"The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons."
—Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881)
The goal of medicine is to diagnose, comfort, and cure; the goal of the correction system is to confine and punish. These are incompatible ends that require incommensurable means.
Everything hurts more behind bars. The purpose of confinement is to protect others from the
... [Show full abstract] bad behaviors of the prisoner. But segregating an inmate from the outside world focuses his or her attention inward on the feelings and space that comprise the narrow world of the prisoner. If one of the readers of this commentary gets up one morning with a cold, a bit of the sniffles, or some aches and pains, chances are he or she will go on to classes or work. But if work is unsatisfying, if classes have regularly been eliminated by budget cuts, if life is dismal, why not go to the infirmary? Is this malingering? I would argue that it is accommodating reality.
