Are Prisons Obsolete?

How does the US prison system support repressive patriarchal ideals and structures? What does Davis argue are the dangers of applying gender equality models uncritically to men’s and women’s prisons? Use the text to support your answer.

Davis connects modern prison systems directly to slavery and white supremacy. How does the justice system continue to uphold these racist institutions? Why does the system disproportionately affect Black people and people of color? Reference the text in your answer.

What is the prison industrial complex and how does it extend beyond the prison infrastructure? How has it changed the purpose of punishment? Use the text to support your answer.

Davis argues that the relationships within the prison industrial complex can assist abolitionists in finding multiple alternatives that dismantle the need for prisons. What are some alternatives she proposes? What alternative relationships and structures can support decarceration? Have any been implemented since this book’s publication (2003)? If so, what were the outcomes?

Throughout the book, Davis references her own time in prison. How does her firsthand experience enhance her arguments? What other persuasive structural features and evidence does she use to bolster her argument?

Davis argues that media depictions of prison distort the truth of what goes on inside. What is the media’s role in perpetuating normalization of the prison industrial complex? Use the text to support your answer.

Penitentiaries originally had the goal of reforming the lawbreaker’s soul through solitary reflection and work. How have modern prisons forgotten, ignored, or distorted this purpose? What has replaced the original goal, either overtly or covertly? Reference the text in your answer.

Why does Davis consider prisons outdated institutions? What features does she believe fix the prison to an older historical period that is incongruent with contemporary values? Use the text to support your answer.