Rehabilitation is defined by vocabulary.com as the restoration of someone to a useful place in society. This is more of just an appealing thought as the original intention of imprisonment than what actually occurs inside the dark, depressing walls of correctional facilities. In the 1994 prison drama, The Shawshank Redemption, an insight to what prison may actually be more like is presented to viewers. As outsiders we are told by the media and other sources that prison is a way for criminals to get back on their feet and potentially turn their lives around through the rehabilitation process. Contrastingly, institutionalization is defined as the process by which individuals become a part of something such as an organization. One is left to wonder what the real goal of imprisonment is after watching a film like this. Does our prison system actually intend on helping convicted criminals turn their lives in a positive direction or does it focus more on making these individuals a part of a system? Institutionalization seems to trump this concept as those living behind the bars become part of a system instead of focusing on bettering themselves as human beings.
Following a forty-two year prison sentence, one of the oldest inmates of Shawshank prison, Brooks Hatlen is released back into the free world. The consecutive scenes beginning at the 61 minute and 20 second mark in the movie and ending around the 65 minute mark encapsulate the overall message of the system’s failure to properly rehabilitate inmates. The prison gates open slowly as Brooks appears looking like a changed man, on the outside at least. He is wearing a professional suit accessorized with a top hat and a suitcase. The gates close behind him officially marking the end of his time in Shawshank, but instead of a sense of satisfaction, Brooks seems to exude feelings of nervousness. For forty-two years Brooks has followed the same daily routine consisting of working in the prison library and connecting with his fellow inmates along with his bird Jake. Returning to society is the equivalent of living in an entirely new world for him after being removed from reality for such a long duration of time.
It is within the next few scenes that we as viewers become aware of just how much more of an institution prison is than a center for rehabilitation; so much so that the people living on the inside depend on it. Brooks is set up with a job that he despises, bagging groceries. He also lives in a lonely room at a halfway house, both of which the prison aligned for him. Seeing wild birds roam free in the local park reminds Brooks of the people and the pet that he had in his life before. Without the proper knowledge and opportunities to reaffirm his position in the real world, Brooks quickly falls into a state of depression. His heart desires nothing more than to return to the institution that made him the way he is today because that is the lifestyle he grew used to. He even gets to the point where he says all he wants is to return home which in this case is prison as opposed to his home before his incarceration.
In what seems to occur in a blink of an eye, Brooks is shown standing on a kitchen chair and carving his name into the ceiling, similar to what the prisoners did in their cells. Seconds later he kicks the chair out from under and hangs himself to escape the world he was not comfortable with. The carving of his name in the ceiling is significant because it reaffirms the fact that he grew dependent on the prison system after it had such an impact on his life. Prisoners are thrown back into society without a clue on how to survive happily, showing just how much the purpose of rehabilitation has failed in our prison system.
“Representations of Prison in Nineties Hollywood Cinema: From Con Air to The Shawshank Redemption” by Sean O’Sullivan actually supports the idea that prisons lack forms of rehabilitation for their inmates. “Rather than being shown as being beyond redemption the prisoners organize their own rehabilitation (O’Sullivan 325).” The quote is short but it highlights a huge issue that exists within the prison system that has been discussed throughout. The intended goal of rehabilitation is nonexistent so the prisoners are forced to take things into their own hands in order to help themselves move forward in a positive direction. Institutionalization has presented an immense barrier for the correction of inmate behaviors.
Following the aforementioned scene, Morgan Freeman’s character, nicknamed “Red”, states a truth about the system that many people are blind to, “First you hate it, then you get used to it, and eventually you depend on it (Darabont 1994).” This one quote strongly exemplifies the idea that prisons are institutions and not centers for helping get prisoners back on the right track and ready for a return to society. As they are originally stripped away from their everyday lives and placed into the prison system, inmates hate the lives they must now lead. The more time they spend behind bars, the more they grow used to it as it is something they are forced to do mentally to keep from going insane. Eventually, without even realizing it, they begin to depend on the system and everything that it includes as they are gradually institutionalized.
So with the issue of institutionalization being present in the system, one is left to wonder how the prisons go about enacting this process. It begins with nightly cell checks, routine meals, performing assigned work tasks to keep the inmates busy, and so on. To sum it up it is any action/event that keeps the prisoners going on a daily routine. As stated before, these inmates must grow accustomed to this regimented way of life to avoid getting to the point of insanity. In everyday terms, the routine process is similar to an individual eating breakfast every day at a specific time. If they continue this for long enough they will become so used to doing it that when they are not able to they become uncomfortable.
Despite often being responsible for creating misconceptions about the way prison life and inmates truly are, the media is sometimes also able to drive home ideas that we tend to lack knowledge on. The Shawshank Redemption is a fictional movie, but the topics presented in it are far from exaggerated. As Cecil and Laetner describe in their work “Unlocking the Gates: An Examination of MSNBC Investigates – Lockup” the media can easily infiltrate our minds with incorrect information by using the platform of entertainment. We as consumers of various forms of media tend to believe what we are told. If for example, MSNBC displays a criminal in a negative light, we will automatically form certain assumptions about the individual. This idea runs parallel to the larger issue portrayed in The Shawshank Redemption.
Uninformed American citizens tend to be under the impression that the aim of rehabilitation through imprisonment is essentially what is occurring behind the walls of correctional facilities. We form opinions based on what news reporters tell us, based on what is shown in cinema, and based on what is depicted on television. With countless educational resources available at our fingertips we must begin to take research into our own hands and not solely depend on what we are told by the media. Rehabilitation is no longer the main idea behind the operation of prisons; instead it is primarily run on the basis of punishment and institutionalization resulting in a sense of dependency by prisoners on the system.
Michelle S. Phelps explains in her piece “Rehabilitation in the Punitive Era: The Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality in U.S. Prison Programs” that the 1970s seem to have marked the point at which the system gave up on rehabilitation and shifted its focus to punishment. She writes, “Scholars of mass incarceration point to the 1970s as a pivotal turning point in U.S. penal history, marked by a shift toward more punitive policies and a consensus that ‘nothing works’ in rehabilitating inmates (Phelps 1).” She follows this explanation by saying that there is no true research that allows this statement by scholars to be accurate because no additional funding was added in the prison systems to increase chances of rehabilitation. Therefore, significant changes have not been made in the methods used by prisons despite the fact that the system has been around for hundreds of years. How can the concept of rehabilitation even be used as the forefront of the system if instead of putting actual effort into the process, the blame is simply being placed on the prisoners? This question ties into the idea that we as consumers of media are often gullible to things we are told. It is much easier for us to allow ourselves to believe that ‘nothing works’ when it comes to changing prisoners because we already see them as terrible individuals due to media efforts. As a result, when prison officials make statements saying that rehabilitation is not something that works, we simply accept it as opposed to looking deeper into the facts like Michelle Phelps did to determine that funding for these services has remained stagnant.
In a literal sense, The Shawshank Redemption directed by Frank Darabont appears to be just another prison movie. However, when it is looked at in a more analytical light, one can see that the film presents us with an existing societal issue that many are unaware of. This issue is that prisons institutionalize inmates instead of rehabilitating them and preparing them for a second chance at life. This idea is supported and strengthened by the scenes discussed throughout as one prisoner, Brooks, struggles severely with the differences the world outside of prison presents him with. Inmates become so accustomed to a certain way of life when behind bars that they lose track of reality. Institutionalization takes over their individuality and as a result, when these citizens return to society, they are often lost without the routines of the correctional facilities present in their lives. Even the words displayed on the signs of a prison are misleading as often times ‘Correctional Facility’ appears. The act of correcting would result in rehabilitated individuals not individuals that cannot survive without institutionalization.
Works Cited
Cecil, Dawn K., and Jennifer L. Leitner. “Unlocking the Gates: An Examination of.”
The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 48.2 (2009): 184-99. Print.
O’Sullivan, Sean. “Representations of Prison in Nineties Hollywood Cinema: From
Con Air to The Shawshank Redemption.” The Howard Journal of Criminal
Justice 40.4 (2001): 317-34. Print.
Phelps, Michelle S. “Rehabilitation in the Punitive Era: The Gap Between Rhetoric
and Reality in U.S. Prison Programs.” Law & Society Review 45.1 (2011):
33-68. Print.
The Shawshank Redemption. Dir. Frank Darabont. By Frank Darabont. Perf. Tim
Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, and James Whitmore. Columbia
Pictures, 1994. Streaming.
Joey Howard 