Punishment, Freedom, and the Culture of Control: A Review of Torture: America’s Brutal Prisons¹

[1] “America’s Brutal Prisons” was directed by Nick London (2005) with Deborah Davies reporting. It is available from First Run/Icarus Films, 32 Court Street, 21st Floor, Brooklyn, New York 11201; Tel: 718‐488‐8900; E‐mail: [email protected]. The film runs 48 minutes, color. Sale price for video‐dvd is $375, with video rental at $75. For additional information, see http://www.frif.com/index.html.

Abstract

The complex relationship that exits between punishment and freedom is steeped in a rich theoretical history. This history is useful for interpreting contemporary social problems. This article examines the punishment‐freedom association, especially in the context of the prison industrial complex. The documentary film, Torture: America’s Brutal Prisons, is reviewed as a basis to explore how transgressions (violence enacted by guards, cover‐ups perpetrated by prisons officials, and passive consumption of both by the general public) are the result of freedom’s limits rather than its excesses. These failures and harms are linked to capitalism’s status quo message surrounding the culture of control in ultramodern society.

Keywords:

• Punishment
• Torture
• Freedom
• Prison‐Industrial Complex
• US prisons
• Correctional Brutality

Notes

[1] “America’s Brutal Prisons” was directed by Nick London (2005) with Deborah Davies reporting. It is available from First Run/Icarus Films, 32 Court Street, 21st Floor, Brooklyn, New York 11201; Tel: 718‐488‐8900; E‐mail: [email protected]. The film runs 48 minutes, color. Sale price for video‐dvd is $375, with video rental at $75. For additional information, see http://www.frif.com/index.html.