This week we discussed media representations of prisons, and in this blog I will apply the major themes we explored and my own research to some articles I sourced online about prisoners called, ‘Carl Williams Dies in Jail’ and ‘No Bail, go Directly to Jail’.
In the first week, we learnt that our perceptions of crime are created via a mediated experience through the media, as most people have very little direct contact with the criminal justice system. This rings particularly true for the prison system which is the most alien facet of the criminal justice system, as prisons are hidden away in a ‘backstage’ area, away from the public (Marsh and Melville, 2009, p.128). Closely linked to the ideas of newsworthiness is the notion that media representation of prison can be dichotomized into two extremes; prison as a holiday camp or prison as dangerous and violent. It is the latter with which these articles lend themselves too.
The first article states that the assailant ‘snuck up behind Williams and struck him several times in the head with the stem of the bike’ (ABC News, 2010) and in the second article we read the prisoner ‘was called a rock spider and given two serious beatings. He lost teeth and part of the sight in one eye’ (Sydney Morning Herald, 2010). These powerful images shape our perceptions of prison life, as one marked with brutality and murder, which represent the extreme pole of violence as described by Marsh and Melville. The murder of a Carl Williams in prison is a poignant example of the state failing in their duty of care. The media’s distorted representation of prison life sees that the popular view of prisons are promoted; that prisoners are a violent, undeserving and hazardous underclass who don’t deserve rights (Jewkes, 2004, p.75). This is reflected in the second article as the prisoner is constantly dehumanised, as he is referred to as a sex offender not by his real name, Justin Fillpetti
According to Yousman (2000, p.9), despite the media’s obsession with crime and violence, once a criminal is convicted, they tend to disappear into the system and media coverage is relatively scant, except in exceptional circumstances such as prison escapes. Such rhetoric can be applied to the article of Carl Williams, which involved a high profile gang member murder in the prison system. The actual, mundane and routine environment that was Carl William’s prison experience is not reported in the popular media or is the case of Justin Filipetti, as these actualities do not meet the news threshold. Yousman (2009, p.9) asserts that whilst the high profile cases receive some attention, the mainstream media coverage of prison conditions in which prisoners live is woefully scarce.
The two articles which I have analysed today from the mainstream media fuel the public perceptions that prisons are violent and dangerous. However, drawing back on the pluralisation theory, I think it could be argued that such an extreme perception is able to be counterbalanced somewhat by the diversity of new media and opinion. The solution; read and watch from a wide variety of sources, as to gain a better understanding of prison realties.
I would like to leave you with an off the cuff hypothesis; is this violent portrayal of prisons in the media necessarily all bad? If the public are under the impression that all prisons are violent and dangerous than perhaps this image acts as a deterrent to not break the law.
References
ABC News. (2010) ‘Carl Williams bashed and killed in jail, (Online) http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/19/2876669.htm Accessed 21st August 2010
Jewkes, Y. (2004) ‘Media and Crime’, Sage, London.
Marsh, I. and Melville, G. (2009). ‘Crime, Justice and the Media’ 1st ed. Routledge, London.
Sydney Morning Herald. (2010) ‘No bail, go directly to jail, (Online) http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/no-bail--go-directly-to-jail-20100416-skg7. Accessed 21st August
Yousman, B. (2009) ‘Prime time prisons on U.S TV: Representation of incarceration, Peter Lang Publishing, New York, (Online) http://books.google.com.au/books?id=_Xp0zW6v88C&pg=PA1&dq=media+representations+of+prison&hl=en&ei=_NJsTP6iKMqHcfnayZUN&sa=X& Accessed 19th August 2010
Great examples. There does seem to be a tendency for the media to really amp up the violent aspects of prison when it suits them, such as it did in the case of the alleged murder of Williams.
ReplyDeleteAs you quite aptly present, is this a bad thing? Obviously one element of punishment for offending is the notion that we want to deter people. And if there is such a perception out in the public that prison is violent, does this do the job of deterring people from offending? I know it would be enough to deter me! But I guess the other question to ask is whether it is working to deter the right people. For the majority who are law abiding, do we really need this to reinforce how horrible prison is? I know that even if they say prison is a holiday camp that I still do not want to visit it! I think we need much more transparency on the realities of prison, but it is going to continue to be hard to move away from these dichotomies.
Alyce
I thought this was a rather interesting topic raised by Jimmy. Firstly I acknowledge that most media representations of crime is in relation to criminals who commit a crime in society but when they are behind the walls of prison then the media don't seem to report on them except in exceptional circumstances such as prison escapes or murders. This is particularly evident in the murder of Carl Williams when media attention was focused on a prison only because of the death of Williams. Interestingly I wonder if there would have been as much media attention if any if Williams was not so infamously known by the Australian public. Most likely not.
ReplyDeleteIn reference to jimmy's question is this violent portrayal of prisons in the media necessarily all bad?
Its's a diffciult question I believe. Personally when I think about prisons I only think of them as a place of violence and rape (don't drop the soap in the shower comes to mind). However have my perceptions about prisons being influenced more by fiction of televison and movies rather than fact from documnetaries and acadmeic readings. It's not that its bad as such but more misleading and I think we as a society should be entitled to know how our prisons are being run and if they really are as violent as they are percieved.
If the public are under the impression that all prisons are violent and dangerous than perhaps this image acts as a deterrent to not break the law.
In regards to the second part of the question I would agree that people's impression of such a violent place like prison would be a deterrent not to break the law for me anyway. At the same time however for someone to be killed in a high maxium prison really questions the capablity of the prison system. Despite your views on wether Williams deserved to die in prison by other inmates is really beside the point. Rather the bigger issue is how the sytem has failed and really it demonstrates that even in priosn criminals are still getting away with murder.
on the other hand while the death fo Williams may deter people not to commit crime as even in jail you might be killed it still highlights that prison system has failed in its duty to protect these criminals.