don’t they have a class on racial acceptance? I’m sure it wouldn’t convert the beliefs of many inmates, but it would at least show some effort to bring down the segregation
According to statistics since the early 1970’s there has been a 500% increase in the number of people being incarcerated with an average total of 2.2 million people behind bars. The increase in rate of people being incarcerated has also brought about an increasingly disproportionate racial composition. The jails and prisons have a high rate of African Americans incarcerated with an average of 900,000 out of the 2.2 million incarcerateed being African American. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics 1 in 6 African American males has been incarcerated at some point in time as of the year 2001. In theory if this trend continues it is estimated that about 1 in 3 black males being born can be expected to spend time in prison and some point in his life. One in nine African American males between the ages of 25 and 29 are currently incarcerated. Although the rate of imprisonment for women is considerably lower than males African American women are incarc...
There are many problems in today’s world, one of which is the existence of racism. Obviously it has improved dramatically over time, however racism is still out there in our every day lives. The movement Black Lives Matter has spread nationwide attracting the attention of many different parties. Black Lives Matter has had a large impact on the whole country with many people taking different stances on it.
Firstly, in order to gain a better understanding of the problems that plague our correctional system we must fully understand the enormous overcrowding problem that exists in the majority of state and federal prisons. Since 1980 the prison population has quadrupled and only the numbers continue to rise (Schmalleger, 2012).To help reduce the overcrowding problem within our prisons, taxpayers have funded 102 new correctional facilities since 1980 (Shelden, 1999).... ... middle of paper ... ... Offenders that are incarcerated within the prison quickly find a group of people commonly associated with their ethnic groups to establish a rapport with.
Colorism has became a huge issue in today’s society. Colorism is an issue because, it is a form of racism, it reflects back on the days of slavery, it is overall rude, and jail terms are affected.