Media and the Social Construction of the Correctional System
Chapter 7: Media Portraits of Corrections
Chapter Overview and Objectives- The primary focus of this chapter is the examination of media portraits regarding correctional institutions in the United States, critically assessing how these representations influence public perceptions and policy outcomes.
Key learning objectives include:- Comprehending the common entertainment media portrait of the correctional system, including stereotypes and misrepresentations.
Understanding the news media portrait of corrections, including the types of stories that gain traction and the missing voices of inmates and staff.
Identifying concerns held by correctional personnel regarding news coverage, particularly regarding misrepresentation and sensationalism.
Understanding why television and infotainment programming provide "skin-deep" or minimal attention to corrections, often focusing on violations rather than rehabilitative efforts.
Recognizing how media portraits of prisoners, correctional officers, and the institutions themselves connect to public support for specific correctional policies, influencing attitudes towards punishment versus rehabilitation.
Historical Perspectives of Corrections in the U.S.
Colonial America
Jails and prisons were initially utilized merely as holding places to detain offenders until they could be punished via other means, often without due process.
Punishments were typically corporal in nature, including branding, flogging, and hanging, reflecting the societal view of criminals as deserving of harsh treatment rather than rehabilitation.
Historically, corrections held very little interest as a symbol of criminal justice policy or as an institution, leading to a neglect of prison conditions and inmate rights.
The Enlightenment Period and Classical Criminology
Following the Enlightenment, the concept of the "loss of freedom" became the punishment itself, evolving the understanding that incarceration serves a societal function beyond mere retribution.
This shift reflects a change in the perception of humanity, emphasizing reason and the need for rationalized punishment, leading to the emergence of classical criminology.
Classical criminology posits that crime originates from a rational process; therefore, punishment should be a rational process that "fits the crime," advocating for proportionality in sentencing and a focus on prevention.
While societal interest in prison programs and conditions increased after this period, it never reached the levels of interest directed toward policing or courtroom proceedings, which continued to dominate public discourse.
Social Constructionism and Corrections
The Principle of Remoteness
A central tenet of social constructionism is that the more remote a subject is from the general public, the more public perception is shaped by media coverage, leading to distorted views of reality.
The general public typically lacks:- Experienced Knowledge: Direct experience from visiting a prison or serving a sentence, leading to reliance on secondhand narratives.
Conversational Knowledge: Information gained from talking to people who work in or have been incarcerated in correctional facilities, which is often limited and skewed.
Access to direct, non-mediated knowledge of corrections is often concentrated among the poor, while the affluent, who often exert the most influence over correctional policy, construct their reality of corrections largely from media renditions.
Obstacles to Realistic Information
Poor Public Relations: Correctional personnel have been notorious for poor media relations, which exacerbates the public's misconceptions by limiting transparency and accessibility to information about inmate treatment and facility conditions.
Adversarial Relationship: There is a deep, historical distrust between correctional personnel and the news media, complicating efforts for balanced narrative dissemination.
Dependency on Entertainment: The lack of realistic information in the news forces the public to depend on unrealistic images and stereotypes found in entertainment media, perpetuating myths about the criminal justice system.
Prison Films as Primary Social Construction Sources
Impact and Influence
Prison films are the most influential source for the social construction of corrections for the general public, largely due to their visual impact and emotional storytelling.
While they have existed as a genre since the 1990s (and earlier), they make up only approximately 1\text{%} of all films, yet their impact is disproportionately larger than their quantity.
The Shawshank Redemption: A contemporary example that follows prison life and the release process, demonstrating a blend of hope and despair. Like most prison films, it focuses almost universally on the inmate's perspective.
Stereotypes and Narratives
Portrayals are almost universally negative, depicting prisons as either:1. Harsh, brutal places of legal torture, devoid of humanity and compassion, fostering violence.
Uncontrolled "human zoos" containing animalistic criminals, reducing inmates to stereotypes rather than recognizing them as individuals.
Narrative staples include: "convict buddies," "evil wardens," "cruel guards," "craven snitches," "bloodthirsty convicts," and the "inmate hero," often creating a simplified moral dichotomy that fails to capture the complexities of incarceration.
Inmate Heroes: These films often focus on an inmate's reaction, adjustment, and eventual triumph over a corrupt or wrongdoing correctional system, offering narratives of resilience, albeit often unrealistic.
Claims of Truthfulness
Unique to this genre is the pervasive claim that the story is "based on a true story" or actual events, misleading audiences regarding the typicality of such experiences.
Criminologist Nicole Rafter observes that no other genre so loudly proclaims its truthfulness, yet these claims can mislead viewers about the reality of corrections.
Despite these claims, prison films often distort their subject more than any other type of criminal justice movie, reinforcing harmful stereotypes and oversimplifying the correctional experience.
The Four Eras of Prison Film Narratives
1. Nature of Confinement (1929--1942)
Inmates are portrayed as victims of justice: good men framed, imprisoned by accident, or driven to crime by powerful societal forces, often emphasizing innocence in a flawed system.
The message often highlights the corrupt values of the correctional system and its administrators, setting a tone of skepticism towards authority.
This era established the "correctional backwards law" (the idea that the system is more criminal than the inmates), framing prisons as sites of injustice rather than rehabilitation.
2. Pursuit of Justice (1943--1962)
Offenders are portrayed as personally responsible for their actions, reinforcing the notion that confinement serves a legitimate purpose.
Confinement is portrayed as justified, shifting focus to individual flaws in character rather than systemic flaws in justice.
Common themes included riots, escapes, and hostility between inmates and guards, showcasing the dysfunctionality of prison life.
3. Authority and Control (1963--1980)
Confinement is still seen as justified but often occurs for less serious offenses, reflecting evolving societal attitudes towards crime.
This era introduced a pessimistic view of corrections, highlighting skepticism towards correctional policies.
It immortalized the "smug hack" portrait: correctional officers are depicted as the evil foils of inmate heroes, often shown as borderline crazy, insensitive, and ineffective, reflecting public dissatisfaction with the corrections system.
4. Freedom and Release (1981--Present)
Includes futuristic science fiction films (prison colonies, transportation systems) or throwbacks to earlier portraits, often reflecting anxieties about future corrections.
Extreme violence appeared for the first time in this era, mirroring societal fears regarding crime and punishment.
Reflects societal ambiguity and confusion about the function of prisons, showcasing a split perception of whether prisons are rehabilitative or purely punitive.
Finalizes the process of humanizing inmates while dehumanizing guards, creating a stark duality in narrative focus.
Television and Infotainment Portraits
Representation on Television
Corrections is the least shown component of the criminal justice system on television, implying it is the least important in the public consciousness.
Shows focused on corrections are typically shorter-lived than those focused on police or courts, reflecting a lack of viewer interest in this segment of justice.
The 4:1 Ratio: Habitual criminals outnumber first-time offenders by more than on television, reinforcing tropes of repeat offenders and undermining narratives of rehabilitation.
Television portrays corrections as a "stepping stone" for criminals who will return to society worse than when they were sentenced, suggesting a cyclical nature of crime rather than opportunity for reform.
The Infotainment Genre
Examples include "Intervention," "Inside American Jail," and "Parole Board," presenting a sanitized version of incarceration that may not reflect actual conditions.
Infotainment in corrections is often delayed because prison films already occupy the "truthfulness" niche, leading to less attention for documentary formats.
Administrators have little incentive to cooperate, as documentaries often result in negative attention, limiting the public's understanding of the complexities of corrections.
Scared Straight: A documentary about shock incarceration for juveniles that was ultimately found to be ineffective and received significant negative press, illustrating the gap between perception and reality.
Corrections in the News
Lack of Attention
Stephen Chermak conducted a study of television and newspaper news, finding that while approximately 70\text{%} of crime and justice stories involve correctional institutions in some manner, they are rarely the focus, being often overshadowed by sensationalized crime reports.
References are usually buried within stories about police, courts, or specific individual cases, diminishing the visibility of correctional issues.
Only about one-fifth (20\text{%}) of crime and justice news significantly acknowledges the existence of corrections, indicating a lack of public awareness and discussion.
Offenders usually "disappear" from the news once they leave the courtroom, unless they violate parole, are released, or are executed, perpetuating misconceptions about the prison-to-community pipeline.
Newsworthiness and Access Issues
Corrections has low newsworthy value; routine correctional life is not considered interesting to the public, leading to a neglect of stories that humanize inmates or highlight successful rehabilitation efforts.
Lack of a "corrections newsfeed" or established "beats" for journalists means important issues may not receive timely coverage or scrutiny.
Journalists have limited access; they cannot simply walk into a facility (e.g., the case of R. Kelly in Butner, North Carolina), constraining their ability to report on real conditions.
Correctional officials are more able to shield themselves from scrutiny due to laws limiting media access to inmates, creating a barrier to accountability and transparency.
Negative News Typologies
Negative stories significantly outnumber positive ones; this skew can frame public perception inaccurately. Positive stories, when they exist, focus on inmates rather than staff.
Three common types of negative stories are:1. Correctional Failures: Stories about the failure to protect the public (e.g., escapes), fostering fear and distrust.
Inappropriate Goals: Highlighting amenities like "prison parties," "plush recreation rooms," or air-conditioned cells where punishment is perceived to be absent, leading to outrage over perceived leniency.
Correctional Horrors: Stories of systemic corruption, misconduct, or individual "bad actors" (e.g., a warden or guard preying upon inmates), reinforcing a narrative of prison as fundamentally flawed.
Portraits, Stereotypes, and Policy Implications
Portrait of Prisoners
If constructed as innately evil/incorrigible $ ightarrow$ leads to support for incapacitation and capital punishment, aligning with punitive policies.
If constructed as victimized/good but misled $ ightarrow$ leads to support for rehabilitation and resocialization, reflecting a more progressive approach to corrections.
The more inmates are seen as different/predatory/sub-human, the more society supports their permanent removal, revealing underlying social prejudices.
Portrait of Institutions
If constructed as "violent madhouses" $ ightarrow$ public views funding for education or counseling as wasteful, advocating for harsher measures over supportive programs.
If constructed as understaffed/underfunded with humane officers $ ightarrow$ public support for funding programs increases, reflecting a desire for reform and improvement in conditions.
"There but for the grace of God": A reaction where the public humanizes the inmate, thinking the same could have happened to them, making them more palatable to improvements in conditions and hence influencing policy decisions positively.
Portrait of Correctional Officers
The "smug hack" portrayal (brutality, incompetence, low intelligence) makes the career unattractive to recruits, exacerbating staffing shortages and increasing turnover.
Unlike police (heroic rescuers) or attorneys (preservers of justice), correctional officers are often portrayed as oppressive villains or irrelevant caricatures, which complicates public understanding of their role and responsibilities.
The "Lost World" of Corrections and Common Myths
Lacking direct knowledge, the public believes several myths:
Prison conditions are either exceptionally harsh or luxurious, failing to recognize the nuanced reality.
Convicts are physically unattractive, innately violent, and lack redemptive qualities, dehumanizing a large portion of the population.
Correctional officers are brutal and unintelligent, discouraging competent individuals from entering the field.
Corrections is an ineffective and non-cost-effective policy, ignoring the broader socioeconomic implications of effective correctional programs.
Media Omissions: The media tends to ignore the economic costs of high imprisonment, the "pains of imprisonment," the high number of mentally ill inmates, and the overall effect of incarceration on well-being, perpetuating misunderstandings.
Resilient Perception: The "primary effect" states that the first set of information received about a group carries the most weight. Because initial media images are often negative (riots, escapes), they create a resilient perception that is hard to reverse, complicating reform efforts.
Final Impact: Media images translate into a lack of public support for real-life institutions while ironically constructing prison as the only solution to violent crime, viewing rising criminality as proof of their necessity, leading to an entrenched cycle of misunderstanding and punitive legislation.