NCJ Number
69036
Date Published
1980
Length
185 pages
Annotation
CORRECTIONS AS CURRENTLY PRACTICED ARE VIEWED DEROGATORILY AS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO PERSONAL AND SOCIAL UNITY, AS REFLECTIONS OF A MATERIALISTIC SOCIETY.
Abstract
CORRECTIONS IS REGARDED AS A MASK OF LOVE, AN INSTITUTIONAL CONCEALMENT OF OUR TRUE SELVES AND RESOURCES WHICH PREVENTS OUR LIVING PEACEFULLY WITH ONE ANOTHER. TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF CORRECTIONS, AN ANALYSIS OF ECONOMICS, POWER, SOCIAL STRATIFICATION, STATECRAFT, THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING, AND THE PROFESSIONAL CONTROL OF HUMAN NEEDS IS JUDGED NECESSARY. THE DICHOTOMY BETWEEN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC EXISTENCE, BETWEEN THEORY AND COMMUNITIES WITH SOCIAL UNITY. TRADITIONALLY, THE DILEMMA HAS BEEN RESOLVED BY CONSTRUCTING SOCIAL FORMS INTO WHICH PEOPLE ARE FITTED, WITH FORCE IF NECESSARY. THE LIFESTYLE OF CAPITALISM IS DEFINED AS OWNING AND POSSESSING, A STATE IN WHICH PEOPLE ARE VIEWED AS MEANS TO ENDS, ONE WHICH IS DOMINATED BY THE PURSUIT OF POWER. MUTUAL AID IS PROPOSED AS AN ANTIDOTE TO THE GROWING PRISON STATE. HIERARCHICAL, POWER-BASED ORGANIZATIONS ARE DEPLORED BECAUSE THEY CANNOT ALLOW FOR DIVERSITY, FOR INTERDEPENDENCE, OR FOR COMPLEXITY. BUT MUTUAL AID IN SOCIAL RELATIONS BASED ON DIRECT ACTION, HOSPITALITY, AND FREE AGREEMENT, AND A NEEDS-BASED ECONOMY. A FREE SOCIETY IS VIEWED AS ONE IN WHICH MUTUAL RELATIONS ARE REGULATED BY MUTUAL AGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY AND BY A SUM OF SOCIAL CUSTOMS AND HABITS--NOT BY LAW, ROUTINE, OR SUPERSTITION. APPROXIMATELY 150 REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED.