NCJ Number
87002
Journal
Canadian Journal of Sociology Volume: 5 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1980) Pages: 273-283
Date Published
1980
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article criticizes the MacGuigan Report on Canadian Penitentiaries as an act of bad faith because it admits that prison does not work, but then sets forth a series of recommendations for the continuation of penitentiaries.
Abstract
The report is further criticized for suggesting that the solution to a failure in authority is the assertion of more authority and for locating authority with officials rather than in legal guarantees. Closing prisons would entail less social cost than do other social problems which are presently tolerated. However, changes are unlikely because prisons are part of 'the politics of resentment' which characterize Canadian society. Prisons maintain political and economic advantages at the expense of those they contain. Footnotes and five references are provided. (Author abstract modified)