THE CONCEPT OF REHABILITATION AND ITS EFFECTS TO THE PRISONERS

AS PRESENTED IN THE MOVIE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

MEDINA, YVES PETER CARLO D.R.










COMMUNICATION 10 Z
MR. ROLAND P. RABANG
MARCH 18, 2014


I. INTRODUCTION

The Shawshank redemption is an award winning movie in 1994. The story shows the
lives of the prisoners in Shawshank, Maine. Red, one of the main characters, has been in prison
for more than half of his life narrates the whole story. He shares how he met Andry Dufresne, a
banker in Maine, inside the prison in 1947. Andry was convicted to double life sentences for the
murder of his wife and her wifes lover. A crime which he claimed he didnt commit. Upon
entering the Shawshank prison, Andry, along with other prisoners, was warned with the rules
inside in the prison. Thus, the only things they should worship are the bible and the warden.
Andry witnesses the cruel realities inside the prison. A corrupt warden, sadistic guards,
some of his fellow inmates who rape and bit other inmates just to be dominant, these were some
of the people who Andry dealt with for his entire stay inside the prison. But life in prison has not
purely been cruel to Andry. With his knowledge and skills he won the trust and respect of some
of the inmates including the warden himself. With this, it leads his way to discover the
corruption and other anomalies governing the Shawshank. Also, he was able to improve the
prison library which he named after Brooks, the former librarian who committed suicide after
being freed from prison.
Andry was able to escape the prison by making hole through the wall of his cell. He
stayed in the Pacific where he was joined by Red after being granted his parole for over forty
years of his life.
In this paper, the researcher gives focus on the concept of rehabilitation and its effects to
the prisoners of Shawshank as presented in the film. Therefore, this study is only limited on
evaluating the scenarios showed in the movie. And will not relate it neither evaluate the prisons
in real life.
II. FRAMEWORK
In this study, the researcher uses the rehabilitation theory to assess how rehabilitation was
presented in the movie Shawshank redemption. The theory assumes that a certain institution
helps people who commit crimes to readapt to society to become a full and productive citizen.
(Smith n.d.)
The concept of rehabilitation has evolved from the Jacksonian era
1
up to present time. At
first, rehabilitation means isolating individual from the society and giving him time alone to
reflect on what he did. This solitary confinement is accompanied by silent contemplation and
Bible study and it is believed to help the individual cleanse and transform himself. This form of
rehabilitation transformed in the Auburn system
2
in which combined the solitary confinement
and labor. It was in the latter part of the 19
th
century when it is believed that in order to
rehabilitate prisoners they must undergo education and vocational training. (Rehabilitation
Theory)
(Smith n.d.) said that, Rehabilitation became a science of reeducating the criminal with
the values, attitudes, and skills necessary to live lawfully. Rehabilitation thus takes many forms
in practice, including psychological analysis, drug and alcohol treatment, high school
equivalency and other educational programs, vocational training, relationship counselling, anger-

1
A period in late 19
th
Century
2
A penal method of the 19
th
century in which persons worked during the day and were kept in solitary
confinement at night, with enforced silence at all times.
management therapy, religious study, and any other service required to meet the needs of
particular offenders.
Since offenders have different cases and problems, rehabilitation believes that an efficient
program for reform should be fashioned according to the offenders profile. Thus each sentence
is individualized that even they commit the same crime each might be given different sentence.
Prisoners were categorized and treated accordingly. Rehabilitative punishment is tailored to the
offender rather than to the crime. (Ibid)
However due to some inefficiency of the previous means in rehabilitation the medical
model has developed. In this model, scientific disciplines like psychiatry, psychology and
criminology were used to rehabilitate criminals. They viewed crimes as diseases, thus needed to
be treated. They believed that the causes of crimes could be linked to biological, physiological or
psychological defects of the individual. (Rehabilitation Theory)
Lastly, recent approaches to justify rehabilitation use the concept of community. Instead
of excluding the offender to the community, he must be treated as part of the community of
interests to be addressed. Others see offender and the community or the society are against
each other. Hence, there is an assumption that offender and communitys interests are in conflict.
And even if there are conflicts, the state-obligated rehabilitation is based on the rights that
offenders share with other citizens even after they have offended, communitarian approaches to
rehabilitation recognize that offenders mostly belong to communities, and that their memberships
and affiliations need to continue, or to be repaired, if they are to be reintegrated into normal
membership of communities. (Raynor 2009)
Smith (n.d.) stated that, despite of the development of rehabilitation, it never escaped the
eyes of the opponents of this form of punishment especially the retributivists
3
. For them,
rehabilitation as a form of punishment is too immoral and too impractical. Like in the case of the
medical model, in which illegal practices, such as injection of drugs and performance of
psychosurgery, are done just to rehabilitate the offenders. Also it is morally unjustifiable allows
the offender denies his responsibility for his actions by attributing his behavior to forces beyond
his control such as his sickness or circumstances.
Rehabilitation fails to understand the essence of punishment. It thus treats the offenders
as if they are not ultimately accountable to their choices. Hence, the retributivists aiming for
retribution in which prisoners will receive a punishment congruent to the crimes committed.
(Ibid)
However, this paper only focuses on the concept of rehabilitation and does not consider
the arguments against the said punishment. It will look at how the different approaches in
rehabilitation have been used in the movie and how effective they are in doing their purpose.
Hence, the efficiency of such mechanisms in rehabilitating will be evaluated on the cases of
Andry, Red and Brooks as illustrated in the story.
III. ANALYSIS
Mentioned above are the different approaches in rehabilitation from the 19
th
century up to
present. The setting of the movie Shawshank redemption was around 1940s. Hence some means
to rehabilitate the offenders were seen in the movie.

3
People who
advocate the punishment of criminals in retribution for the harmthey have inflicted.
The concept of solitary confinement is seen throughout the movie. Upon entering the
prison, offenders were given Bible. Hence, prisoners are given the instrument to help them
reflect and be close to God. Also, each time that a certain prisoner acted violently or disobeyed
any rules inside the prison they are being sent to the hole
4
for a duration determined by the
warden or police officer.
Labor is also seen in the movie. Prisoners do the laundry, do some land cultivation,
Andry do the accountanting of the prison and above all they do community service. As the
warden mentioned in his speech to the press,
No free ride. But rather a genuine progressive, advance in corrections and rehabilitation. Our
inmates properly supervised will be put to work outside these walls. Performing all manner of
public service. These men can learn the value of an honest days labor while providing a
valuable service to the community and at a bare minimum of expense to Mr. And Mrs. John Q.
Taxpayer.
There are many other ways in rehabilitating, however, these were the only ways seen in
the movie. From these mechanisms the researcher wants to evaluate their effectiveness to
Brooks, Red and Andry, three among the prisoners of Shawshank. The researcher presents
scenarios and lines taken from the movie that will support the implications and effects of such
mechanism.

Brooks Case
Brooks: I dont like it here. Im tired of being afraid all the time. Ive decided not to
stay.
Brooks was given parole after fifty years in prison. Ironically, Brooks didnt want to be
freed from prison. He almost killed one of the prisoners as he acted paranoid after receiving the

4
A dark cell in where prisoner cant get out unless freed by the warden or police.
news. Hes afraid he cant make it on the outside. Thus, he killed himself in his apartment after
being freed from prison.
The way Red sees it; Brooks feel hes worthless outside. Hence, he has been
institutionalized for fifty years. Red said to Heywood these following statements after Brooks
almost killed him: He is just institutionalized. The man has been here for fifty years, Heywood.
Fifty years. This is all he knows. In here, hes an important man. Hes an educated man. Outside,
hes nothing.
In Brooks case it is clear the rehabilitation inside the prison was not a success since he
fails to consider himself as part of the society again after being imprisoned for fifty years. Thus,
he decided to kill himself.
Reds Case
On his 20 years in jail:
Question: You feel you have been rehabilitated?
RED: Oh yes sir. Absolutely, sir. I mean I learned my lesson. I can honestly say. Im a changed
man. Im no longer a danger to the society. Thats Gods honest truth.
Judgement: Rejected
On his 30 years in jail:
Question: You feel you have been rehabilitated?
RED: Oh yes sir. Without a doubt. And I can honestly say Im a changed man. No danger to
society here. Gods honest truth. Absolutely rehabilitated.
Judgement: Rejected
On his 40 years in jail.
Question: You feel you have been rehabilitated?
RED: Rehabilitated? Well, now, let me see. You know, I dont even have any idea what that
means.
OFFICER: Well it means, you are ready to rejoin the society.
RED: I know what you think it means, sonny. To me, its just a made-up word. A politicians
word so that young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and tie and have a job. What do you really
want to know? Am I sorry for what I did?
OFFICER: Well are you?
RED: Theres not a day goes by I dont feel regret. Not because Im in here or because you think
I should. I look back on the way I was then. A young stupid kid who committed that terrible
crime. I wanna talk to him. I wanna try and talk some sense to him. Tell him the way things are.
But I cant. That kids long gone. This old man is all thats left. I gotta live with that.
Rehabilitated? Its just a bullshit word. So you go on stamp and stamp your form, sonny, and
stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I dont give a shit.

Judgement: Approved
Presented above are the verbatim conversations between Red and the officers who grant
parole. Clearly shows that on the 40
th
year of Red inside the prison he lost hope of getting freed.
Also, hes afraid that like Brooks he cant make it on the outside. He sees himself as worthless.
Red: Harsh truth that I face today; No way Im gonne make it on the outside. Breaking his
parole had became one of his options, like Brooks, so they can return back to prison which they
consider home for people like them. Institutionalized and a worthless person in the society.
Luckily, he remembered his promise to Andry that when he gets freed he will follow Andry in
the Pacific and start a new life.

Andrys Case
Unlike Brooks and Red, Andry was never given a parole since he just escaped from
prison. However, it is quite interesting to note that Andry compare to Brooks and Red has no
notion if he can survive outside the prison. Thus, there is no question in his mind whether he will
be accepted or he will be welcomed back to the society.
Andry knows his worth inside and outside the prison. He knows hes not guilty, he stayed
inside the Shawshank relatively shorter as compared to Brooks and Red and he has finished
education and has a profession. These factors could explain why Andrys didnt have a hard time
in living a new life after being out of Shawshank unlike what Brooks and Red experienced. Since
Brooks and Red were really guilty to the crimes sentenced to them, they were imprisoned longer
as comapared to Andry and above all they failed to finish their education.

IV. CONCLUSION

The concept of rehabilitation as presented in the movie is now put to question. Since they
failed to make Brooks and Red feel that they were ready to be readopted to the society, hence
rehabilitated. Although there were efforts made by the prison to try to rehabilitate them, the
violence and misconception on how to rehabilitate prisoners prevailed.
In the movie, the solitary confinement, labor and community service were done to
rehabilitate the prisoners. However, the prisoners didnt appreciate these efforts because their
trust and respect to their warden and policemen were waned as they see how they are being
treated. Violence, abuse of power and corruption were evidently since in the entire movie.
In the whole movie, they keep asking Red if he feel he has been rehabilitated during
Reds 20
th
and 30
th
year interview he admitted that indeed he was, however his paroles were
rejected. On his 40
th
year interview he said that rehabilitation is just a make-up word and do not
consider himself rehabilitated but, he showed hes regret on the act he committed.
The concept of rehabilitation by the Shawshank authorities is the same as what the
concept of rehabilitation is presented in this paper. It is to bring back someone to the society and
become a law abiding citizen. However, the means to get a prison rehabilitated is different from
what the advocates of rehabilitation stated. There were lack of educational and vocational
training, no categorization of prisoners happened and above all the authorities of the Shawshank
prison failed to prepare their prisoners on how to deal with their lives when they are brought
back to the society.


Reference:
Raynor, Peter. 2009. Why help offenders? Arguments for rehabilitations as a penal strategy.
European Journal Probation.
http://www.ejprob.ro/uploads_ro/677/PRGR.pdf (accessed March 6, 2014)
Rehabilitation Theory. file:///E:/Documents/rehabilitation-theory.pdf (accessed March 4, 2016)
Smith, Nick N.D. Criminal Justice Issue: Punishment.
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~nicks/pdf/Rehabilitation.pdf
(accessed March 14, 2014)
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/42435/Auburn-system