Sunday, October 31, 2010

The Modern American prison cell.  Compare to Finnish.




Zimbardo's experiment played out, with a touch of Milgram.  People of Iraq tend to fear dogs, and are fairly modest.  Nudity and barking canines are non normative.  For an authority figure to play actively against the normative behavior of a group, does this constitute torture in and of itself? 


Lynndie England is the young woman in the following photos.  Male nudity before a woman that is not a family relation (wife) is not allowed in the culture.  Also, naked male to male contact is not acceptable.  These photos were widely circulated at the time, and provide a good stepping off point for the discussion of power and authority. 


Social Control and Prison




These are examples of Finnish prison cells.  How do they differ from American prison cells, and what effect does this have on recidivism?  What is the purpose of prison:  Social control or resocialization?