The distortion of the penal state by mass media – Yela Fleischer

–a brief blog post exploring the misleading content produced by the media

Entertainment media has distorted the realities of prisons globally as TV shows such as ‘Prison Break’, ‘Orange is the new Black’ and ‘Power’ convey prisons in the complete opposite way, in which it’s a social environment where everyone is happy and there’s a lot of leisure time. 

Most of these shows and movies portray prisons as being youth clubs or kind of like a social gathering where board games are played, gossip culture is present and residents socialise regularly which isn’t only misleading but damaging to younger people who are consuming this type of material as the representation of prisons which is far from reality. These misinterpretations obviously alter the perceptions of prisons within young people which can ultimately have long-term effects on the stabilisation of crime within society as it can affect the rate of crime.

If a younger person who necessarily doesn’t have much life experience is watching these type of entertainment, where prison is portrayed as a social club, they’ll obviously not feel as fearful about the thought of going prison so when there’s an opportunity to commit a crime, let’s say they may commit petty crimes  such as theft, they’ll of course weigh out the costs and benefits of committing the crime (p.s. a bit of sociology here with the rational choice theory) and think “if I get caught, I may end up in prison but it won’t be as bad as I’ll be somewhere where I can still use gaming consoles and meet people my age”- a likely thought process of inexperience youths. 

Not to also mention that the common theme of prison based TV shows are action/thriller notions where prisoners can easily sneak in phones, fight other prisoners whilst guards sit there and watch, escape prison and bribes with prison officers which are all filmed purely on the basis of creating engaging material but also at attracting their target audiences to maximise profits. The glamorisation of prisons has created a false reality of how prisons are and how prisoners live during their time spent there. Unrealistic and over exaggerated storylines are the main ingredients and driving force for higher profit margins and rotten tomato ratings which audiences consume in and consequently drives the views. It’s safe to say that this is a prime example of capitalism and consumerism as these types of entertainment are created solely for capital benefits and not to educate society on the hardships that prisoners and prison officers face.

The media of course fails to raise awareness about the injustices and disparities within the realms of the penal system. There are many issues within prisons i.e. self-harming rates increasing, sexual assaults but what’s failed to be acknowledged is how these living conditions that prisoners are situated in, directly corresponds with the alarming rates of mental health disorders. 

Overcrowding

Information from various sources such as literature reviews, reports and policy briefs reveals that overcrowding is one of the biggest issues in prisons. Figures show that 62% of prisons were overcrowded as of September 2022 and in total overcrowded prisons held 7,835 more prisoners. There are obvious risk factors of overcrowded prisons which are detrimental to both physical and mental health considering the fact that prisons are unsanitary but also how most prisons are not fit for modern use as they were built years ago.

Some of the health risks of overcrowding are:

• Hepatitis A, 
• STIs 
• Tuberculosis which are all the most communicable diseases in prison settings 

Mental health: 

The mental health aspect is highly undermined due to a number of factors such as prison staff not being trained or educated on mental health illnesses but what’s important to highlight is that the prison population is dominated by males. It’s important to note that males are subjected to labels and stereotypes which in prisons, are reinforced as they have to conform to the ‘macho’ label so expressing how they’re feeling or even opening up about their mental health could make them be deemed as being “weak”.

As emphasised previously, the media distorts the image of prisons through mass media and one example is where prisoners are presented as having a lot of free time in the sense that they can go outside anytime they want. However, the reality of it is that prisoners are actually locked in their cells for up to 23 hours a day. You can imagine the calamity of this on an individual’s mental health especially if they’re in an overcrowded prison sharing a cell with someone and have no privacy.

“Around 70% of men and women at any time will have a need around mental health”.

(House of Commons,2021) 

Prison architecture 

The conditions of prisons can either build up or break down a person’s mental health.

There are many accounts of people who have visited prisons stating how they’re outdated and not suitable for modern needs such as Brixton prison which is about 200 years old. One example is from an article ‘Architects’ Journal’ where Danna Walker visiting the prison and states “the first thing that hits you is the soundscape” and “they are dark places and you can lose track of time and of the seasons”.

 Prisons should be an environment where it’s therapeutic and stimulating; however, being displaced in an environment where it’s considered as “dark” will be very daunting especially for those who are serving long sentences or have pre-existing mental health illnesses. 

Emotional geography stresses the importance of symbols and meanings within contextual environments so in places such as prisons, it’s important that it’s structured in a way that feels safe and like home for prisoners as your environment forms who you are as a person.

Are prisons actually THAT bad?

It can be argued that the glamorisation of prisons by the media is somewhat close to reality as over the years, some may argue that prisons have in fact become a ‘holiday camp’. 36,000 inmates were allowed to play video games in prison whilst 83,017 prisoners were allowed to rent televisions under good behaviour (Independent, 2010) further reinforcing the holiday stereotype.

(This article is over a decade old, so it’s not reliable in the sense that a lot has changed since then).

This obviously is an ineffective way of rehabilitating individuals because an environment is created whereby technology is being a form of socialisation e.g. consuming digitalised content which are inappropriate but also it replaces the main aim of prisons which is to rehabilitate and punish the offender by sentencing. What’s dismissed is that fact that this is a wider issue because to the rest of society, prisons are a place of luxury and you don’t get harsh repercussions so in a way, it deters less people from committing a crime because they know that they can maintain the same lifestyle in prison that they lived outside prison. 

Nevertheless, it’s still important to reiterate that this doesn’t deflect the evidence and facts that are apparent surrounding poor living conditions and mental health being futile within the penal system.