The Problem of Prison Brutality

From a young age we are taught that rules must be followed and if they are broken there will be consequences. The same goes for those who break the law. Criminals are put into prison for committing a crime and it is in order to protect the public and keep order in society. This is no different from what we have always been told, so why should there be an exception for those who are paid to keep order within the prisons?

Exposés have been used throughout the years to draw attention the hidden issues within society that the public is unaware of. It has come into the light that the administration within prisons is not only turning a blind eye to violence among inmates, but is at times brutalizing those individuals who have been incarcerated. An instance of prison brutality is vividly depicted within The Power of One, a novel by Bryce Courtenay. An older prisoner named Geel Piet is brutally beaten and murdered by a prison warder and the matter is looked over by the administration and the law. No justice or lawful retribution is ever obtained for Geel Piet’s murder; the matter is, more or less, swept under the rug and not dealt with.

I believe that though Geel Piet was a prisoner who deserved to be in jail he still had the right to be treated better than a mere animal. All people have simple basic rights to safety and should be able to expect them to be upheld, whether they are criminals or not. I do not understand how someone working at a prison could senselessly beat a prisoner, much less why they would want to.

Everyday, prisoners are living in constant fear for their lives, not just because they are living among fellow criminals but because an official could beat or murder them and get away with it. If inmates are supposed to go back into society better people it will not happen because of the actions of those in power at the jails. There needs to be a call for greater accountability within the prison system. It is too easy for the administration to say one thing to the public and do another. Society is built upon change and this should be no different. A reform needs to come to the prison system, if not for the criminals then for the civilians who they will eventually walk amongst one day.