Prison plays a part in the punishment of offenders by restricting the offender’s liberty. Imprisoning an offender separates him or her from their family, it confines them to a limited area, it restricts their ability to travel, it limits their ability make their own choices, and it even mandates their diet. The notion of just punishment implies that a crime against society requires a punishment that is proportionate to the crime. The ideology of prison as punishment is to deter crime, protect society by removing the offender from the general public, and punish the offender by restricting their liberty.
The living conditions imposed in prison would likely shock the conscience of most people in free society. Prisoners are given little-to-no privacy and are subjected to clothed and unclothed body searches at the whim of correctional officers. Prisoners are told when, where, and how to do nearly every activity of daily life. Furthermore, the food served in the prison setting is of such low quality that most people in free society would refuse to eat if it were offered to them.
In addition to the lack of privacy and bad food, many prisoners live in constant fear of violence. Prisons are notorious for being rife with racial segregation and gang activity. Living with offenders who have history of violence and a demonstrated lack of impulse control in an environment with a starch lack of mental health services adds to the stress a prisoner faces each day. Not to mention the stress of knowing the strain their family may be suffering in their absence. These conditions contrasted with the daily life of an average American citizen make it difficult to imagine having to spend a single day in a prison environment, much less years, or even a life sentence.
When considering proportionality and just punishment, living conditions should be taken into consideration because one day inside the walls of a prison is not equal to one day in free society. The heinousness of a crime should certainly be considered in deciding how long a prison sentence should be, but living conditions should also be considered because basic human dignity should be afforded to all citizens, even those who have made mistakes and committed crimes against society.
Prison plays a part in the punishment of offenders by restricting the offender’s liberty. The notion of just punishment implies that prison is the appropriate punishment for crime. Living conditions should be taken into consideration because one day inside the walls of a prison is not equal to one day in free society. Prisoners are given very little privacy, they are served low quality food, and many live in constant fear of violence. The heinousness of a crime should be considered in determining the appropriate length of a prison sentence, but living conditions should be given consideration because basic human dignity should be afforded to all citizens, even those who have committed crimes against society, whatever the severity.
Imprisonment, especially of violent offenders, is more than simply the punishment of those offenders. It is also a means of protecting society from repeat offenses by those same individuals. Clearly, however, not all individuals sentenced to prison are violent or even necessarily guilty of transgressions against the greater good. In these cases, and they number in the thousands, prison is a punishment—and too often a counterproductive punishment at that. Prison is a deterrent to some, but the number of inmates incarcerated in the United States—estimated at over two million—strongly suggests that the value of deterrence is seriously ineffective. The subject, however, is punishment, not deterrence, and it is here where we must confront the baser instincts of humanity. Prisons, especially maximum and medium security prisons, are violent, frightening places where brutality and primitiveness are the rule rather than the exception. The rules that are supposed to govern society outside of prison walls—those that seek to protect the weak against the strong—are nonexistent inside prisons.
Prison is an appropriate form of punishment for many offenders, especially the violent criminals mentioned above. As a form of punishment for nonviolent offenders, however, it is often inappropriate. Many inmates, like those convicted for minor drug offenses or those convicted for white-collar crimes, are essentially subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, which is a violation of the Constitution of the United States. For the violent and for some nonviolent offenders, prison is an appropriate form of punishment, but recidivism rates suggest that the punishment does not help prevent future offenses by paroled prisoners and by those who successfully complete their sentences.
With respect to proportionality, the nature of life in most prisons leads one to conclude that the task of determining an appropriate sentence is inordinately difficult. Murderers are relatively easy. Life sentences (and, for those who support capital punishment, execution) imposed on those convicted of taking another life are usually appropriate. The further one goes down the list of heinous crimes, however, the more difficult the decision on the most appropriate sentence. Again, an argument can be made that the multitudes imprisoned for "victimless" crimes, such as drug abuse, are the victims of an absence of proportionality.
Prisons play a large role in the punishment of offenders. Most prisons, however, are so dysfunctional that the merits of sentencing many offenders to terms in prison is dubious at best and harmful at worst.
https://www.prisonerresource.com/prison-life/special-tactics/violence-sexual-assault/
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2017.html
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