The Spectacle of Punishment: Lessons from a Century of Prison Films

Boyce PhD, Benjamin

ISBN 10: 1627204296 / ISBN 13: 9781627204293

Published by Loyola College/Apprentice House, 2023

About this Item

The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact including the dust cover, if applicable . Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.

Seller Inventory # BVV.1627204296.G

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Spectacle of Punishment: Lessons from a Century of Prison Films
• Publisher: Loyola College/Apprentice House
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1627204296
• ISBN 13: 9781627204293
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: good

About this title

Synopsis

Our contemporary media landscape offers a never-ending supply of stories featuring crime, mayhem and punishment. Prison cinema is as popular as ever, allowing us to feel like we've experienced prison without the dangers of actually going there. When we regularly consume these narratives, we come to believe things about the criminal justice system that are not only untrue, but incredibly problematic.

Prisons on television are terrifying spaces full of scary monsters housed alongside occasional good guys seeking redemption. The imbalance is hard to miss; for every outlaw seeking redemption there are a dozen bad guys looking to victimize him. As viewers, we can't help but walk away from such representations feeling as if prisons should be harsher and more restrictive. The Spectacle of Punishment maps this process, revealing why we come to believe what we believe and how those beliefs impact the world.

The prison environment in Hollywood productions is designed to conform to one of three frameworks: prison as a playground, prison as penance, or prison as a paradox. In playground films and television shows, prison is a space where anything goes and where little is disciplined, a situation which allows the bad guys dreamed up by Hollywood to live it up while incarcerated. Prison as penance productions show viewers a dangerous prison environment that works to both redeem those outlaws who are willing to change and contain those who would otherwise unleash their sinister impulses on society if released. Prison as a paradox depicts a correctional space that is not only ineffective at rehabilitating criminals, but also guaranteed to make one's criminality worse. Our demand for a never-ending supply of spectacles of punishment has left us woefully misinformed about the operations of the US prison system, supportive of its permanent expansion, and convinced that prisons and jails are too soft and unrestrictive.

About the Author

Benjamin Boyce, PhD. is a prison educator, an activist and an author. He currently hosts The Dr. Junkie Show, a podcast devoted to ending the war on drugs and embracing a harm reduction perspective focused on returning drug users to positions of social connection: jobs, organizations, family, friends, school, etc. During his early 20s, Dr. Boyce spent time locked up in the largest walled prison on Earth, in Jackson, Michigan. He currently teaches college classes both on campus and inside multiple Colorado prisons.