0:00:00.000,0:00:02.879 Before that I'd spent the last year researching 0:00:03.019,0:00:05.554 prison systems and general entities, 0:00:05.694,0:00:08.475 so I thought I'd take you on a journey through what I've found. 0:00:08.615,0:00:11.484 At the end I would like you to celebrate with me the fact that I can now leave 0:00:11.624,0:00:15.092 this disgusting, horrible, painful, dangerous system behind me; 0:00:15.232,0:00:18.125 and we'll all go out and have a drink and celebrate the fact that we, 0:00:18.265,0:00:22.211 ourselves, actually can leave it behind unlike some. 0:00:22.351,0:00:24.787 Fyodor Dostoevsky once said that one can measure 0:00:24.927,0:00:28.117 the degree of civilization in society by entering its prisons. 0:00:28.257,0:00:30.741 While this may be true, I think that in all senses 0:00:30.881,0:00:34.972 we see prison as separate from society, parallel to society, 0:00:35.112,0:00:39.252 not a product of that society but a neighbouring entity. 0:00:39.392,0:00:43.611 This is partly a product of the nature of the modern imprisonment paradigm: 0:00:43.751,0:00:46.738 a delineation of walls, barricades, 0:00:46.878,0:00:49.890 halted access in circumscription of its structures, 0:00:50.030,0:00:53.989 its necessary opaque methods of administration. 0:00:54.129,0:00:57.673 The anatomy of a prison system comes into existence 0:00:57.813,0:01:01.034 or is defined by its separation from its surroundings; 0:01:01.174,0:01:03.003 it's cut off from the external. 0:01:03.542,0:01:06.002 At the same time, these institutions we wish to understand 0:01:06.142,0:01:10.597 and the system as a totality, house what is seen by the general public 0:01:10.737,0:01:15.482 as an alternative population, a branch of humanity that has transgressed 0:01:15.622,0:01:19.919 whatever that society has placed into the paradigm of legal activity. 0:01:20.059,0:01:23.171 This perception aids us in divorcing the prison system 0:01:23.311,0:01:28.158 and the whole concept of the imprisonment system from our daily lives too. 0:01:28.298,0:01:31.385 Few problematic consequences arise, I think, from this. 0:01:31.525,0:01:34.645 First off, it has become very hard to criticize the prison system. 0:01:34.785,0:01:38.688 You are less likely to see the root causes and consequences of social issues 0:01:38.828,0:01:41.028 and the effect of social pressures on the people 0:01:41.168,0:01:44.242 who ultimately become inmates in the prison system 0:01:44.382,0:01:48.673 if you don't see the prison system as a product of a certain kind of society. 0:01:48.813,0:01:50.969 It's not independently involved, 0:01:51.109,0:01:54.049 and yet we quietly slip into the habit of this impression. 0:01:54.189,0:01:57.698 More specifically, and as I want to argue, all attempts at social criticism 0:01:57.838,0:02:01.575 of the method of imprisonment need to flow from an understanding 0:02:01.715,0:02:04.805 of the historical precedence that came to produce the prison. 0:02:05.649,0:02:10.276 This is rarely done academically and never in mainstream media. 0:02:10.416,0:02:13.917 This notion of separation also allows for the methods of the prison system 0:02:14.058,0:02:17.542 to be transferred to a general society whilst maintaining a certain doublethink 0:02:17.682,0:02:19.874 that these methods are not being used. 0:02:20.014,0:02:22.284 Ever-increasing and ever-powerful surveillance 0:02:22.424,0:02:24.828 is quite an embedded part of life now, 0:02:24.968,0:02:29.096 and yet it goes unnoticed by many because we are 'outside the prison', 0:02:29.236,0:02:31.623 therefore we must be free. 0:02:32.454,0:02:37.236 Comparisons of the school system with a prison are met with a priori cynicism 0:02:37.376,0:02:41.311 and are mostly made half jokingly by students who are only quietly aware 0:02:41.451,0:02:45.422 that the school system much more closely resembles the coercive organization 0:02:45.562,0:02:48.927 of prison than people would comfortably admit. 0:02:49.067,0:02:52.610 But, the reinforcer is there: You are not in a prison, you are outside; 0:02:52.750,0:02:55.835 and even though you may be in another social institution, 0:02:55.975,0:02:58.066 the logic and methods of the prison system 0:02:58.206,0:03:01.215 in your life are made to appear non-overlapping. 0:03:01.355,0:03:03.666 You should be thankful that you are not in prison. 0:03:03.806,0:03:08.730 This is a powerful enforcer against critical engagement with prison as well. 0:03:09.481,0:03:13.108 The 3rd and final effect of dividing up prison and society I want to dwell on 0:03:13.248,0:03:15.905 concerns the reform movement towards prison. 0:03:16.045,0:03:18.120 While it may seem an odd thing to say, 0:03:18.260,0:03:21.236 the debate against prisons' various failings or successes 0:03:21.376,0:03:26.032 is automatically framed as an argument for increasing its abilities. 0:03:26.172,0:03:30.253 The demand for reform, improvements, inspections, accountability 0:03:30.393,0:03:34.757 are all impulses of the same core values that gave birth to the prison itself. 0:03:34.897,0:03:37.732 Thus we easily slip into solving the problems of prisons 0:03:37.872,0:03:42.329 with a debate framed within the assumptions of creating more imprisonment, 0:03:42.469,0:03:45.663 in a sense that the attributes of surveillance, structured administration 0:03:45.803,0:03:50.484 and the demand for improvement and tracking of a subject that we see in the prison 0:03:50.624,0:03:54.199 are all reasserted on the prison itself, magnifying it more. 0:03:54.905,0:03:58.536 Let's give prison the context we need in order to understand it. 0:03:58.676,0:04:00.924 What came before the practice of the prison? 0:04:01.065,0:04:06.128 What happened to people caught in transgressions of the law in pre-carceral days? 0:04:06.268,0:04:08.925 What were the development pressures of imprisonment, 0:04:09.065,0:04:11.619 and how have they continued up to the present day? 0:04:11.759,0:04:14.253 What does it actually mean, in social terms, 0:04:14.393,0:04:17.570 to be living in a society that makes use of a prison system? 0:04:18.245,0:04:21.113 In his book 'Discipline and Punish | The birth of the Prison' 0:04:21.254,0:04:25.393 Michel Foucault recalls a famous case of public execution in 1757 0:04:25.533,0:04:28.133 of a regicide named Robert-François Damiens. 0:04:28.273,0:04:30.112 On the 1st of March, 1757, 0:04:30.252,0:04:33.567 Damiens the regicide was condemned to make the 'Amende Honorable' 0:04:33.707,0:04:37.053 before the main door of the church of Paris, where he was to be taken 0:04:37.193,0:04:40.058 and conveyed in a cart wearing nothing but a shirt, 0:04:40.198,0:04:43.010 holding a torch of burning wax weighing two pounds. 0:04:43.150,0:04:45.872 Then, in said cart, to the place de Grève 0:04:46.012,0:04:48.959 where on a scaffold that will be erected there, the flesh will be torn 0:04:49.099,0:04:54.339 from his breasts, arms, thighs and cleaved with red-hot pincers, 0:04:54.479,0:04:58.471 his right hand holding the knife with which he committed the said parricide, 0:04:58.611,0:05:02.350 burnt with sulphur; and on those places where the flesh will be torn away 0:05:02.490,0:05:04.876 poured molten-lead, boiling oil, 0:05:05.016,0:05:08.238 burning resin, wax and sulphur melted together, 0:05:08.378,0:05:10.898 and then his body drawn and quartered by four horses, 0:05:11.038,0:05:14.315 and his limbs and body consumed by fire, reduced to ashes 0:05:14.455,0:05:16.767 and the ashes thrown to the wind. 0:05:18.387,0:05:21.417 The account covers in detail the final moments of this goring. 0:05:21.557,0:05:24.375 Then the executioner, his sleeves rolled up, took the steel pincers 0:05:24.515,0:05:26.606 which had been especially made for the occasion 0:05:26.746,0:05:30.194 and were about a foot-and-a-half long, 0:05:30.334,0:05:33.029 pulled first the calf of the right leg, 0:05:33.169,0:05:37.070 then of the thigh, and from there, the two fleshy parts of the right arm, 0:05:37.210,0:05:39.532 then, at the breasts. 0:05:39.672,0:05:42.991 Though a strong, sturdy fellow, the executioner found it so difficult 0:05:43.131,0:05:46.318 to tear away the pieces of flesh that he set about the same spot 0:05:46.458,0:05:49.167 two or three times, twisting the pincers as he did so; 0:05:49.307,0:05:53.154 and what he took away formed at each part a wound about the size 0:05:53.294,0:05:55.893 of a 6-pound crown piece. 0:05:56.674,0:05:59.296 Stories like the one of Damiens are extremely common 0:05:59.436,0:06:03.365 for this time period and for the hundreds to thousands of years before it. 0:06:03.505,0:06:06.482 Indeed, in the pre-modern era we often find stories 0:06:06.622,0:06:09.049 of the beheaded, treasonous characters from history 0:06:09.189,0:06:12.184 having their heads placed on London Bridge's entrance. 0:06:12.324,0:06:15.784 The stories of Henry VIII, his misadventures towards his wives, 0:06:15.924,0:06:18.185 the methods by which Guy Fawkes was placed on the rack 0:06:18.325,0:06:21.883 and then ultimately hanged: These are common to our historical understandings. 0:06:22.023,0:06:24.756 I think it is with seemingly great relief 0:06:24.896,0:06:28.246 that many parts of the world have now abandoned public torture and execution. 0:06:29.287,0:06:32.876 On the face of it, this has been a humane move, 0:06:33.016,0:06:36.196 informed by design, not to see wanton, visceral bloodshed 0:06:36.336,0:06:38.750 performed by the State on its own people 0:06:38.890,0:06:43.200 in those societies that have abandoned either the death penalty 0:06:43.340,0:06:45.829 or any other overt public torture or execution. 0:06:45.969,0:06:49.746 However, before we move away from staged state violence, 0:06:49.886,0:06:53.766 the following points need to be made which help us understand this transition. 0:06:53.906,0:06:56.547 Public executions are just that: public. 0:06:56.687,0:06:59.569 As a spectacle, the event consists of a singular criminal 0:06:59.709,0:07:03.461 or defined set of criminals usually raised on a stage for better viewing, 0:07:03.601,0:07:06.197 surrounded by gazes of the onlookers. 0:07:06.337,0:07:09.898 In fact, there are historical precedence of crowds of expectant onlookers 0:07:10.038,0:07:13.666 rioting because a certain execution was held in private 0:07:13.806,0:07:16.918 or organized with limited or obstructed viewing. 0:07:17.058,0:07:21.792 Such was the expectation of the public to have a visible event. 0:07:22.710,0:07:25.605 Events were also explicitly ordered for 0:07:25.745,0:07:28.274 and performed by agents of the state. 0:07:28.414,0:07:32.314 The hanged man is not an aggressor so much as the showman for the crowd 0:07:32.454,0:07:34.747 and an employee of the state. 0:07:34.887,0:07:39.137 As is particularly the case with treason, the crimes that have been committed 0:07:39.277,0:07:42.049 are seen as against the monarch or the head of state. 0:07:42.189,0:07:46.156 The violence retribution that takes place is at once the expunging of the crime, 0:07:46.296,0:07:49.704 often symbolically as with Damiens whose hand held the knife 0:07:49.844,0:07:52.663 with which the attempted murder of the king was made. 0:07:53.202,0:07:56.956 It's also a reassertion of the power of the monarch or state head, 0:07:57.096,0:07:59.820 which has been undermined by the transgression of one of the laws 0:07:59.960,0:08:02.777 that the monarch has made, and which defines the power 0:08:02.917,0:08:05.879 to which the serfs are indeed subject. 0:08:06.019,0:08:08.651 The sovereign's power is acted out physically on the subjects 0:08:08.791,0:08:11.822 and the gaze of the onlookers at once empowers the event as theatrical, 0:08:11.962,0:08:14.300 noteworthy and central, whilst one would think 0:08:14.440,0:08:18.063 also forming a strong negative reinforcement to the witnesses. 0:08:18.203,0:08:21.702 This is what happens if you disobey the laws of the land. 0:08:21.842,0:08:24.140 To move away from this kind of punishment 0:08:24.280,0:08:27.670 to an organization of corrective institutionalization and surveillance 0:08:27.810,0:08:30.838 is often considered as one driven by the enlightenment 0:08:30.978,0:08:34.514 or a new set of human-based values and understandings towards human behaviour 0:08:34.654,0:08:36.687 or the nature of what we call 'evil'. 0:08:36.827,0:08:39.212 It is seen predominantly as the melioration 0:08:39.352,0:08:42.900 of the viciousness of the punitive mechanisms of the social order, 0:08:43.039,0:08:48.597 a more humane form of interaction between society and the criminal individual. 0:08:48.737,0:08:52.263 Indeed, the move from torture to punishment and imprisonment 0:08:52.403,0:08:56.833 as the main corrective function occurred in Europe in under 80 years, 0:08:56.973,0:09:01.281 making it a very speedy and almost sudden move in the force of punishment. 0:09:01.421,0:09:05.072 It demonstrates that large changes in the social organization can happen, 0:09:05.212,0:09:08.375 but in this case the move was not driven predominantly 0:09:08.515,0:09:11.617 by these values at all, but by something else. 0:09:11.757,0:09:16.532 The morphing of societal methods of treating transgressions occurred in tandem with 0:09:16.672,0:09:18.769 the development of an economy more closely founded 0:09:18.909,0:09:21.582 on the ideas of private property and ownership. 0:09:21.722,0:09:25.289 A reorganization of power occurred that relocated the point of application of power 0:09:25.429,0:09:28.820 from the body whose physicality was tied up in a more agricultural 0:09:28.960,0:09:32.391 and labour-based economy to what people often term as 'the soul' 0:09:32.531,0:09:35.979 or the more inner light of the delinquent products of that society. 0:09:36.119,0:09:39.664 Theft and other property-related crimes belong to the physical, 0:09:39.804,0:09:42.889 but once more ideological crimes come into play, like an up-tick 0:09:43.029,0:09:46.361 in the amount of fraud that occurs as a market-based economy 0:09:46.501,0:09:50.358 and a monetary paradigm begin to dominate, the more the power becomes effective 0:09:50.498,0:09:52.865 if it is relocated to the behavioural 0:09:53.005,0:09:55.576 rather than the physical side of the human being. 0:09:55.716,0:09:58.121 Consequently, we see the following: 0:09:58.261,0:10:00.476 The gallows are largely replaced by handcuffs, 0:10:00.616,0:10:03.624 and the public spectacle that was overt, punitive violence 0:10:03.764,0:10:06.317 and state termination of bodies has now been replaced by 0:10:06.457,0:10:09.637 an inverted spectacle that is worth noting. 0:10:09.777,0:10:13.335 Where once the lone criminal was gazed upon by a multitude, 0:10:13.475,0:10:15.759 by and by the institutional form of correction 0:10:15.899,0:10:20.111 has inverted this model into the modern recognizable prison organization: 0:10:20.251,0:10:25.280 a multitude of prisoners, all confined, separated, a crowd of individuals 0:10:25.420,0:10:29.489 rather than a throng surrounding a central, all-seeing tower 0:10:29.629,0:10:32.034 which allows constant supervision of the inmates, 0:10:32.174,0:10:35.520 but whose watching eye is itself not identifiable. 0:10:35.660,0:10:39.254 It is unseen, invisible. Indeed, as Foucault himself put it: 0:10:39.394,0:10:41.889 "Visibility is a trap." 0:10:42.029,0:10:44.984 This then was the invention of the 'Panopticon' 0:10:45.124,0:10:47.780 by a cheerful chap called Jeremy Bentham (there he is), 0:10:47.920,0:10:52.797 a structured excluding building that would house always-visible criminals; 0:10:52.937,0:10:56.308 and although the Panopticon is most famous for its central tower 0:10:56.448,0:10:59.512 and often round nature of the buildings, 0:10:59.652,0:11:02.744 actually over time surveillance has become digital, 0:11:02.884,0:11:07.012 and as such the ever-present centre can now be aided by CCTV 0:11:07.152,0:11:10.536 and similar measures rather than the need for direct line of sight. 0:11:10.676,0:11:14.206 So, even though today's prisons look rather different to this model of operation, 0:11:14.346,0:11:17.872 we can see how surveillance is the thing that has most empowered itself 0:11:18.012,0:11:21.085 in our punitive measures; and we can also see 0:11:21.225,0:11:24.107 that those measures are totalising, born of a central tower, 0:11:24.247,0:11:27.078 now morphed into a hi-tech control room. 0:11:27.728,0:11:30.334 No longer are the crowd watching the criminal. 0:11:30.474,0:11:34.793 A crowd of criminals is now being watched, isolated independently by cells 0:11:34.933,0:11:38.917 and the larger layout of the prison; 0:11:39.057,0:11:42.635 and yet made uniform by literally, uniforms, 0:11:42.775,0:11:45.118 shared rules and statuses. 0:11:45.258,0:11:49.224 They can be both entirely separated from the world in solitary confinement, 0:11:49.364,0:11:52.798 and yet have every move and behaviour inspected and supervised. 0:11:52.938,0:11:57.061 In fact, the word 'super-vision' has its roots in literally overseeing; 0:11:57.201,0:11:59.763 those two meanings of regulating an event 0:11:59.903,0:12:03.776 as well as having complete views of it are preserved in the modern phrase. 0:12:04.807,0:12:07.714 Such a system is always defended (especially by politicians) 0:12:07.854,0:12:11.964 as something that works in reducing crime and making society safer. 0:12:12.104,0:12:15.502 Indeed, the inbuilt, psychological effect of locking up human delinquents 0:12:15.642,0:12:19.923 is to bestow an ill-conceived feeling of being protected from them, 0:12:20.063,0:12:23.471 and indeed this feeling of needing protection itself becomes an engine 0:12:23.611,0:12:26.741 for the maintaining of such a system of punitive function. 0:12:26.881,0:12:30.688 Incarceration is also broadly characterized in two ways 0:12:30.828,0:12:34.543 which maintain its persistence as an accepted function in society. 0:12:34.683,0:12:37.190 One is the negative reinforcement: 0:12:37.330,0:12:39.567 People believe that peoples' experience of prison, 0:12:39.707,0:12:42.465 of being deprived of liberty, should correct that behaviour 0:12:42.605,0:12:45.697 so that upon their release they will integrate with that society, 0:12:45.837,0:12:48.158 or others exclaim "Some are just so bad 0:12:48.298,0:12:50.726 that you should just lock 'em up and throw away the key!" 0:12:50.866,0:12:53.595 This view essentially chooses to see the prison system 0:12:53.735,0:12:57.348 as a permanent container for the permanently dangerous. 0:12:57.967,0:13:01.218 It is maintained in the pro-imprisonment rhetoric 0:13:01.358,0:13:03.894 that prisons ought to be pacifying the criminals, 0:13:04.034,0:13:07.871 to be normalizing them so they can be potentially released in most cases. 0:13:08.011,0:13:09.837 This, of course, presupposes 0:13:09.977,0:13:13.279 that they be non-violent enough to be trusted with freedom. 0:13:13.419,0:13:16.638 One of foundations of being able to coexist with the wide population 0:13:16.778,0:13:19.648 is the curbing of violent behaviour towards the self and others; 0:13:19.788,0:13:24.551 such an impulse and tendency should be implicitly generated by a system 0:13:24.691,0:13:28.923 that is built to be the normalizer of human beings for social coexistence. 0:13:29.063,0:13:32.027 Yet, I want to impress upon you the following: 0:13:32.167,0:13:35.667 The prison system, its structure, its foundational ideology of punishment 0:13:35.807,0:13:40.676 through negative reinforcement, its governing legal mechanisms, 0:13:40.816,0:13:43.502 and its criminal, administrative and interpersonal hierarchies 0:13:43.642,0:13:46.263 are implicitly those that instill, promote, 0:13:46.403,0:13:49.346 require, enable and affect violence. 0:13:49.486,0:13:51.670 It is no longer the priority of the prison, 0:13:51.810,0:13:54.053 nor was it likely ever the main priority 0:13:54.193,0:13:57.124 to sustainably and correctly adjust human beings 0:13:57.264,0:14:00.625 to a society in a cooperative manner; and even if it were, 0:14:00.765,0:14:03.305 the main, actual effect of prison is in large part 0:14:03.445,0:14:06.015 the worsening of human social integrity. 0:14:06.155,0:14:09.140 I'll break this down into the following subheadings: 0:14:09.280,0:14:12.442 1) Prison's meta-social effects 0:14:13.231,0:14:16.147 This is the evidence of prison's negative effect upon all inhabitants 0:14:16.287,0:14:19.479 including the guards, whether they are criminals or not 0:14:19.619,0:14:21.709 (that's a key point that I'll explain in a moment). 0:14:21.849,0:14:24.515 2) Decisions and governing methods 0:14:24.655,0:14:28.000 The methods by which decisions are arrived at within the correctional body; 0:14:28.140,0:14:32.434 that body, including the legal system, the courts and their associated costs, 0:14:32.574,0:14:35.525 the rehabilitative organizations that work in tandem with the prison 0:14:35.665,0:14:38.500 during the release and transition of prisoners back home, 0:14:38.640,0:14:41.363 and the hardware, nutrition, 0:14:41.503,0:14:43.889 buildings, telephony and everything else. 0:14:44.029,0:14:46.690 This sounds distant from the topic at hand, but you'll see shortly 0:14:46.830,0:14:50.577 that all of these considerations lie at the heart of what correction actually means, 0:14:50.717,0:14:53.029 how we run it, and in what direction. 0:14:53.169,0:14:54.924 What are we building in there? 0:14:56.151,0:14:58.694 1) Prison's meta-social effects 0:14:59.144,0:15:02.693 James Gilligan, head of the Harvard University Department 0:15:02.833,0:15:06.656 for the Study of Violence, spent decades working in prisons. 0:15:06.796,0:15:10.895 He has stated amongst many others than prisons are, in fact, engines of violence 0:15:11.035,0:15:13.279 which can turn non-violent criminals into violent ones 0:15:13.419,0:15:16.006 right in time for their release. 0:15:16.146,0:15:19.319 Several factors play into this effect, one key element being 0:15:19.459,0:15:24.086 the implicit shame and debasement of becoming subjected to overt coercion. 0:15:24.712,0:15:28.138 Playing into this for some prisoners is the social stigma of being a criminal: 0:15:28.278,0:15:31.444 You are opposed to the social structure as an individual. 0:15:32.058,0:15:35.592 Indeed, the ordered and structured communal nature of prisons 0:15:35.732,0:15:38.930 establishes a powerful educational environment for criminals: 0:15:39.070,0:15:42.174 a school of crime, which spits out shamed, deprived 0:15:42.314,0:15:46.113 and dangerous individuals into a society that understands neither them 0:15:46.253,0:15:49.053 nor the institutions from which they emerge. 0:15:49.541,0:15:52.839 Equally, those sent to prison leave on the outside families 0:15:52.979,0:15:55.964 that are more greatly impoverished by the loss of a breadwinner, 0:15:56.104,0:15:58.507 thus there is the built in downgrading of social cohesion 0:15:58.647,0:16:02.627 at the very point of which the system of punishment meets society. 0:16:02.767,0:16:04.889 Further crime and the psychosocial effects 0:16:05.029,0:16:08.427 of the shame of an imprisoned family member greatly distort an already 0:16:08.567,0:16:12.643 very likely problematic and stressful background of that same family. 0:16:13.225,0:16:15.781 Of course, we abhor violence 0:16:15.921,0:16:19.110 precisely because it generates more violence, 0:16:19.250,0:16:22.632 but closing off many violent people within a confined space 0:16:22.772,0:16:24.935 produces violent effects. 0:16:25.075,0:16:27.262 To quote Gilligan from 'Psychiatric Quarterly' 0:16:27.402,0:16:29.824 describing the Massachusetts' prison system: 0:16:29.964,0:16:32.605 "By the 1970s, the Massachusetts' prison 0:16:32.745,0:16:35.736 had degenerated into a virtual war zone. 0:16:35.876,0:16:39.012 In addition to riots within the maximum security prison alone, 0:16:39.152,0:16:41.912 there were periods in which there was an average of a murder a month 0:16:42.052,0:16:45.671 and one suicide every six weeks in a 600-man prison. 0:16:46.222,0:16:49.873 The decade as a whole ended with a total of more than 100 violent deaths 0:16:50.013,0:16:53.552 in one prison alone, and throughout the prison system as a whole, 0:16:53.692,0:16:56.661 there was an epidemic of riots, arson, hostage taking, 0:16:56.801,0:17:00.609 murder followed by suicide and other violence in which inmates, 0:17:00.749,0:17:05.643 prison staff and even visitors were being killed, raped and injured. 0:17:05.782,0:17:07.961 The federal court investigation that followed 0:17:08.101,0:17:11.968 determined that much of this violence was precipitated by untreated, 0:17:12.108,0:17:17.430 undiagnosed mental illness. Much of it was itself precipitated 0:17:17.569,0:17:20.895 or at least exacerbated by conditions within the prison." 0:17:21.412,0:17:24.747 Gilligan, who found himself placed in charge of this chaos, 0:17:24.887,0:17:27.646 instigated over 10 years of psychological treatment 0:17:27.787,0:17:30.337 and therapies that encouraged and nurtured self-respect 0:17:30.477,0:17:32.395 through positive reinforcement. 0:17:32.535,0:17:35.208 It was a value shift in the approach of rehabilitation. 0:17:35.348,0:17:38.736 He reported "During the first 5 years of our program there were no riots 0:17:38.876,0:17:42.162 at any prison, though there were two serious hosting taking incidents 0:17:42.302,0:17:45.255 both of which we were able to resolve without any deaths. 0:17:45.395,0:17:47.413 No staff members or visitors were killed, 0:17:47.553,0:17:50.204 though 7 inmates throughout the prison system as a whole 0:17:50.344,0:17:52.268 died from homicide or suicide. 0:17:52.408,0:17:55.872 During the second five years there were no riots, no hostage taking, 0:17:56.012,0:17:58.454 one homicide and two suicides. 0:17:58.971,0:18:03.351 That is, there were some entire years with no violent deaths." 0:18:04.170,0:18:06.633 Gilligan's project was unfortunately unraveled 0:18:06.773,0:18:09.761 after 10 years with the refocusing of the new governor 0:18:09.901,0:18:13.774 on reintroducing prisoners to the joys of busting rocks. 0:18:14.293,0:18:17.510 We see the system resetting down to its origins 0:18:17.650,0:18:22.399 with a greater focus on structural violence regardless of provable outcome, 0:18:23.271,0:18:25.377 but for this assertion to be valid, 0:18:25.517,0:18:28.593 that the prison system is itself inherently a nurturer of violence, 0:18:28.733,0:18:32.984 one would have to see non-violent people turn violent in a prison, for one; 0:18:33.124,0:18:36.523 but most helpful would be to see that the encouragement of violence 0:18:36.663,0:18:40.731 might also manifest in a controlled scenario with non-criminals. 0:18:40.871,0:18:45.167 For the first point, that non-violent people may become violent, 0:18:45.307,0:18:49.096 the US prison population is now at some two million people in strength. 0:18:49.236,0:18:51.935 This population quadrupled in the 1980s 0:18:52.075,0:18:55.530 fueled by the war on drugs' mandatory minimum sentencing, 0:18:55.670,0:18:59.453 which prolongs sentences on average to a preset term or longer, 0:18:59.593,0:19:02.084 and by 'truth-in sentencing' which more or less eliminates 0:19:02.224,0:19:06.301 the ability for rewarding better behaviour with parole or similar programs. 0:19:06.441,0:19:08.898 The 'three strikes' law also ensured that repeat offenders 0:19:09.038,0:19:12.054 for crimes including drug-related crimes (non-violent ones) 0:19:12.194,0:19:15.882 would see a quicker jail time now, as well as they'd be in for longer. 0:19:16.564,0:19:20.284 Around half of US convicts are in [prison] for non-violent offences 0:19:20.424,0:19:22.443 (around 20% drug offences); 0:19:22.583,0:19:25.067 but as James Gilligan reminds us, most prisons do more 0:19:25.207,0:19:28.071 to stimulate violence and crime than they do to prevent it. 0:19:28.211,0:19:30.423 Prisons have often been termed 'Schools of Crime'; 0:19:30.563,0:19:33.045 I'd call them 'Graduate Schools of Crime'. 0:19:33.185,0:19:35.891 People often have to become violent in order to survive in them; 0:19:36.031,0:19:38.747 or even if they're not attacked by others, 0:19:38.887,0:19:42.192 they are subjected to conditions of degradation, humiliation, intimidation 0:19:42.332,0:19:45.967 and threats that I think might drive the most saintliest of people 0:19:46.107,0:19:48.723 to become more violent in response. 0:19:48.863,0:19:52.947 But, what if there's no criminals in prison but simply ordinary people? 0:19:53.087,0:19:55.571 Does the problem of violence disappear? 0:19:55.711,0:19:58.875 The theory that prison precipitates violence would predict 0:19:59.015,0:20:03.010 that ordinary people should become distorted by the institution. 0:20:03.150,0:20:06.454 Thankfully, this has been tested and proven valid, 0:20:06.594,0:20:09.423 most notably by Dr. Philip Zimbardo 0:20:09.563,0:20:12.620 and his Stanford Prison Experiment. 0:20:12.760,0:20:16.193 Making use of a disused cellar wing of [a] Stanford University building, 0:20:16.333,0:20:19.331 he and some colleagues constructed a rudimentary cell block 0:20:19.471,0:20:22.277 with locks on the door and secret audio surveillance so that inmates 0:20:22.417,0:20:26.500 could be monitored for their reactions to the environment and other inmates. 0:20:26.640,0:20:29.229 An ad was placed in the paper asking for paid volunteers 0:20:29.369,0:20:33.580 to take part in a 7-14 day experiment at $15 per day. 0:20:34.800,0:20:38.136 Those chosen for the experiment were picked for their mental stability: 0:20:38.276,0:20:41.613 non-aggressive and non-dominant characteristics. 0:20:43.550,0:20:45.443 24 local males in all 0:20:45.583,0:20:48.565 were randomly assigned to be either prisoners or guards. 0:20:48.705,0:20:51.328 Prisoners were stripped of their name and given a number. 0:20:51.468,0:20:54.416 They were given hairnets and other ways of shaming them, 0:20:54.556,0:20:58.151 and they were deloused. There wasn't real delousing powder; 0:20:58.291,0:21:02.819 in fact, that whole delousing process is mostly to shame them on the way in. 0:21:02.959,0:21:05.859 The rules stated: A guard's orders must be obeyed; 0:21:05.999,0:21:08.672 timetables must be kept; house rules were enforced 0:21:08.812,0:21:13.107 and learnt by rote for public recitation, either in order or in part. 0:21:13.679,0:21:17.205 The resulting outcome of this was a practical 'reign of terror' 0:21:17.345,0:21:20.947 by the guards who began with tiresome and deliberately tedious exercises 0:21:21.087,0:21:25.532 such as reciting their prisoner numbers backwards, forwards, in reverse, etc. 0:21:26.283,0:21:29.859 But, as these mentally stable, ordinary boys 0:21:29.999,0:21:33.310 slipped further into their roles as domineering or the domineered, 0:21:33.450,0:21:35.647 more cruel results became apparent. 0:21:35.787,0:21:39.404 Clashes between inmates and guards, hunger strikes, disobedience, 0:21:39.544,0:21:42.982 destruction of prison property and inter-prisoner unrest 0:21:43.122,0:21:45.960 soon gave rise to essentially forms of torture, 0:21:46.100,0:21:48.863 cruelty, sleep deprivation and more. 0:21:49.003,0:21:53.693 One inmate folded after two days of subjection and was replaced. 0:21:53.833,0:21:55.971 All forgot it was an experiment. 0:21:56.111,0:21:59.559 One of the rules even stated that it would not be referred to as such. 0:21:59.699,0:22:02.859 Even Zimbardo (as a fictional prison superintendent) 0:22:02.999,0:22:07.258 ended up seeking snitches, convincing upset prisoners to stay on 0:22:07.398,0:22:09.691 and subject themselves further, etc. 0:22:09.831,0:22:12.260 The experiment collapsed after five days, 0:22:12.400,0:22:14.284 and does it remind you of anywhere? 0:22:14.424,0:22:16.154 Google thinks so: 0:22:16.642,0:22:18.487 It says Abu Ghraib. 0:22:19.432,0:22:21.970 Hand-in-hand with Zimbardo's experiment 0:22:22.110,0:22:25.764 comes the direct association with Stanley Milgram, whom we've had mentioned today; 0:22:25.904,0:22:28.871 and indeed Milgram and Zimbardo were at one time high school friends. 0:22:29.011,0:22:31.496 Milgram's experiment showed that over 90% of people 0:22:31.636,0:22:34.377 who were placed in the experiment would apply what they believed 0:22:34.517,0:22:37.458 to be mortally dangerous electric shocks to unseen victims, 0:22:37.598,0:22:41.675 when commanded to do so by a white-coat-uniformed head of the experiment. 0:22:41.815,0:22:44.494 Zimbardo shows us that ordinary people within a prison structure 0:22:44.634,0:22:46.462 can produce tension and violence. 0:22:46.602,0:22:49.768 Depersonalization runs right through the whole schema of command, 0:22:49.908,0:22:53.049 and coercion, and power administration within a structure. 0:22:53.189,0:22:57.900 We turn the ordinary into exactly the kind of distorted creature 0:22:59.443,0:23:01.874 by treating them in a distorted way. 0:23:02.014,0:23:06.457 Milgram, on the other hand, shows us how people can be led to punish others. 0:23:06.597,0:23:10.095 As such, we have to decode the behaviour of the brutal prison guards, 0:23:10.235,0:23:12.920 not as one of corruption of the prison methodology, 0:23:13.060,0:23:16.327 but in fact another symptom of its effect on human beings 0:23:16.467,0:23:19.345 regardless on which side of the law they stand on. 0:23:19.895,0:23:22.399 Part ll: Decisions and Governance 0:23:22.539,0:23:26.662 What steps are we taking to adapt prison? What are we adapting it towards? 0:23:26.802,0:23:28.929 What governs the development of prison now? 0:23:29.069,0:23:32.844 Many would contend that it would still be the eradication of criminal behaviour 0:23:32.984,0:23:36.326 or the paying of a social debt in some way. 0:23:36.466,0:23:40.348 Since my claim is that the culture is what births the prison, 0:23:40.488,0:23:42.851 we should also be able to predict the following: 0:23:42.991,0:23:47.204 A culture in society rooted to a great extent in the profit mechanism 0:23:47.344,0:23:50.792 should see its prison system reflect this tendency 0:23:50.932,0:23:53.507 of profit before every other consideration, 0:23:53.647,0:23:57.273 i.e., collusion, fraud, and so on, in a similar manner. 0:23:58.424,0:24:00.211 So, it comes as no surprise 0:24:00.351,0:24:03.026 that we do find the evolution of privately-run prison 0:24:03.166,0:24:06.874 as a powerful dominant force in the system of correction today. 0:24:07.014,0:24:11.635 American entities Wackenhut and CCA (the Correction Corporation of America) 0:24:11.775,0:24:14.773 and their international subsidiaries in Australia and elsewhere 0:24:14.913,0:24:18.755 are now prominent, but much well less known than one would think, 0:24:18.895,0:24:23.163 sold into society as 'cheaper alternatives' than state-run institutions, 0:24:23.303,0:24:26.535 but being more 'efficient' because of corporate backing. 0:24:26.675,0:24:30.796 CCA, for example, is now at the point where an offer is on the table 0:24:30.936,0:24:33.252 to run the entire correctional apparatus 0:24:33.392,0:24:36.433 in the 48 states of the United States. 0:24:36.871,0:24:38.861 A key element of the offer 0:24:39.001,0:24:43.015 is the promised occupancy rate of at least 90%. 0:24:43.938,0:24:47.952 In other words, we are now measuring the success of the prison system 0:24:48.092,0:24:50.804 by economic indicators that run counter 0:24:50.944,0:24:53.965 to the welfare of the inmates and the wider population. 0:24:54.105,0:24:58.526 It is now valued by its larger size rather than its smaller size. 0:24:58.666,0:25:03.455 It is valued by the money it saves, not the lives it saves. 0:25:04.106,0:25:07.219 The maintenance of at least a stable prison population 0:25:07.359,0:25:10.538 and at best a growing prison population 0:25:10.678,0:25:14.808 has become built into the welfare of thousands of satellite industries. 0:25:14.948,0:25:17.633 Two million prisoners eat six million meals a day, 0:25:17.773,0:25:20.983 meaning literally a captive audience for catering services. 0:25:21.123,0:25:23.983 The telephony company Sprint has made large contracts with prisons 0:25:24.123,0:25:26.933 to provide communication services. Inmates get sick, 0:25:27.073,0:25:30.922 allowing for private health companies to thrive servicing the population. 0:25:31.062,0:25:34.275 Wackenhut and CCA trade their stock on Wall Street 0:25:34.415,0:25:36.715 based on the size of the prisoner population, 0:25:36.855,0:25:39.856 the larger the better for the economy. 0:25:39.996,0:25:42.737 Now, I already mentioned the 3 US laws: 0:25:42.877,0:25:46.670 the Three Strikes Law, Truth in Sentencing, Mandatory Minimum Sentencing, 0:25:46.810,0:25:49.194 all of which have an effect on prison population. 0:25:49.334,0:25:52.707 It's interesting to note that these laws and many like them 0:25:52.847,0:25:55.851 are actually drafted by an organization called 0:25:55.991,0:26:00.484 the American Legislative Exchange Council (amusingly ALEC, for short). 0:26:00.624,0:26:03.831 Hundreds of state laws are passed each year 0:26:03.971,0:26:09.014 under the banner of being the 'Unsung Heroes' of American public policy. 0:26:09.817,0:26:11.857 ALEC states that its agenda is to: 0:26:11.997,0:26:16.631 promote free markets, small governments, state rights and privatization. 0:26:16.771,0:26:18.602 During these closed meetings, 0:26:18.742,0:26:22.340 hundreds of delegates from the prison industrial complex like Wackenhut 0:26:22.480,0:26:27.601 pay large dues to sit at the table together and eek-out pre-written templates 0:26:27.741,0:26:30.835 for state laws, that are then brought back by the state reps 0:26:30.975,0:26:33.515 to their own states, where they're then dressed up 0:26:33.655,0:26:36.635 and passed as the conclusions of that state representative 0:26:36.775,0:26:39.939 instead of the corporation gaining off their passage into law. 0:26:40.079,0:26:43.634 Do you now see why I don't trust the idea of government? 0:26:45.029,0:26:47.068 It's built in! 0:26:47.208,0:26:49.262 [Applause] 0:26:51.590,0:26:54.940 Truth in Sentencing and widely spread Mandatory Minimum Sentencing 0:26:55.080,0:26:59.424 and the Three Strikes Law have all been promoted heavily into acceptance 0:26:59.564,0:27:02.957 by ALEC's Criminal Justice Task Force, which included CCA 0:27:03.097,0:27:06.234 (which now claim as of last year to have left ALEC), and others 0:27:06.374,0:27:09.870 in a bid to insure a growing and robust prison population 0:27:10.010,0:27:15.281 which in turn insures the viability of the private prison enterprises involved. 0:27:15.421,0:27:19.190 Further (it gets better), forced labour, either for a pittance 0:27:19.330,0:27:22.927 or no pay at all, means that companies now regularly use prison labour 0:27:23.067,0:27:26.514 to produce the products more cheaply in order to sell at a higher cost 0:27:26.654,0:27:29.536 (or greater profit) to the non-imprisoned population. 0:27:29.676,0:27:33.035 There's only a mild difference there, isn't there? 0:27:33.175,0:27:36.913 This is more economically efficient if profit is your guiding light, 0:27:37.053,0:27:39.806 not if we're talking about the viability of prison 0:27:39.946,0:27:42.667 as a tool for social rehabilitation. 0:27:42.807,0:27:46.779 This should be termed what it is, Ladies and Gentlemen: Slavery 2.0! 0:27:46.919,0:27:50.287 It is the wholesale refocusing of the measure of success 0:27:50.427,0:27:53.800 of this system into economic indicators that are based on deprivation, 0:27:53.940,0:27:56.794 restricted access and control in the first place. 0:27:56.934,0:28:00.913 It has spread to corporate prisons in the UK, Australia and beyond. 0:28:01.053,0:28:03.307 If prison is a microcosm of the society 0:28:03.447,0:28:06.185 as James Gilligan has stated in his book 'Preventing Violence' 0:28:06.325,0:28:10.099 and which Dostoyevski essentially alludes to in my opening quotation of him, 0:28:10.239,0:28:13.981 then we can expect this to magnify as our paradigm becomes more predatory 0:28:14.121,0:28:17.202 and as the dominant for-profit forces seek to own 0:28:17.342,0:28:20.316 and deflect media attention and influence policy 0:28:20.456,0:28:23.096 as we have come to expect from every other avenue 0:28:23.236,0:28:26.202 which has been taken, and profitized, and commodified, 0:28:26.342,0:28:29.380 and altered into a machine for economic viability 0:28:29.520,0:28:32.003 instead of viability. 0:28:33.442,0:28:35.235 [Applause] 0:28:40.725,0:28:42.756 What's the alternative then? 0:28:42.896,0:28:46.341 About two years ago I was speaking with a cab driver (as I'm wont to do) 0:28:46.481,0:28:48.768 about the Utah man sentenced to death, 0:28:48.908,0:28:51.442 who chose to be killed by firing squad, 0:28:51.880,0:28:53.613 in 2010! 0:28:54.270,0:28:57.791 Now, seguewaying into punishment and its effects, I suggested 0:28:57.931,0:29:00.875 that the violence of the penal system encourages the violence of more crime, 0:29:01.016,0:29:04.688 more social division, more social ills. The cab driver replied: 0:29:04.828,0:29:07.832 "What do you want to do then, give 'em all a medal?" 0:29:07.972,0:29:10.457 This dualistic vision of reward and punishment, 0:29:10.597,0:29:12.646 is quite easy to fall into, 0:29:12.786,0:29:15.491 but we are trying to solve the problem of crime, 0:29:15.631,0:29:17.677 not ignore it or celebrate it. 0:29:18.181,0:29:21.829 Solve it, not manage it within a power framework that perpetuates 0:29:21.969,0:29:25.186 the violence that gave birth to the criminal behaviour in the first place 0:29:25.326,0:29:29.682 and foster a society that less provokes crime and violence to begin with, 0:29:29.822,0:29:32.842 not simply extend the prison bandage further. 0:29:33.490,0:29:36.635 As the work of James Gilligan, Wilkinson and Pickett in the book 0:29:36.775,0:29:40.467 'The Spirit Level' and the work of many others now makes it clear: 0:29:40.973,0:29:44.507 to mistreat a human being, to deprive, limit and shame a human being 0:29:44.647,0:29:48.274 is a sure-fire way of developing more aberrant and violent behaviour. 0:29:48.414,0:29:51.549 Shake a glass jar with ants in it and they will fight. 0:29:51.689,0:29:55.926 Shake it as a punishment, they'll just fight some more, ad infinitum. 0:29:56.843,0:29:58.970 So, I took up the cab driver's challenge 0:29:59.110,0:30:02.731 and looked for alternative prisons or other approaches. 0:30:02.871,0:30:06.951 I didn't have to look too far. Nestled in the mountains of Styria in Austria, 0:30:07.091,0:30:11.251 in the little mining town of Leoben, lies a prison so unrecognisable 0:30:11.391,0:30:14.449 that it actually made viral email rounds in 2008. 0:30:14.589,0:30:17.805 Comments to the effect of: "Perhaps I should go and commit some crimes 0:30:17.945,0:30:21.534 so I can get into this holiday camp!" were rife in the description 0:30:21.674,0:30:24.869 and even ended up echoed under the byline of a New York times article 0:30:25.009,0:30:27.698 that described the prison and talked to the architect. 0:30:27.838,0:30:30.320 So, I thought I'd go and have a look at this place 0:30:30.460,0:30:33.389 and ask the prison warden what his thoughts on the feasibility, function 0:30:33.529,0:30:36.670 and the role of prison were. So, Ladies and Gentleman, I went to prison, 0:30:36.810,0:30:39.234 (which I'm sure you're pleased about.) 0:30:39.374,0:30:41.648 Magister Manfred Giessauf and the Chief Guard 0:30:41.788,0:30:44.012 both gave two generous hours of their time, 0:30:44.152,0:30:47.367 allowed me to record our interview and even showed me around the prison! 0:30:47.507,0:30:50.799 It features a library, built-in artworks into the wall-space 0:30:50.939,0:30:53.896 that were designed to be added to by prisoners, exercise rooms 0:30:54.036,0:30:57.761 and outdoor areas which allow prisoners to become used to seeing distance; 0:30:57.901,0:30:59.932 that's something you don't get, and people forget. 0:31:00.072,0:31:01.713 We take distance for granted. 0:31:01.853,0:31:05.848 The whole edifice is glass structured to deliberately allow light in. 0:31:05.988,0:31:08.570 Consequently the prisoners, not shrouded in darkness, 0:31:08.710,0:31:11.446 have at least some chance to feel that they're in an institution 0:31:11.586,0:31:13.763 that is designed for rehabilitation. 0:31:13.903,0:31:16.926 Consequent to the design, the courses on social reintegration 0:31:17.066,0:31:20.939 offer to prisoners the basic foundation of the prison's modus operandi. 0:31:21.079,0:31:24.793 Prisoner violence is much lower, as are the statistics on absenteeism 0:31:24.933,0:31:27.871 for prison guards; it's about a quarter of what absenteeism is 0:31:28.011,0:31:31.641 for guards in normal prisons, so they're also not suffering. 0:31:31.781,0:31:34.462 The basic tenet of this prison is literally unavoidable, 0:31:34.602,0:31:36.687 sandblasted onto the wall, it states: 0:31:36.827,0:31:39.530 "Jeder, dem seine Freiheit entzogen ist, muss menschlich 0:31:39.670,0:31:42.318 und mit Achtung vor dem Menschen 0:31:42.458,0:31:44.712 innewohnenden Würde behandelt werden", 0:31:44.852,0:31:48.561 "All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity 0:31:48.701,0:31:52.121 and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person." 0:31:52.261,0:31:56.412 That comes from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 0:31:56.552,0:31:58.066 [Applause] 0:31:58.206,0:32:00.411 Yeah, give them a round of applause! 0:32:05.291,0:32:07.710 (They're lovely people. They didn't even question 0:32:07.850,0:32:10.103 what I was asking them for.) 0:32:10.243,0:32:12.996 Leoben Correctional Center's budget was about €50 million. 0:32:13.136,0:32:14.860 It was completed in 2007, 0:32:15.000,0:32:17.822 and had been commissioned through an architectural contest, actually. 0:32:17.962,0:32:21.128 "But for €50 million," I asked, "why not just build more prisons 0:32:21.268,0:32:23.440 or save money and build a cheaper prison? 0:32:23.580,0:32:26.771 After all, isn't being economical to do with saving money, 0:32:26.911,0:32:30.542 cheapening processes, cutting services, trimming the fat?" 0:32:30.682,0:32:32.235 The answer came: 0:32:32.375,0:32:35.880 "It all depends on if you count in the social cost 0:32:36.020,0:32:39.195 to the social economy. You can always build cheaper prisons. 0:32:39.335,0:32:42.568 You may well build a prison whose edifice is cheaper; 0:32:42.708,0:32:45.290 but if you run a prison like the American Supermax Prisons, 0:32:45.631,0:32:48.440 you build human time bombs. 0:32:48.580,0:32:51.222 They are released at some point too, and who knows 0:32:51.362,0:32:53.965 what the social costs are of such an act. 0:32:54.105,0:32:57.717 At the very least, we cannot release prisoners who are worse 0:32:57.857,0:33:00.418 than they were when we received them." 0:33:00.558,0:33:05.303 I'll admit that Leoben is not a complete test case for prison reform or alteration. 0:33:05.443,0:33:07.558 There are no 'lifers' in this system, 0:33:07.698,0:33:10.036 and highly violent criminals are not sent there. 0:33:10.176,0:33:13.095 Ironically, most of the criminals are there for monetary crimes, 0:33:13.235,0:33:16.732 crimes which will most likely be repeated once they're on the outside 0:33:16.872,0:33:19.209 since they're not likely to receive good job prospects 0:33:19.349,0:33:22.948 and most likely have large debts for which they went to prison to begin with. 0:33:23.088,0:33:26.307 It may be a gilded cage, but it is still a cage, 0:33:26.447,0:33:30.080 and still limited in its use and abilities by the overall functioning 0:33:30.220,0:33:34.658 or indeed the dysfunction of the society that ends up populating its buildings. 0:33:34.798,0:33:37.897 It is still a bandage, but a bandage we can learn from, 0:33:38.037,0:33:42.329 whose values come from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: 0:33:42.469,0:33:44.635 the rights of human beings, therefore, 0:33:44.775,0:33:47.900 being the starting point from which to work and not profit 0:33:48.040,0:33:51.366 or cheapness or anything so absurdly slavish 0:33:51.506,0:33:55.476 as the US, UK or Australia's private prison enterprises. 0:33:56.605,0:33:58.768 As a species, we have to understand 0:33:58.908,0:34:02.062 that the desire to see others imprisoned is simply the same violence 0:34:02.202,0:34:03.864 that we see in crime. 0:34:04.004,0:34:06.710 The punishment we inflict on prisoners is the same violence 0:34:06.850,0:34:09.536 we claim to be condemning by acting in that way. 0:34:09.676,0:34:11.790 Above all, it needs to be realized 0:34:11.929,0:34:14.860 that prison isn't there to solve any problems. 0:34:15.001,0:34:19.462 It's another outgrowth of violence and systematized power and control. 0:34:19.601,0:34:22.324 To solve crime, to live in a non-violent society 0:34:22.464,0:34:26.137 is to live in a society in which prisons are eradicated. 0:34:26.277,0:34:30.416 We concentrate our efforts on the positive therapies that prevent violence, 0:34:30.556,0:34:32.664 and at the same time strive for a society 0:34:32.804,0:34:35.560 that prevents violence from the outset. 0:34:35.699,0:34:38.763 To do so is to solve the prison issue. 0:34:39.942,0:34:41.713 [Applause] 0:34:46.179,0:34:49.264 To base a physical institution on human rights is to seek 0:34:49.404,0:34:53.541 the physical modification of that edifice in line with human needs: 0:34:53.681,0:34:57.772 sunlight, space, social interaction; to base it on function 0:34:57.912,0:35:01.072 rather than form requires the ignoring of the balance sheet 0:35:01.212,0:35:04.779 in favour of the successful function of the system upon human beings 0:35:04.919,0:35:08.359 and not the bottom line of some corporation that benefits some small section 0:35:08.499,0:35:11.219 of society's populace that happen to be working for them at that time. 0:35:11.359,0:35:13.714 Of course, it's not their fault, is it? The whole point of this 0:35:13.854,0:35:16.851 is that they're also prisoners of the debt system which is then used 0:35:16.991,0:35:19.657 and systematized and creates the prison system. 0:35:19.797,0:35:22.300 Above all, to solve the problem of crime 0:35:22.440,0:35:25.832 is not to build more prisons like is continually said 0:35:25.972,0:35:28.169 on those Question Time things, 0:35:28.309,0:35:30.623 any more than the solution to a disease is to spend 0:35:30.763,0:35:33.716 more time in a hospital building, rather than treat the illness 0:35:33.856,0:35:37.661 that is debilitating, obstructing and undermining the body. 0:35:37.801,0:35:40.292 The solution to disease is the eradication 0:35:40.432,0:35:44.108 or healing of its non-functioning elements. 0:35:44.596,0:35:47.750 The solution to the disease of crime and the illness of society 0:35:47.890,0:35:50.359 is a ground-up reorientation of social function 0:35:50.499,0:35:53.223 to halt the consequences of social malfunction, 0:35:53.363,0:35:55.150 or what we call crime. 0:35:55.290,0:35:58.001 Until then, we change nothing 0:35:58.141,0:36:01.404 until we change ourselves and what we value; and we make it known. 0:36:01.544,0:36:05.735 Currently, we service problems as cheaply and as forcefully as possible. 0:36:05.875,0:36:08.971 As such, prison is a cheap service of a problem 0:36:09.111,0:36:12.176 not a correct fix to our issues of crime. 0:36:12.715,0:36:16.247 Broadly speaking, prison is the social distillation 0:36:16.387,0:36:20.666 of our attitudes to the human mind and the individual. 0:36:21.395,0:36:25.476 One day, if our cultural assumptions and economic principles grow 0:36:25.616,0:36:29.569 to a solution-oriented scenario with respect to social cohesion 0:36:30.182,0:36:33.398 and true sustainability, our future population 0:36:33.538,0:36:36.554 will look back at our era with arguably more horror 0:36:36.694,0:36:39.748 than we now look back on the prior societies of torture 0:36:39.888,0:36:43.528 and brute violence like we did at the beginning of this presentation, 0:36:43.668,0:36:46.788 for we had the scientific understandings of what works 0:36:46.928,0:36:49.046 and we did not act upon them. 0:36:49.603,0:36:53.323 I want you to feel the gaze of future humanity 0:36:53.463,0:36:56.717 looking back onto our era now, looking back onto when you were alive. 0:36:56.857,0:36:59.859 Place yourself in the future and look now, backwards, 0:37:00.000,0:37:02.026 with the horror they will feel. 0:37:02.166,0:37:04.882 Until we become the groundwork for that future population, 0:37:05.022,0:37:08.086 they will not stop looking at us in horror, disbelief 0:37:08.226,0:37:12.338 and with regret and pathos, for they will understand us better 0:37:12.478,0:37:15.062 than we understand ourselves and our prisoners now. 0:37:15.202,0:37:17.739 For them, indeed, we are all prisoners. 0:37:17.879,0:37:20.211 Now, thank you very much, I'd like to thank all the speakers 0:37:20.351,0:37:22.153 who spoke here today. 0:37:22.293,0:37:23.811 [Applause] 0:37:32.209,0:37:34.289 They do it for free! 0:37:35.509,0:37:37.171 They do it because it's fun. 0:37:37.311,0:37:40.705 I'd like to thank all of you for having come along. 0:37:40.845,0:37:44.202 It's very kind of you; it is not taken for granted, ever. 0:37:44.342,0:37:47.127 We are going to go down the road to a pub! Please join us. 0:37:47.267,0:37:50.127 It's only about 300 yards away on the other side of the road; it's on a corner. 0:37:50.267,0:37:53.068 Sorry, I've forgotten the name of it. We'll be there all night, 0:37:53.208,0:37:56.607 drinking and answering questions and asking you questions, as well. 0:37:56.747,0:37:58.248 Thank you again. 0:37:58.388,0:37:59.894 [Applause] 0:38:00.490,0:38:02.029 Thank you, Ben.