Penal Power, Social Inequalities and Prison Culture in Australian Judicial System

Running head: CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Penal power, social inequalities and prison culture
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This essay deals with the effect of penal power and social inequalities on the prison
culture of the Australian Judicial System. The institutional outlines of the Australian social
inequalities have been altered due to a gradual increment in case of prison and jail population. A
new social group has been generated behind the bar and the base of the same is distinguished in
accordance with experience of incarceration, racial minorities and lower educational background.
The reason behind the same is that the prisoners do not get an easy entry in the normal social life
and they have to face lots of trouble due to the communication gap within the society. It has been
observed that certain principles are acting as a driving force regarding the prison experience that
are generated from one generation to others (Garland 2017). The main driving force to this effect
is social and economic disadvantages and penal confinements.
In Australia, the rate of prisoners is quite high. However, inequality can be observed in
the case of incarceration process and penal confinement. In case of the incarceration stage, it can
be observed that the aboriginals and the Torres islanders have to face lots of trouble in these
cases. In most of the cases, it has been observed that the aboriginals have to face more severe
penalties and the extraordinary rate of incarceration made them quite habituated in the prison
culture and serving time in prison is quite regular to them (Brown 2014).
The society has created great impression on the prison culture of a state. The
intergenerational and cumulative nature of the social structure helps to instigate the reason of
mass incarceration. It has been observed that the penal liabilities are imposed on the persons who
are suffering from poverty and actions have been taken against them when they have failed to
meet all the financial requirements. According to the intergenerational structure of the society, it
has been observed that not only the individual who is going to jail suffers from prison pain, but
their families have to face the pain too. All these societal disadvantages draw negative shape and

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practices in the prison. In the continents of Western Australia, it has been observed that one in
every thirteen prisoners are from the aboriginal group and in the words of Gerry Georgatos
(2016), one in four aboriginal citizen of Australia has to experience prison life. The most
common thing regarding the aboriginal prisoners are that they are economically backward
classes and they are culturally disconnected from the modern world (Nafstad 2017). Considering
the rate of incarceration, the Western part of Australia is known as mother of all jailors.
According to Cunneen, the aboriginal Australian has to face certain discriminatory things that
forced them to commit suicide at a large level. Gosford has observed it that the aboriginal people
have to face serious problems due to lack of opportunities and social isolation provides them
negative prison experience to them.
The mentality of the Australians regarding the aboriginals is quite parochial in nature
and therefore, they have to face troubles behind the bar also. The rate of custodial death is quite
higher among the aboriginal tribes and it has been observed that the over-representation of
aboriginal people drive the criminal justice system in Australia (Crewe 2015).
National Aboriginal and Islander Legal Services Secretariat (NAILSS) reflect the original
atmosphere of the prison where the life of the aboriginals is filthy and they have no rights there
(aic.gov.au 2017). On the other hand, it has been observed in the contents of Australia that the
male prisoners overwhelm the prisons. Further, it has been observed that almost 90% of the
prisoners are from aboriginal background. All the local jails have same conditions and it has
been noticed that the penal process in case of the aboriginals are quite different compare to the
other people of Australia. In the modern time, the rates of female prisoners are increased a lot
and it has been observed that the incarceration rate of Australia has been gradually increased for
the same. Society plays an important role in these cases. The family members of the prisoners are

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disadvantaged by the social inequalities cropped up in such situation. The effect of the social
inequalities has been mentioned as under:
Social inequality is a curse that affects the entire society of a country. It restrains a certain
classes of people from social and economical opportunities and it creates adverse situation for
the democracy. However, according to the report published by OECD, the rate of social
inequality is increasing and the negative impression of inequality can be observed in all the parts
of the administration and the judicial structure (Western et al. 2015). Australia is recognized for
its egalitarian tradition and the social inequality of this country has remained many people
stunned. A hidden hatred can be observed in case of the aboriginal people in Australia and it has
been observed that the white people of Australia are treating the aboriginals as illiterate and
uneducated people and the aboriginals are become socially backward class. It has further been
observed that the society is treating the prisoners indifferently (Travis, Western and Redburn
2014). Not only the prisoners who are suffering but the family members are also have to suffer
lots of trouble to this aspect. In many cases, it has been observed that the family members of a
convict could not get job in the continents of Australia. The society is also treating them in a
different way.
According to OECD, income inequality is another reason for the social practices. In
addition to this, people from low educational qualification have to face the penal power in
Australia. In the words of Western and Pettit (2016), the incarceration process is quite common
for the socially backward classes. A clear margin has been drawn for the minorities, low-income
capacity person and less educated people who are generally facing the incarceration process
(Tasgin and Morash 2016). It has been observed that almost 45% prisoners are from the
aboriginal category. It is an important fact that not only the aboriginals but all the other people