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Going to get a lot of hate for this, but my cranky anarchist take is that these institutions are broken because they're broken by nature and shouldn't exist. Pu

Going to get a lot of hate for this, but my cranky anarchist take is that these institutions are broken because they're broken by nature and shouldn't exist. Punitive, carceral systems have never not been full of rampant abuse above their mandate, but the baseline nature of what they do is horrific on its own. Carceral institutions do not address undesirable social phenomena, they exacerbate them and then punish the families of the alleged perpetrators. Not to mention the absolute brutality they enact in trying to enforce the laws.

GW150914 8y ago
On one hand I agree with the “broken by nature” argument, I really do. To me, it’s a strong argument for cutting down our criminal code and not jailing people over drugs, sex, and fines. I still want rapists and killers and inveterate thieves removed from society though, but I don’t want to kill them. Without incarceration how do we achieve these seemingly contradictory aims? I don’t have a good answer, but neither “keep it as it is” or “burn it all down” sound good.
- almostdeadguy 8y ago
  There are lots of ideas about this, but generally the restorative/transformative justice frameworks are the things prison abolitionists tend to focus on. I'm not well versed on the research surrounding these things, I'm sure there are limitations and criticisms, but I've always thought they advocated a reasonable start for thinking about dismantling carceral systems. Mariame Kaba, an author and activist who writes a lot about this, has a good reading list here: http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/essential-pic-reading-list/ http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/essential-pic-reading-li...
  - phry 8y ago
    yep, transformative justice seems natural to me. taking 'anti-social' people and isolating them in a situation where there's little semblance of the life they're supposed to start living does not.
- YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
  That's a good point I think- we put people in jail because a) we've always put people in jail and b) we still can't think of anything better to do. As justifications for screwing peoples' lives up go, this one's pretty weak. Oh and, er- please don't misunderstand me. I'm not accusing you of trying to excuse anything.

GW150914 8y ago

On one hand I agree with the “broken by nature” argument, I really do. To me, it’s a strong argument for cutting down our criminal code and not jailing people over drugs, sex, and fines. I still want rapists and killers and inveterate thieves removed from society though, but I don’t want to kill them. Without incarceration how do we achieve these seemingly contradictory aims? I don’t have a good answer, but neither “keep it as it is” or “burn it all down” sound good.

almostdeadguy 8y ago
There are lots of ideas about this, but generally the restorative/transformative justice frameworks are the things prison abolitionists tend to focus on. I'm not well versed on the research surrounding these things, I'm sure there are limitations and criticisms, but I've always thought they advocated a reasonable start for thinking about dismantling carceral systems. Mariame Kaba, an author and activist who writes a lot about this, has a good reading list here: http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/essential-pic-reading-list/ http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/essential-pic-reading-li...
- phry 8y ago
  yep, transformative justice seems natural to me. taking 'anti-social' people and isolating them in a situation where there's little semblance of the life they're supposed to start living does not.
YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
That's a good point I think- we put people in jail because a) we've always put people in jail and b) we still can't think of anything better to do. As justifications for screwing peoples' lives up go, this one's pretty weak. Oh and, er- please don't misunderstand me. I'm not accusing you of trying to excuse anything.