Penology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Penology - Essay Example In a bid to understand what happens in prisons, various authors have participated in various writing. Penology was started in the early 40s with Donald Clemmer publishing the prison Community. The work elicited discussions and in 1958, Gresham Sykes published the society of captives, and lately, Ben Crewe’s The Prison Society. This paper seeks to show how the works of the last two authors confirm that prison is a place of order despite the prisoners outnumbering the guards. Adaptation is so strong that anyone who gets used to a particular habit or place will eventually start living as per the requirements of that place. According to Crewe (2009), adaptation is one of the reasons prisons have order yet the number of prisoners tend to more than the guard’s. Psychologically, the prisoners get acquainted to the regulations, and even though there is some form of resistance at the beginning, there tends to be acceptance once it is evident there is no escape route (Lubin and Schneider, 2009; Crewe and Bennett, 2012). That is to say, the prisoners might at first have self-denial on the reality of the prison, as time goes by it becomes apparent that they will not leave until the right time. Consequently, the psychological change occurs causing the prisoners to accept the fate, leading to observing the rules of the facility (Chantraine, 2004; Lerman, 2013). Similarly, Sykes (2007) noted that when the prisoners adapt to the situation, a relationship and interaction starts. For instance, prisoners are often released to carry out various activities including exercising in the yard, watching television, attend religious activities among others, and these activities help in bonding a relationship with the guards. The result sees the prisoners find no reason warranting an escape, and this helps them adopt the prison as another home. Ricciardelli (2014) who noted that once the prisoners accept the prison as another home, there lacks a need to seek an escape