Prisons - Angela Davis

Exam 3

Her Stance

Prison abolitionist: Prisons should be banned because they are morally unjustified

Prison Ideology

Prisons play a present and absent role in our lives so it is hard to imagine life without prisons which is why we don’t like the idea of prison abolition

The Disguise Argument

Prisons hide social problems and prevent social change, so we would be better without prisons to address problems

Inhuman Argument (Racism)

Racist goals since they oppress one group more than the other, reproducing racist ideologies

Economic Exploitation

Ruling class use labor of prisoners to maximize profit for themselves

“The Prison Industrial Complex”

Government, private corporations, and other entities profit off of increased incarceration rates

Function Argument

Goal is to deter crime, but prisons have been around for so long and crime is still going, so real goal is to make private corporations money by using prison labor (Wrong to profit off of other people’s sufferings)

4 Alternative Ways to Deal with Crime

Access to mental health services, access to addiction and substance abuse treatment, rehabilitation (prepare for good way of life), transformative justice

Transformative Justice

Justice that focuses on accountability and healing; Radical (reformer); Not retribution (punishment)