Criminal Justice In The Shawshank Redemption

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When analyzing the movie Shawshank Redemption, it portrays a prison as an institution which does nothing more than warehouse individuals. As such, several criminal justice themes are addressed in the movie, namely, rehabilitation and reintegration. In many ways, things haven’t changed much in prison since Andy Dufresne and Red emerged in the mind of Stephen King. In the story, Red bemoaned the fact that prison labor paid but 25-cents per hour in 1950, and it was hard to live on so he had to supplement it by being “the guy who gets things.” Which you still see today because prisoners work to help offset the cost that the state incurs.
It also portrays Andy's prison experience and how he gradually adjusts to life behind bars. In this life Andy begins to use his knowledge of investment strategies and tax shelters to ingratiate himself with the warden and head guard, gain protection from a gang of rapists and conduct a tutoring service within the prison. These creative activities allow him to retain a sense of his past life, which 24 …show more content…
In a comical sense, when Red goes to see the parole board, they continually ask him if he has been rehabilitated. We can see from the movie that the prison has not attempted to provide any, but for thirty years, he is asked this question. And for each parole hearing, his parole is denied. It is not until his final parole hearing when he vehemently mocks the parole board, asking them "what is rehabilitation anyways?" He further states it’s so people can have a job. Interestingly, his parole is granted. This sequence stresses the need for parole guidelines to control arbitrary decisions and to set forth criteria for determining an individual’s readiness for release. It also demonstrates an indeterminate sentencing scheme without any clear goals related to the prisoner is nothing more than an abuse of
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