Etude de la série: La dignité en prison

Alice Bouchot

The presentation I enjoyed the most was the one on Dignity in the Prison of Romane and Louise. Indeed, they treated this subject in an clever way, while questioning complex situations such as the respect of the right to private and family life, permanent surveillance, freedom of religion in prison… Above all, the subject of prison has always fascinated me.

The discovery of the strong female characters in the series Orange is the New Black was revealing : it was the first time I heard about the problems that prisoners face in their daily lives such as promiscuity, lack of basic necessities, suspended family life, problems of reintegration. Even if these people had probably committed a serious act one day, do not they have a right to dignity? Since then, I have done more research on the topic by reading books (Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault), articles, watching films (Hunger by Steve McQueen), going to exhibitions (Prison, beyond the walls by Musée des Confluences) and so on. Nevertheless questions have always persisted…

What is the purpose of the prisons? A prison is used to be a place of punishment for those who have committed crimes, a place of deprivation of certain rights and freedoms for prisoners. Today in France, the law has clearly defined the usefulness of punishment. Article 130-1 of the Penal Code firstly sets out the goals of protecting society, preventing other crimes and social balance. Then, the aims of sanction and integration are evoked. Prison has a symbolic force: it supposed to protect society against individuals considered dangerous and wicked, defines the boundaries of what is forbidden and makes it possible to "repair" the victims. However, this protective and reparative vocation has its limits, as soon as it becomes clear that imprisonment has perverse effects.

Is imprisonment a truly effective sanction? Indeed, prison marginalizes individuals and shatters lives: often the employer, family and friends turn away from a prisoner. The resulting emotional and economic precariousness lead to the commission of new offences. 63% of individuals who leave prison re-offend. In addition, the living conditions of prisoners are deplorable, even more during the health crisis (see presentation). This is particularly due to the overcrowding of prisons. The number of people in prison has increased considerably over the last 60 years, while cases of serious crime have been decreasing. The sanction is more and more translated into a prison sentence, even for crimes considered less serious. But to respond to this problem, the public authorities prefer to build new prisons, which is very expensive.

What could be the alternative? A balance must be found between reparation to victims, which is absolutely necessary, and the effectiveness of the imprisonment, with the aim of reintegration into society. It can be argued that prison should not be the only answer to maintain social balance and punishment should not necessarily involve exclusion.

Alternative sanctions to prison or sentence adjustments are hardly exploited and not very visible in France, which is a shame. It also might be possible to question the prison system, and for that we could look at what is happening in the neighboring countries. Spain and the Nordic countries have a whole range of prison establishments, more or less secure, more or less open to the outside, depending on the profile of the prisoners. Some of them can even pursue their work. Therefore, prison does not always mean desocialisation.

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