On January 16, Oh Won Choon, the notorious murderer and rapist, reappeared on the search top list of Korea’s major portal sites. What was curious was the fact that it was months after his arrest. The fuss was about the prison that Oh was to be imprisoned in once he started his sentence. It was the public’s opinion that the prison was too good for a person who committed such a heinous crime. With such debates arising, the prisons now have to choose what kind of institution they will be.
 
Prisons, jails, penitentiaries, or any institution that served the purpose of prisons have existed from the very first forms of human society. It has been even said by some psychologists and sociologists that prisons are inseparable from society. Yet, even after thousands of years of change and enhancements, the role and purpose of prisons are still changing and constantly under discussion.
What They Were
 
Prisons in historical texts record back to the Egyptian hieroglyphs which show pictures of men whose hands are tied backs. There are records of prisons even in the old testament of the Bible. Joseph, one of Bible’s most popular characters, starts his journey when he was imprisoned in Egypt. Prisons in this stage of history served one single purpose: keeping prisoners locked up until they are beheaded, tortured, or sent away as slaves. In other words, the prisons of old ages were a place of temporary imprisonment until they faced their verdict or real punishment.
   
▲ The Panopticon / Provided by DigitalCrossRoads.com
As centuries passed, prisons picked up new roles such as keeping hostages of war or holding outsiders that did not belong in the city. Still, the basic feature of prisons being a temporary place of imprisonment remained. Centuries passed with no real change until the 18th century when Jeremy Bentham introduced a radical reform of prison roles and their purpose. Bentham, a strong advocate of utilitarianism and its application in society, proposed a prison system that would serve a greater good. The structure that Bentham designed was called the Panopticon. Derived from the Greek word for “all-seeing”, the structure of the Panopticon puts prisoners in a ring of cells around the guard tower. The prisoners’ cells are brightly lit while the tower is kept completely dark. This allows a small number of guards to watch over all of the prisoners in the structure, and the prisoners must always be aware since they cannot check if they are being watched or not due to the lighting. Bentham would also have these prisoners contributing to society by utilizing them as work forces.
Although hypothetical, this idea opened a whole new generation of prisons which partially adopted this new radical wave. Bentham first introduced the concept of imprisonment itself being a punishment rather than it being a temporary place until the real punishment to come. Therefore, he suggested longer terms with labor and rehabilitation programs for these prisoners to contribute to society during and after imprisonment. After Bentham’s ideas generally were incorporated into prisons, the prisons became a social institution that served multiple purposes of punishment, contribution, and rehabilitation.
Discussions in the Present
 
Despite the reforms that prisons have gone through in the past, the prisons are again at a crossroad. Sociologists, public officials, and the public now all agree that the prisons serve an essential role as a social institution. However, there are differences in views when it comes to what purposes it should focus on.
It is commonly understood that prisons serve mainly four purposes and they are as follows: retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. Retribution refers to imprisonment being a punishment for the prisoners by taking away their freedom. Incapacitation means the protection of innocent citizens in the society by separating criminals. Deterrence refers to preventing future crimes that could be committed by potential criminals still out in society. Rehabilitation is educating and changing criminals into citizens who will abide by the law.
The debate sparked when officials had to decide what purpose they were going to prioritize. With rehabilitation becoming a very new yet crucial role of prisons, welfare for the prisoners was significantly enhanced and expanded in the last few decades. Prisons now provide visiting areas, exercise yards, game rooms, education facilities like libraries, and religious facilities which are all dedicated to promoting a better environment where prisoners can be rehabilitated. Advocates of the idea that rehabilitation is the most primary goal of prisons say that this type of change is ideal.
On the other hand, some claim that investing too much on this type of change can actually hinder or disturb prisons from fulfilling its other purposes. One correctional officer with 20 years of experience, who requested to remain anonymous, admits that granting prisoners their rights has side effects despite the fact that prisons have become more centered on serving the role of rehabilitation. “There has been numerous instances where prisoners filed complaints with no reasonable grounds just to threaten and annoy the correctional officers.” They believe that it will first obliterate the prison’s job of punishing prisoners if they start to provide too good of an environment. Especially with the general public sentiment swaying towards harsh punishment for criminals who commit felonies, there are even questions about why prisons should reform prisoners and whether it is possible in the first place. Social groups or individuals that support a certain purpose are all suggesting a different direction of change for prisons in the future.
Prisons of the Future
   
▲ 2. Coma prisons would keep prisoners in a medically induced coma/ Provided by badscience.net3. The Eden Project/ Provided by Eden Projects
Coma Prisons
In the movie, Minority Report, the prisoners are all asleep. They are put in tubes and stored like blocks. They serve their time in the prison in a state of medically induced coma. This is a concept suggested by many supporters who consider deterrence and incapacitation as the primary purposes of prisons. It is expected that these prisons will completely assure incapacitation in a very effective manner since there will be almost no possibility of these prisoners escaping. More emphasized is the fact that these criminals will have no contact with fellow prisoners or other prisoners on the outside. This makes it impossible for larger criminals to run their operations from within the prison. Furthermore, it will completely eradicate situations where criminals attain more information or methods of avoiding law enforcement or committing crimes. One most prominent feature of this prison that appeals to utilitarian concepts is the fact that this system is extremely efficient. These people will require no food or expensive facilities which is a very attractive option for the government.
Yet, these types of prisons sacrifice all other purposes of prison as a correctional institution. These criminals will simply sleep through their time with no recollection and change in mind. Also, the damage done to the body and the brain during this time of artificial coma is incalculable.
Green Prisons
There have been more humane yet effective forms of change to address both the problem of resources and rehabilitation. In the Eden Project of Cornwall, the United kingdom (UK) is working with Dartmoor Prison to put gardens in prisons and fresh vegetables on prisoners’ food trays. They have turned three exercise yards into a herb and vegetable gardens. The Eden Project staff has successfully built a garden that prisoners will work in. It is designed to yield vegetables that they themselves will eat and also was proven to benefit the psychological well-being of the prisoners. This type of prison reform is advocated by people who support rehabilitation and human rights.
   
▲ 4. Bastoy Prison/ Provided by Norway Social Services
Prisons Without Bars
Some changes are not as science-fiction-like but have been proven to be very effective. Norway is known for its humane or "cushy" prisons. Out of the prisons existing in the status quo, they are considered to be very radical and seen by other nations. Out of the prisons in Norway, the prison on the island of Bastoy may be the next milestone for future prisons after the Panopticon.
While this prison is on an island like Alcatraz, the notorious max-security prison, this prison has no walls, cells, CCTV cameras, or guards on towers. Murderers, drug dealers, and no small time criminals live on this island but no one has attempted to escape and nobody has been involved in a violent incident on the island. This prison provides all prisoners on the island with houses and jobs. Each prisoner is given responsibility to handle such as cooking, raking, or any other job that needs to be done on the island. Therefore, the budget allocated for running this prison is much cheaper than other prisons. Because the prisoners run the prison, it is called an “ecological” prison by some.
Bastoy’s philosophy is a bit different from that of other strict prisons. The governor of the prison claims that if prisoners are given no responsibility, told only orders, and treated like animals, they will become one. Rather, they seek to introduce responsibility, duties, and life to the prisoners. It is this experiment’s objectives that true rehabilitation will not only get rid of recidivism but also deter crimes in the long run. On some level, this has proved to be true since Norway prides itself on one of the lowest crime rates in the world along with the lowest recidivism rate at 20 percent.
It is unrealistic for any prison or society to expect that crimes will suddenly evaporate from the face of the earth. In fact, it is highly likely that crimes will stay with us until the end. Whether they are called penitentiaries, correctional facilities, jails or gaols, there will always be prisons and it is up to the citizens of this world to choose what kind of prison will bring about a society that will not need prisons.
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