Penal harm refers to a form of punishment that posits that inmates should endure additional pain and suffering beyond just having their basic rights taken away. This concept encompasses a range of unpleasant and miserable conditions and injuries harsher than mere "deprivation of liberty". These are justified by a certain ideology regarding custodial sentences, which are mainly served in prison or a reformatory.
Overview
Proponents of penal harm state that the purpose is to prevent offending in order to stop further penal harm.
Traditional forms include:
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hard labor
* rationed, unappetizing or even unhealthy food
* various discomforts such as poor hygiene,
small and overcrowded cells, hard bunks, insufficient protection against cold
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long isolation, even in a dark 'hole'
*
sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either Chronic (medicine), chronic ...
* humiliating procedures such as
strip search
A strip search is a practice of searching a person for weapons or other contraband suspected of being hidden on their body or inside their clothing, and not found by performing a frisk search, but by requiring the person to remove some or al ...
es
*
prison rape
Prison rape or jail rape is sexual assault of people while they are incarcerated. The phrase is commonly used to describe rape of inmates by other inmates. It is a significant, if controversial, part of what is studied under the wider concept ...
* denial of
visits, correspondence and recreation.
Criticism
There is poor evidence to suggest that penal harm has a deterrent effect once an offender's imprisonment is over.
It forms a controversial appendage of a body of theory known as
retribution; its perception as cruelty rather than justice may endanger both internal security and prospects for
rehabilitation and goes against the humane ideal of most human rights advocates, possibly qualifying legally as
inhumane punishment, an infringement on human rights under the
UN rules.
Although ''internal punishments'', imposed by prison authorities, are not strictly penal harm as such, since they are not independent from the convict's behavior, arbitrary application and choice of cruel modes, including
corporal punishment
A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on Minor (law), minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or Padd ...
(in
South East Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
n countries this can include the dreaded
rattan
Rattan, also spelled ratan (from Malay language, Malay: ''rotan''), is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the clos ...
caning
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single Stick-fighting, cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking) or han ...
), perfectly fit the rationale.
In the 1990s and 2000s, penal harm has taken (among other things) the form of poor
health care for inmates;
[Maeve, Katherine M., and Michael S. Vaughn. "Nursing with prisoners: The practice of caring, forensic nursing or penal harm nursing?." Advances in Nursing Science 24.2 (2001): 47-64.] this includes the denial of medicine for patients diagnosed with
HIV/
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
.
Penal harm can also arise unintentionally, as a result of understaffing, insufficient budget, or even legal considerations (such as delays deemed necessary for appeal procedures).
See also
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Extrajudicial punishment
Extrajudicial punishment is a punishment for an alleged crime or offense which is carried out without legal process or supervision by a court or tribunal through a legal proceeding.
Politically motivated
Extrajudicial punishment is often a fe ...
*
Prisoner abuse
*
Prisoners' rights
*
Law and order (politics)
In modern politics, "law and order" is an ideological approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penal Harm
Penal imprisonment
Prisoner abuse