Duties to Prisoners

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Duties to Prisoners

Main Topic Questions

• We may need to discuss the topic scope in class. Here are some possibilties.

• Focus on the death penalty.
• Ask what, if any, duties we have to prisoners? Are we obligated to provide resources beyond basic legal rights, food, safety, and shelter?
• Address the social justice issue of mass incarceration.

Arguments

• Life after prison - Prisoners need to be set up for success in society if they are to be released back into the real world. They need to be treated with respect, given opportunities to work or educate themselves, given some sort of therapy,and be set up with a social worker to plan for the next steps in life. http://www.dw.com/en/life-after-prison-re-entering-society-is-no-easy-task/a-18051657 (Kelsey K. Smith)

• Stanford prison experiment - Something that seems shocking at first, like putting paper bags over a prisoner's face or seeing people in cages, turned into something normal over time. Role playing turns into real life situations. https://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2011/07/participants-infamous-1971-stanford-prison-experiment-reflect-how-study-chang (Kelsey K. Smith)

• TedTalk from Zimbardo on evil - Everyone is capable of becoming evil. It has to do with the situation, and this usually includes some sort of power control. This can tie into what people think of prisoners, as separate from us "good people". When really, they are just like us but who have succumbed to the evil. Treatment in prisons should be set to a certain level and controlled by those who aren't accustomed to seeing it on a daily basis. https://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil#t-1245346 (Kelsey K. Smith)