Is 'The Shawshank Redemption' an accurate depiction of American prisons from 1940-70?

Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman as Andy Dufresne and Red in the Shawshank Redemption

This study will compare the American penal system from 1940 to 1970, seen in Frank Darabont’s 1994 picture, The Shawshank Redemption and in written academic history. The comparison will be shown with an emphasis on rehabilitation, change within the legal system and the way of prison life within this period. The idea of rehabilitation is rooted strongly within the film relating to developments in strengthening penal rules and is backed by an academic history by Simon Rolston.[1] He strongly states this period, cited as the “rehabilitation era”, led prisoners to become fundamentally unfit for society due to the amount of institutionalisation but offers the suggestion of positives from the rehabilitation program, as the film rejects. Despite the sources providing a similar consensus, the film differs in the use of varying sources. This use of popular history takes inspiration from historical events within the period as J.B Jacobs argues strongly of the inhumane treatment of prisoners in the earlier period appearing to wane with the introduction of rights and greater laws.[2] The argument on prison life, despite having a strong depiction of community, fails to recognise the emphasis on segregation and race within this period.

First, the rehabilitation era has been argued on an academic scale as one akin to a religious conversion, overstating the focus on this aspect of the penal system. Admitting the fogginess of the application of rehabilitation, Rolston acknowledges the unfairness of some of the policies using the book Struggles for Justice which defiles the use of conversion within prison life, alluding to tough punishment for insubordination.[3] He utilises the American Correctional Association's mandate, which presents “correction” as a key component in the Penal system within this period.[4] In contrast, the Shawshank Redemption uses the idea of rehabilitation subtly, using the consequences of this system to show its issues. Darabont may have used more recent sources when depicting rehabilitation as The Growth of Incarceration in the United States Exploring Causes and Consequences states “legislators passed and governors signed laws… that prison terms would be longer than in earlier periods”, seen with the length of rehabilitation shown within the film.[5] This corroborates with the academic source showing how it has left many prisoners institutionalised due to the lengths gone to rehabilitate in this period, leading many to suicide/depression when released, which is the case of one prisoner in the film, Brooks Hatlen. One must however recognise, despite coherence with academic sources, that the effect of this long incarceration was used for dramatic effect, to create emotion from the audience, as Darabont focussed on the negative aspects of this rehabilitative system. In contrast, Rolston does add that rehabilitation was somewhat successful in the latter period, as prisoners learning to read and write became different people as a result, disagreeing with Darabont’s argument that rehabilitation was mainly unsuccessful. Thus, despite varying audiences, both pieces argue a similar depiction of rehabilitation throughout this period and the significance thereof, though is depicted more negatively by Darabont for emotive reasons for an audience whilst Rolston provides a more balanced debate for educational purposes.

Brooks riding the bus away from prison

The theme of change within the penal system is the most comparable between this use of popular and academic history as both argue similarly due to the large number of popular media sources available. The rights of the prisoner were minimal in the 1940s as the start of the film shows a prisoner beaten to death due to an argument with a prison guard. Jacobs adds this type of beating was typical of this era, adding the naivety of judges continued to justify the allowance of a prison system which rejected the proposal of basic civil rights and humane treatment. Jacobs further argues these injustices only started to wane with the introduction of the Prisoner’s Rights Movement in 1960. This social movement allowed prisoners a greater voice, seen as a “slave of the state” before and had now received some further freedoms, such as outside labour and educational infrastructures. There were improvements to prison infrastructure and far less censorship, seen most significantly with a grant accepted for a large library to be built within the film. This social change is also alluded to within this film, as the parole board, started with 5 older white men in the 1940s and by 1970 has become much younger and has multiple female members, which would allow less biased judgement. Thus, this subtle addition convincingly backs the argument that justice was beginning to prevail by 1970. The huge coverage of the movement gives rise to the coherence of Darabont’s argument of change throughout the film, with Jacobs stating in 1976, the New York Times reported on prisoners’ rights 76 times, and Brooks stating prisoners’ rights made the national news on 8 separate occasions.[6] Therefore, this mass coverage appears to give rise to the argument that Darabont portrays, which makes it considerably like Jacobs.

A new library installed for the prisoners inside Shawshank

 Focussing on the idea of prison life, Darabont’s’ film depicts a 1940s prison community with comradeship between both black and white inmates whereas Jacobs writes about the impetus of segregation and racism within the prison system over the period depicted within the film.[7] The mixing of different races was very unlikely in this period, which rejects the idea that a relationship between the white DuFresne and the black “Red” would have developed in this period. Harry Barnes and Nagley Teeters state “Negroes have been segregated from whites in most prisons… and make up the bulk of the population of southern prison camps”.[8] The solidity of this argument is backed by the fact the source was used as educational material from within this period. This argument appears to contrast with Darabont due to the nature of racism, even by the creation of the film in 1994, was not as prevalently discussed, so would not be at the forefront of sourcing film material as would not be used as a theme within the film. As a result, the argument on prison life differs within knowledge on segregation, with the film rejecting this entirely, failing to use evidence based on the true prison system.

Andy and Red conversing in the prison courtyard

To conclude, the piece of popular history depicting the prison system from 1940-1970 can portray, and for the effect of this essay argue a somewhat convincing view of the system. The director, Darabont uses sources to back this argument from mainstream media, shown by the film's relation to the key idea of rehabilitation within prisons and the changing prison system, shown within the Prisoner’s rights movement, which will have been known about due to the large coverage. This compares accurately with the academic view, which explains events similarly to Darabont. However, due to the limited depictions of racism and segregation within prisons, Darabont does not cover this key depiction of prison life at all, unlike the argument from Jacobs, who requires knowledge of this for educational purposes. This educational position of the academic sources is also important to acknowledge as sources are used to inform, whilst Darabont uses sources to create a setting, to entertain an audience but aimed through accurate depictions. This is seen within the overstatement of rehabilitative measures in the film, again contrasting from the view that academics argue.

[1] Simon Rolston, Conversion and the Story of the American Prison. Critical Survey, 23(3), 103-118, (2011) Retrieved July 26, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41556434

[2] J.B Jacobs, The Prisoners Right Movement and its Impact, 1960-80, Crime and Justice

Vol. 2, (1980), 429-470

[3] American Friends Service Committee, Struggle for Justice: A Report on Crime and Punishment in America, Prepared for the American Friends Service Committee, (New York: Hill & Wang, 1971), 44-46

[4] American Correctional Association, A Manual of Correctional Standards, The American Prison Association, (1954)

[5] Bruce Western, The Growth of Incarceration in the United States Exploring Causes and Consequences, (2014), https://www.nap.edu/read/18613/paper/5.

[6] James Jacobs, Public Opinion and the Prison: An Analysis of the News Media's Coverage Unpublished paper, (Cornell University, 1970)

[7] James Jacobs, Race Relations and the Prisoner Subculture. Crime and Justice, 1-27, (1979) Retrieved July 26, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1147447

[8] Harry Barnes, and Negley Teeters, New Horizons within Criminology, (Prentice-Hall, 1959) 466