Shawshank Redemption: An Analysis

Introduction

The Shawshank Redemption is a movie about one of its prisoners, Andy Dufresene and his experiences at the prison (Darabont, Marvin, Robbins, Freeman, Gunton, Sadler, & Brown, 2004). Andy was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and because of this he was sent to Shawshank to serve two life sentences. Upon his arrival, he makes friends with Red, a long time inmate who was also serving a life sentence for murder. He learns to adjust to prison life and uses his skills and abilities to make friends with guards. This gives him benefits that he used to favour himself and his other fellow inmates. This movie opens your eyes to see whether prisoners are sent to prison as a punishment for their wrongdoings or to be punished in prison for what they have done. The motivation behind discipline is an intricate and separated process which includes expert, forces sentences and furnishes society with images and pictures of how a jail establishment is worked. Nonetheless, the strategies for discipline change after some time because of its idealness. Frequently in media, detainment facilities are portrayed as a frightening spot.  The Shawshank was a prison that was portrayed to instill fear in the inmates that were entereing this prison. Shawshank’s goal was to allow the prisoners to distinguish between the right and wrong by using force and aggressive behaviour. This film also shows us how corrupt prisons could be. It not only shows us how aggressive the lives of these prisoners were but how so much corruption was involved and that is how the prison mainly functioned. We see the harassment of prisoners, the smuggling of goods, the lying, and the fraud scandal going on with the warden. This paper will focus on the prison culture, the roles of the guards and the inmates. It will also talk about the pains of imprisonment which is due to the importation and deprivation model. It will also cover the institutionalization and rehabilitation of prisoners and portray the difficulties that the prisoners felt in Shawshank.

Pains of imprisonment

 Skyes’ says that even though jails had uprooted past practices of real enduring as discipline, detainees in prisons still experienced comparable torment.” The inmates are agreed,’ he wrote, ‘that life in the maximum security prison is depriving or frustrating in the extreme.” (Skyes,1958). These hardships and dissatisfactions, he went on, compromised prisoners mentally in significant ways. First comes ‘the deprivation of liberty’, through restriction in a foundation cut off from family and kinfolk. After sometime, he noted, detainees lose their association with free society outside the jail dividers, and turn out to be desolate and exhausted. Their sense of self is compromised both by their ethical dismissal from real society and by the numerous types of degradation that detainment produces. This was displayed in Shawshank Redemption as we see the inmates finding it difficult to adjust to their new home. They are ripped from their freedom and forced to live within the confinement of four walls. The longer they stay they lose connection to the world outside and become more attached to what the prison has to offer. Second is the ‘deprivation of goods and services’. Prisoners don’t have the privilege of proprietorship (even for something small as a pillow) and in spite of the way that their fundamental needs are met they are compelled to live in what Sykes depicts as ‘a harshly Spartan environment which they define as painfully depriving.’ Because of the social esteem connected to the responsibility for belonging in present day culture, this speaks to an assault at the most profound layers of identity. Prisoners had nothing they could say that belonged to them. Third, the ‘deprivation of heterosexual relationships.’ We see this displayed in the movie in how the men had no interaction with women. The only sight of women in the prison would be the posters hanging up in Andy’s cell. Men lose their sense of self worth when they have no interaction with a female. Another deprivation was the one of autonomy. This implies the manners by which prisoners are denied self-assurance, or the capacity to settle on decisions, with deference for example to when they eat and rest, or the work that they do. We see in the movie how when one prisoner asks to eat, the Captain responded saying “you eat when we say you eat. You shit when we say you shit. You piss when we say you piss” (Darabont et. al, 2004). This can lead to frustration for the prisoners since they have no independence on their own. In the movie, you also see how when Red leaves prison as a free man and is working at the grocery store he continues to ask permission from the manager to use the restroom. He was used to this lifestyle of being told what to do that when he left he just continued to do so.  Lastly was the deprivation of security. By this he implies the punishment of ‘drawn out closeness’ with vicious and forceful men. They are additionally in danger of sexual maltreatment. The majority of this makes prisoners intensely on edge, in light of the fact that the need to confront dangers against them is a trial of their masculinity.  In the movie, Andy was beaten up by Bogs Diamond and his men repeatedly which in turn instilled a fear in him and he found himself very helpless. Andy did however use his anger and turn it into doing something good for the prison but most prisoners do not react the same way. The fear for their lives instills in them this sense of helplessness and frustration. Sykes deprivation theory contends that institutional hostility is worked inside a foundation, making animosity happen because of a situation and not really through the individual themselves. These five hardships are what prisoners encounter every day, which prompts pressure and as an outcome, making some act out forcefully. These pains of imprisonment are one of a kind to the jail condition, it enables prisoners to investigate and adjust to the jail subculture.

Prison roles

Inmates

The pains of imprisonment can have some exceptionally antagonistic consequences for the manner in which people adapt to detainment. Subsequently, way of dealing with stress on managing such conditions is to receive certain jobs that set a person’s place in the jail. These roles were defined as ‘argot roles’ it was a slang used in prisons. It has been contended that a jail inmate lives, considers, and capacities inside the structure characterized by the terminology, and, in this way, the vernacular will be focused on the capacities that it serves for the prisoner.  The more formal way of defining argot would be “the need to be different and unique, alleviation of feelings of rejection and refusal, facilitation of social interactions and relationships, declaration of belonging to a subculture or social status, a tool of social identification leading to a sense of belonging to a group, and secrecy” (Einat & Einat, 2000, page. 310).  They all help to ease the idea of doing time in prison and adjust to the prison environment.  There are eight kind of roles which are the Rats, Square Johns, Right guys, Merchants, Gorillas, Wolves, Punks and Fags. Rats can be characterized as the prisoners who screech climate for their advantage or for a motivator. Square Johns can be characterized as prisoner with professional social qualities that is sure towards staff and isn’t associated with the inmate social. The right guy is the inmate that can be characterized by a prisoner who does their time without going up against or recognizing the guards. Merchants purchased and sold stash utilizing cigarettes for jail cash. Gorillas went after the feeble through burglary and solid furnished strategies to supply themselves and their companions with wanted products. Wolves were more established, physically intense detainees who played the forceful, manly job; punks were their more youthful and weaker unfortunate casualties. Fags were gay people in the city, and basically proceeded with this conduct once imprisoned.

 In relation to the movie, many of the inmates played these various roles mentioned. The square john, merchant/peddler, wolf, and the right guy, are represented through characters such as Andy Dufresne, Red, the Sisters, Bogs, and Brooks.  The Right guy was a recurring role in the movie portrayed by Andy and Brooks. They went about doing their duties without being acknowledged by the guards. When Andy first arrives at jail you see how he kept to himself and made little to no contact with any of the inmates or the guards. He was raped for the first two years but he managed to keep quiet and go about serving his term (Darabont et. al, 2004). Brooks also was an example of the Right Guy. He was an elderly quiet man who kept to himself and took care of his little bird. There was one incident of him being violent only for the fact that he wanted to extend his stay at the prison, but other than that he was always to himself and made little interaction with the other inmates. Right guys tend to just want to serve their sentencing without causing much trouble.

 Another role played was the role of the Square John. This kind of prisoner is characterized as, most tuned in to the customary mentalities and estimations of the staff and society. This sort of detainee looks to do his time with as couple of issues as could be allowed and as per the desires for the staff. Andy plays this role after the spring of 1949. He goes from being right guy to square john. This happened when he helped out a guard with paper work regarding the IRS and in return he asked that the prisoners get cold beer. Due to this he was let off on a lot of things such as being able to hang up posters of women in his cell. He was also asked to write letters to the state to provide more funding for a library for the inmates. This allowed to become more appreciated with the inmates and guards. The main reason for Andy to be able to do all of this was because he was educated and a banker before being sentenced to prison.

 Another role was that of the merchant/peddler role. This inmate was the one who sells stuff to other prisoners. Red played this role in the movie. He was the guy you go to if you wanted something and he would get it for you regardless. He represented this prudent part of the jail through huge numbers of his activities. Red’s presentation as a vendor/seller was through the scene where the group of onlookers sees him assuming responsibility of a betting game, in which cigarettes were wagered on which new detainee would break first (Darabont et. al, 2004). He was known for his cigarettes as he would give them in exchange for other services from inmates. Also, a substantial piece of the story line in Shawshank Redemption is when Andy requests that Red get him a rock hammer, and all the while, the gathering of people sees the jail economy. With each trade of administration from one prisoner, there is a trade of products, or an administration, all being overlooked by Red. For instance, when the stone mallet comes into the jail, it is taken to the laundry room, where it is put into dress and passed onto another prisoner to pass on, and where it is traded for packs of cigarettes (Darabont et. al, 2004). In particular, in any case, is that, the merchant peddler’s principle objective isn’t to get captured. Red underscores this point with Andy and with everybody, that on the off chance that he is to provide them with services and good, it ought not follow back to him on the off chance that they get captured.

 Lastly another role represented in the movie was the one of the Wolf. Wolves carried out a forceful job and regularly went after different prisoners, depending on either viciousness or pressure as their techniques for explicitly showing their manliness.  Bull Queer or “The Sisters” were the ones to play out this role in the movie. They were a group of men in the prison that would prey on Andy for sex. They beat him up against his will and raped him consecutively for the first two years. A prime case of a presentation of their manliness, is one example when the sisters corner Andy and endeavor to assault him, he calls them out, and as a reaction, they seriously beat him to demonstrate the power imbalance. One particular character that stood out was Bogs. He was the leader of the sisters and he was the first to single out Andy and torture him. He would come after him when Andy first arrived in prison. He was not only a representation of the wolf but also of a gorilla.  A gorilla is someone who takes things by force and Bogs forcefully raped Andy against his will.

Guards

Prisoners might adapt to different roles in order to cope with imprisonment but so do guards and all other agents involved. The conditions of prisons lead guards to develop a habit of showing dominance and authority over inmates.  “As we gain perspective, the guard/custodian is being understood as a potential and actual human services agent: providing goods and services, acting as a referral agent and aiding in the institutional adjustment of inmates” (Lombardo, 1982) Much the same as detainees receive certain identities to adapt to the torments of detainment, the guards likewise have certain jobs they embrace to manage the states of jail. The different roles are as follows: rule enforcer, hard liner, people worker, synthetic officer and loner. The rule enforcer is a guard that can be characterized as principle bound, adaptable and there to show discipline, keen on authority or control, reluctant to consult with detainee for consistence, feeling of commitment to individual officers is solid, not inspired by human administration. The hard liner can be characterized as control hungry and rules are authorized that demonstrate specialist and that entirely to rebuff, oppressive and forceful towards detainees, negative states of mind towards detainees and distinguish emphatically with individual officers, disdain giving human administration. The people worker can be characterized as “more seasoned, more experienced, depends on verbal aptitudes and sound judgment, has agreeable style with prisoners, adaptable in job implementation, secure consistence with relational abilities and correspondence, more inspired by compromise than keeping up power over other officer, appreciate test of working with detainees. The synthetic officer can be characterized as “go between guideline implementer and individual’s laborer, pursue rules nearly however thinking about the circumstances, reaction to detainee is situational, firm yet reasonable, bolster individual officers and endeavor to manage detainee decently, yet wont gives themselves a chance to be exploited. Lastly, the loner officer can be characterized as strict requirement of standards to abstain from being reprimanded, common among minority and female officers, reluctant to consult with detainees and have dread of committing errors, stick nearly to tenets to give approval to detainee and individual officers, constantly want to substantiate themselves to different officers, question detainees and want to work far from detainees and different officer.

 In the movie, the role of the rule enforcer was represented through Mr. Hadley (guard supervisor) and Mr. Norton (the warden). Mr. Hadley represented the aggressive guard culture by using excessive force when it came to disciplining the inmates. We see this in the beginning of the movie, when he beat up the new inmate who ended up dying on his first night there. Mr. Norton who was the warden of the prison was a very religious man. He believed in discipline and the Bible. An extensive of how he ran Shawshank was the time in history where the plot was set, and the over-dependence on religion as a method for moral treatment. Mr. Norton made a climate where the gatekeepers worked off a subculture of normalizing the idea of violence and use of aggressive force against the inmates. They also resorted to punishing them mentally by putting them in the dark hole. Andy was subjected to the dark hole for months for speaking up against the warden.  This subculture was worked around demonstrating power using forceful power which is lopsided to the activity.

IMPORTATION AND DEPRIVATION THEORY

Shawshank Redemption provides insight into the lives of offenders and the environment they are now apart of. Inmate subculture is quite prevalent throughout the film and the literature by Griffiths shows that the depictions within the film are accurate. The inmate social system describes how the inmates behave around each other by their patterns of interactions where relationships are ultimately formed (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2014). The environment as detailed in both the readings and film show that forming such relationships is vital to ensuring the unique subculture of the prison system remains intact. The subculture focuses on the relationships between inmates, the hierarchy of guards and rules and regulations inmates should follow. The relationship that developed between two main characters, Red and Andy show the viewers that forming strong connections with others is important, especially for first time offenders who may not understand such subculture. Griffiths also details two theories in which help explain the subculture further, deprivation theory and importation theory (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2014).

  The deprivation theory gives detail in explaining how the social system between inmate’s forms. Beliefs that inmates try to lessen the pain and severity of the prison consequence by forming these connections between each other (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2014). At the beginning of Andy’s entrance into the prison, we see that he keeps to himself and does not interact much with anyone. Shortly after, Andy approaches Red and they form a friendship that means a lot to one another. We can see this meaningful relationship when Red has suspicions that Andy wants to end his life, the next morning during role call Andy does not exit his cell and Red looks distressed. The social system continues to be an important part of prison life because without interactions it can be a lonely and depressive time. The film shows what happens when those social systems are not present, the guards send Andy to isolation. During his time isolated, his demeanor shifts and he begins to feel hopeless and deterred. This unique subculture is an important aspect of the prison system to ensure inmates follow the subculture and avoid social isolation while they serve their time. In turn, as important as these relationships are, this theory serves to help detail the existence of this social system so inmates have access to illegal prison goods and services (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2014). Again, when we look at the previous example, Andy’s first interaction with Red was because he knew that Red was the person to get you what you wanted. Red had a system from the delivery personnel, to other inmates who worked in the library, passing out the clothing and bringing in the order. The importation theory further explains why the inmate social system exists by describing the attitudes that emerge from inmates by their prior beliefs and behaviours (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2014). This means that those incarcerated have brought into the prison their criminal beliefs based on their criminal career prior to their arrest (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2014). When utilization of these theories are considered, research studies believe that the outcome of deprivation theory and importation theory emerges the Integration model (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2014).

Together, these theories provide an explanation of how the behaviour of each inmate within the prison system behaves by looking at the environmental aspects and each individual inmate’s characteristics that can determine behaviour (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2014). This theory incorporates itself into the film when Andy starts to receive abuse from a group of inmates known as the sisters. He tried to keep to himself however quickly learning that remaining docile would not benefit him throughout these attacks so he began to fight back. The characteristics of each inmate continue to change to their environment in order to survive the prison subculture.

The importation theory is related to behaviours; inmate’s attitudes and conduct illustrate how outside attitudes of criminal activity transfer into the prison’s inmate social system (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2014). The prison system and environment allows inmates to transfer these pro-criminal attitudes into the prison, which then influences the social system as a whole. A scene in which we can see the importation theory transpire is when a young inmate enters the prison, although it is not his first time seeing the inside of a prison. He boasted about the crimes that he had taken part of outside of the prison and did not believe that what he was doing was wrong.

THE SCREEN MACHINE: CINEMATIC REPRESENTATIONS OF PRISON

 Over the years the depiction and realities of punishment for crimes committed has evolved from public executions to imprecise reprimands. These theatrical punishments allowed for the public to experience and understand what was happening to those found guilty of a crime in comparison to the prison system where it is unknown to the public what is happening (Mason, 2003). Due to the inability to see what is happening within the correctional system, the public relies highly on what the media reports (Mason, 2003). Unfortunately, in many aspects the media delivers false and exaggerated details as to what life in prison really looks like, the symbolic aspect as to what viewers want to imagine it being instead of the realities about the prison routine and population (Mason, 2003). Looking at the different levels of correctional facilities in terms of security, the maximum level security jails are believed to contain the worst offenders possible, needing the prisons measures to be extreme and restraint at an all time high (Mason, 2003). The views that individuals in the community hold are developing beliefs based on what the media has told it to be. An example of how invasive and impactful the portrayal of prison systems is by the media are two disclosures from Director Generals working in the prison service, they both shared with media outlets that the beliefs they had about the prison systems was formulated by both the media, and various television programs (Mason, 2003). This has a hindrance on inmate’s reintegration back into the community, if everyday people have these expectations of what these prisoners are like, then isolating the individual after their prison time will reinforce the ideologies from the prison experience.

ON ENTERING PRISON

Prison films often put emphasis on the effect the prison structure has on its inmates both physically and emotionally (Mason, 2003). The prison structure includes the routine, rules, and overall full control that incarceration has on individuals, the overhaul and stripping of your identity; you are now an inmate (Mason, 2003). There is a lot of focus, which directs itself at the process of dehumanizing the men into prisoners from the moment they walk into the gates of prison. Looking at the Shawshank Redemption, we see the beginnings of dehumanization when the new inmates walk off the bus shackled to one another in a direct line. The inmates all gather the gates and begin to yell obscenities at the newcomers, like a ritual within the prison structure. From there, the new inmates line up to meet the Warden and Guards where the Warden begins to explain who they are. The Warden makes it known that he is in charge, who the guards are, and that they are convicted felons, nothing more. This begins a clear divide and makes the hierarchy known from the beginning. The Warden further continues to let them know that their ass belongs to him; he owns them now that they have entered his prison. From there the inmates continue to learn that their sense of self is disappearing, from orders directing them what time to wake up at, when they can exit their cells, when they can eat, and when and where in the prison they work. Whoever they were prior to entering prison no longer matters in the eyes of those in charge and the newfound social structure they will spend many years abiding by. Symbolically, the inmate’s sense of self and identity begins stripping away when the inmates are required to get naked and hosed off before putting on new clothing. Relating back to when the Warden in Shawshank Redemption told the inmates that he believed in two things, discipline and the bible. The inmates stripping down and the guards hosing them down can represent what the Warden means. Washing away their sins, who they were, almost a cleansing before integrating into his prison, his rules and regulations.

PRISONIZATION EFFECT

In the 1940s, studies of the prison social structure began to develop. Clemmer made assertions that relationships shaped within the walls of prison manifested in the same fashion people outside of prison formed such relationships (Stojkovic & Lovell, 1998). Further relating to the idea that each inmate has ongoing encounters of their belief system, values and attitudes fade as their time living the prison social system (Stojkovic & Lovell, 1998). While these characteristics of beliefs, values and attitudes were prominent and lived by outside of the prison, manipulation, deceit and the attributes of being a criminal begin to take over (Stojovic). Clemmer further illustrates this concept as the prisonization ordeal, where the behaviours of inmates adjust to their environment and the prison subculture (Stojkovic & Lovell, 1998). Rehabilitation at this point can cease to exist the longer an offender remains in prison due to the strong influence of the other inmates and the culture that surrounds them (Stojkovic & Lovell, 1998). Shawshank Redemption shows aligns this theory with the scene where Andy works with the Warden to hide and manipulate money earned by the labor of the inmates. Andy has created a fake identity for the paper trail, which he later uses for his own benefit, in order to keep the Warden happy and the profit coming. Although Andy knows that it is illegal, in his conversation with Red who explains it will be Andy and the Warden in trouble for the crime, Andy laughs and downplays the situation; a tactic he uses to remain in good faith with the Warden and undermining the severity of the crime he is partaking in. This goes to show that not only are the inmates using these tactics to survive prison, but those in charge use them also in order to gain; in this case financially.

References

• Anderson, C. (n.d.). The “Pains of Imprisonment”: An historical sociology of penal transportation? Retrieved from https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/carchipelago/2016/11/11/the-pains-of-imprisonment-an-historical-sociology-of-penal-transportation/
• Carissa, Phil, Marie, A., Ana, Farrell, A., & Rodriguez, R. (n.d.). Prisons: Prisoners – Inmate Subcultures and Informal Organizations. Retrieved from http://law.jrank.org/pages/1796/Prisons-Prisoners-Inmate-subcultures-informal-organizations.html
• EINAT, T., & EINAT, H. (2000). Inmate argot as an expression of prison subculture: The Israeli case.
• Lombardo, L. X. (1985). Group dynamics and the prison guard subculture: Is the subculture an impediment to helping inmates? International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 29(1), 79-90. doi:10.1177/0306624X8502900107