Watch the movie.
Next, write your comment. Your comment does not need to provide an overview of the movie (we have all seen it). Discuss the movie in terms of the psychological principles operating in terms of the realities of prison life with a particular focus on social psychology.
The film, “Shawshank Redemption” explores relationships that develop within a prison community and the shifting alliances between the prisoners and the guards. The prisoners tended to group themselves into loose organizations of mutual benefit. They conducted their affairs with the token currency of cigarettes, picked winners and losers among the new inmates and learned the necessary skills to stay alive in a brutal and brutalized population. As the guards reluctantly recognized the value of Andy’s expertise, several of them beat up the leader of the sisters who had beaten Andy nearly to death. The guard in charge of the library was pulling for Andy as he tried to teach a young man how to succeed on the tests for his GDE.
The walls of the prison first were hated by the prisoners; then the prisoners stopped thinking about them. If they were in prison too long, the prisoners came to depend on the walls to keep the foreign non-prison world out. As hope was the central theme that Danny brought to the other inmates, many clearly had lost hope and, more importantly, lost confidence in their ability to survive on the outside. The parole board visits by the lifers is a reminder to Iowans that our life sentences are without the possibility of parole, making hopelessness the abiding reality for Iowan life-termers.
The movie showed the power of books and music to keep prisoners in touch with the world and to give them a vehicle for forgetting their situation. Too much time was the enemy of sanity for the prisoners and each had to find a way to occupy their minds during the long years. The harmonica that Andy gave to Red had even greater power over his memories, though, since he could not allow himself to play it.
The movie makes the point that innocence is another important part of the currency inside the prison. Histories are revised to make the prisoner the victim of his lawyer, the system, rather than the perpetrator. But the one person who actually was innocent, Andy, would not be permitted to prove it because it challenged the value system on which the prisoners and their guards relied.
The Shawshank Redemption is about a banker charged with the murder of his wife & the man she was having an affair with. In court, Andy was sentenced with life imprisonment and sent to Shawshank State Prison where he & his inmates suffer from ridiculing, abusive guards.
It does not take long for Andy to pick up on the violent nature of prison. Prisoners are treated harshly being harassed by the guards or beaten senselessly until they have to go to "the infermary." Constant threats put the prisoners in a state of fear & forced obedience. With a repetitive routine to follow day after day and no sense of control or power, the prisoners are ultimately dehumanized. Separated from everything that matters most to them in the real world outside, prisoners struggle to maintain self-worth, identity, and motivation to go on. Andy shows his intrapersonal strength when he keeps to himself and stays quiet in the beginning rather than whining like the others, but eventually applies his interpersonal skills by making friends with Red and a few other guys from his crew. He also knows who to stay away from, like the man who approached him in the shower asking if "anyone got to him yet" and offering his "friendship." Red explains Andy's behavior as trying to adapt to life on the inside, showing the vast difference between the two worlds with entirely different social rules. Social interaction in prison seems to revolve around power. Power comes with how long they have been there, who they are friends with, and what favors they can do. It is similar to the 'quid pro quo' concept in our book - I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine - which is the foundation of many relationships in prison.
Andy figured out that if he cooperated with guards and made enough connections with the right people, he could enjoy some "befitting" privileges like being assigned his favorite place to work in the library & being allowed to have his chess pieces and posters in his cell. Although prison life was cold, hard, and repressive, the men found joy in these small benefits instead of sinking into hopeless depression. In the middle of the movie Red says that at first, you hate the walls of prison, then you get used to them, then you depend on them. Ironically, after decades becoming accustomed to life in prison, it seemed like the majority of men became fearful of going back out in the real world someday because they spend so much time away. In fact, a man named Brooks committed suicide after being released but unable to adjust after 50 years. Red feels the same way much later in the movie when he is released, admitting that there is "no way to make it on the outside" when all he does is think of ways to break his parole so they will send him back "where things make sense" and he would not "have to be afraid all the time." Just like traveling to a different country or going to a huge city after living in a small town is called culture shock, men released from prison experience similar difficulties readjusting to the real world that is so much different from prison & different from the world they once knew before prison.
While the prisoners who really are guilty should not even be treated with such cruelty, falsely convicted men endure the mental pain on an entirely different level. This is especially the case for Andy, who even finds out evidence of the man who really did commit the crimes he was in for. When Andy shares this information with the warden, he is denied & placed in solitary confinement for two months. Even though justice is within reach in Andy's eyes, the warden does not want him to be released because he does not want word getting out on how prisoners are treated there. The warden calls Andy's proposition a "fantasy he won't indulge in" and suggests that the other man is lying to cheer Andy up. Instead of being allowed to contact his lawyer, Andy is sent to solitary confinement where he is isolated from any form of human contact and locked up in a dark, small room that affects one's mental health & deprives social needs (not to mention physical needs like hygiene or skeletal structure). The warden explicitly admits his abusive ways of punishment when he tells Andy that he "will do the hardest time there is" without protection from the guards and without any special treatment.
The most important part of keeping their sanity appeared to lay within their perspective on life & freedom. When Andy plays the Italian opera music through the loudspeakers of the prison, Red says that it did not matter what those ladies were singing about, but that it "made the walls dissolve away" and "every last man felt free for those brief moments." Every man was serving for different reasons and different duration of times, but each man had a common desire for freedom. Their differing views on life & differing personalities are what combine to form such a unique environment in prison.
terms used: violence, harassment, fear, obedience, control, power, dehumanization, self-worth, self identity, motivation, intrapersonal, interpersonal, quid pro quo, behavior, depression, suicide, falsely convicted, lying, mental health, abusive, personalities
The Shawshank Redemption depicts the story of the wrongly accused Andy Dufresne and his experiences in prison. Andy Dufresne was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover. Although Andy is innocent, there was substantial evidence that led the jury and the court to believe he was guilty. Once Andy was convicted, he had to endure 19 years of harsh imprisonment which included vicious assault, unethical treatment, and rape.
On the night of the murder of Andy Dufresne’s wife and her lover, Andy’s alibi placed him near the crime scene; outside his wife’s lover’s house sitting in a vehicle. Andy admitted that he was drinking at the time, he had a gun, and was motivated to murder both his wife and her lover. He then claims to have left the scene without going inside nor murdering either people and finally throwing his gun off a bridge. The evidence concluded that Andy had motive, was placed at the crime scene near the time of the murders, and had a potential murder weapon. This gave the prosecution circumstantial evidence that led to the conviction of Andy Dufresne.
When Andy Dufresne first arrives at the prison, he must endure prisonization. Prisonization, according to our book, is the assimilation of new inmates into the values, norms, and language of the prison. When Andy and other inmates arrive, they are harassed, yelled out, bet on, and one inmate is even brutally beaten after uncontrollably crying. For the next two years, Andy is continuously sexually harassed and raped by a gang called the sisters. Our book describes street cultured inmates who perceive disrespect and threats to honor which must be answered with violence. In the sisters gang, they perceived that to receive respect they must victimize inmates such as Andy and abuse them in order to demean and dominate them.
Prison life is not simple and the Shawshank Redemption does not perceive it to be. Although the movie explores the difficulties and harshness of prison life, there are some positive aspects that inmates can endure. Such positive aspects include protection, favors, and special treatment from the guards, other prisoners, or even from the warden. In the movie, Andy Dufresne acquires friends such as Red who provide favors which include attaining personal items like posters. Posters may seem small to us but in prison they can make an immense difference. Other relationships Andy forms are with the guards and the warden. Andy was a banker prior to becoming convicted. He uses his acquired banking skills in helping the guards and the warden with their taxes and financial issues. By doing so, Andy receives special privileges such as forming a library and also receives protection from the guards. Even though life in prison is still difficult, forming such relationships help make the experience a little easier and durable.
Overall the Shawshank Redemption was an excellent movie that provided a considerably realistic insight into life in prison. Prison is a harsh place and meant to be to in order to accomplish incapacitation, deterrence, and retribution. Although many of our prisons accomplish these goals there are still many flaws that need to be addressed such as providing all the prisoners with basic human rights. These flaws can be adjusted by educating people about punishment and prisons and their psychological aspects.
Terms: consecutive life sentences, jury, court, imprisonment, alibi, crime scene, prisonization, motive, murder weapon, rape, prosecution, victimize, sexually harass, vicious assault, abuse, violent street culture, guards, warden, circumstantial evidence, incapacitation, deterrence, retribution
The Shawshank Redemption depicts the story of the wrongly accused Andy Dufresne and his experiences in prison. Andy Dufresne was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover. Although Andy is innocent, there was substantial evidence that led the jury and the court to believe he was guilty. Once Andy was convicted, he had to endure 19 years of harsh imprisonment which included vicious assault, unethical treatment, and rape.
On the night of the murder of Andy Dufresne’s wife and her lover, Andy’s alibi placed him near the crime scene; outside his wife’s lover’s house sitting in a vehicle. Andy admitted that he was drinking at the time, he had a gun, and was motivated to murder both his wife and her lover. He then claims to have left the scene without going inside nor murdering either people and finally throwing his gun off a bridge. The evidence concluded that Andy had motive, was placed at the crime scene near the time of the murders, and had a potential murder weapon. This gave the prosecution circumstantial evidence that led to the conviction of Andy Dufresne.
When Andy Dufresne first arrives at the prison, he must endure prisonization. Prisonization, according to our book, is the assimilation of new inmates into the values, norms, and language of the prison. When Andy and other inmates arrive, they are harassed, yelled out, bet on, and one inmate is even brutally beaten after uncontrollably crying. For the next two years, Andy is continuously sexually harassed and raped by a gang called the sisters. Our book describes street cultured inmates who perceive disrespect and threats to honor which must be answered with violence. In the sisters gang, they perceived that to receive respect they must victimize inmates such as Andy and abuse them in order to demean and dominate them.
Prison life is not simple and the Shawshank Redemption does not perceive it to be. Although the movie explores the difficulties and harshness of prison life, there are some positive aspects that inmates can endure. Such positive aspects include protection, favors, and special treatment from the guards, other prisoners, or even from the warden. In the movie, Andy Dufresne acquires friends such as Red who provide favors which include attaining personal items like posters. Posters may seem small to us but in prison they can make an immense difference. Other relationships Andy forms are with the guards and the warden. Andy was a banker prior to becoming convicted. He uses his acquired banking skills in helping the guards and the warden with their taxes and financial issues. By doing so, Andy receives special privileges such as forming a library and also receives protection from the guards. Even though life in prison is still difficult, forming such relationships help make the experience a little easier and durable.
Overall the Shawshank Redemption was an excellent movie that provided a considerably realistic insight into life in prison. Prison is a harsh place and meant to be to in order to accomplish incapacitation, deterrence, and retribution. Although many of our prisons accomplish these goals there are still many flaws that need to be addressed such as providing all the prisoners with basic human rights. These flaws can be adjusted by educating people about punishment and prisons and their psychological aspects.
Terms: consecutive life sentences, jury, court, imprisonment, alibi, crime scene, prisonization, motive, murder weapon, rape, prosecution, victimize, sexually harass, vicious assault, abuse, violent street culture, guards, warden, circumstantial evidence, incapacitation, deterrence, retribution
Shawshank redemption is mainly the story of Andy Dufresne told from the perspective of his friend Red. Andy was convicted of murdering his wife and her lover (a golf pro) after following his wife to her lover's house with the intention of killing both of them. Andy claimed innocence throughout his entire trial and still throughout his sentence, something that almost no one believed. It was only when a boy named Tommy Williams came into the prison and heard Andys story only to discover that he had roomed with an inmate who admitted to the very crime Andy was serving time for. When the warden hears of this he immediately puts the thought of his beloved tax keeper (Andy) leaving to rest by murdering Tommy so that he may never stand on trial as a witness to the truth. Eventually Andy puts into action the plan he has been working on all along which is him escaping from prison using a rock hammer he was given at the beginning of his sentence by Red. He makes sure to use a fake name and all the correct credentials that he created earlier in his plan. He and Red eventually meet up at the conclusion of the movie where they assumingly live the rest of their days on an island with a funny name in Mexico, fixing up old boats and running a hotel.
There were two main phenomena that I found interesting in this movie. The first one being applicable when Andy firsts arrives at the prison is prisonization. This was evident when first arriving all the new inmates were told that they were not to use God's name in vain but that they would be left to figure out the rest of the rules for themselves. This basically meant they were on their own to find out the ways of the prison and what was and wasn't done in a place like Shawshank. It was a whole new culture when they arrived there and it was through friends and trial and error that you would learn the way that things were.
Andy's prisonization proved torturous for him. It started with the sisters, the gang that is well known to be the homosexuals in the prison that prey on new meat. They continously harass, rape, and assault Andy in the first two years of his imprisonment. As the movie mentions, this becomes part of Andy's routine. He continually fights them off time after time but as Red narrates, this may have very well been the thing that finally broke Andy if he didn't finally spend a month in the infermary. After that stay Andy decides to break his silence and after hearing about the sisters gang, the guards, being of a Christian institution, beat the leader until he will never walk again. The sisters never mess with Andy and Andy finds a better routine for himself.
The second interesting thing i found about this movie was the idea of institutionalization. Meaning that people can become so used to the comfort and stability they find in prison that they either end up fearing release or not knowing what to do with themselves when they do finally become released. It shows the real power a place like prison can have. Its about the same as if you stay in any place with that much external locus of control for an extented period of time, you become so attached that you don't know what it's like not having a routine or having any freedom at all. Both Brooks and Red ran into this problem when they were let out of the prison. Brooks couldn't handle it eventually and sadly committed suicide. He was in prison so long that there was no way that he could have predicted what the outside world would be like, no less prepare himself for it with no help from the prison system. I believe that Red beat this fate with the help of Andy as Andy was his out of the abyss that haunts so many other.
This movie was both enjoyable and full of social psychological concepts, it gives you a peak inside the life of a whole different culture that many people simply ignore.
Terms: prisonization, institutionalization, trial, witness, sentence, prison, harass, assault, rape, culture, guards, warden,
Besides being one of my favorite movies and written by one of my favorite authors, Shawshank Redemption is an inspiring film with outstanding insight into how convicts survive in the harsh conditions of prison life through being social.
Prison life is an alienated life. It is so far beyond the ‘outside life’ that everyone is accustomed to, and Shawshank Redemption strongly displays the realities of surviving or dying in prison. As Andy Dufresne says in one scene, “Get busy living or get busy dying”. After being ripped of your identity by wearing the same uniform as everyone else, being thrown into a forced routine, and isolated by living in a confined prison cell; the only way to mentally and physically survive is by expressing your social psychological needs.
First, I’ll start with Officer Hadley. Hadley uses force and violence to gain respect from prisoners and to dominate over them as well as providing them with the reality of prison life. At the beginning, it shows that learned helplessness is felt immediately when ‘fat ass’ is bet on by Red’s crew as to whether or not he will cry his first night there. Of course, Haywood wins the bet and after teasing fat ass for a while, the guards hear him crying. Being warned to shut up, it is too late and fat ass is dragged out of his cell by Officer Hadley and is beaten to death. This socially relates to all prisoners because it shows them that if they step out of line once as well as becoming weak in prison, they will suffer.
Next, Red is a natural ‘Sears and Roebuck’ of the prison life. After being there for many years, he has become socially popular by (as Andy would say) ‘a man who can get things’. Red is a strong example of the social psychology that intertwines with prison life because he is somewhat the leader of his friends, has a negotiating and protective relationship with the guards, and because of this he is seen as a highly untouchable man in prison because of his value to others (such as having him and his friends be chosen to tar the roof for a week). I like to think that he uses this external cause to compliment his internal cause, which explains why he seems so relaxed and still logical when it comes to certain things (such as when Bricks pulls the knife on Haywood and he tells him to knock it off once Haywood complains). The only thing socially unbalanced with Red is that he has given up hope of ever getting out of prison and believes he is a natural convict who will live and die in prison. And this is where Andy Dufresne comes in.
Andy Dufresne is one of my favorite characters out of any books or movies. When he first arrives, he is viewed as being weak. Like Red says, “I didn’t think much of Andy when I first laid eyes on him; looked like a stiff breeze would blow him over”. After observing Andy for a while and having his first conversation with him about needing a pick axe, Red claims that he is beginning to like Andy. After being homosexually assaulted for the first two years or so, Andy eventually steps up his game socially so he can survive. He first does this in the scene where Hadley talks about receiving a huge amount of inheritance and is worried about the IRS screwing him over. Andy, being an important banker, bravely approaches Hadley who almost throws him off the roof. After Andy gives him advice about how to keep all of his inheritance (assuming money would be a highly important thing to a man like Hadley), this causes a protective reaction by Hadley for Andy and is shown when he beats the leader of The Sisters to the point where he can never walk again. From there on out, Andy is given a better job by the Warden and is never touched again. When Andy is granted his wish for his friends to have three beers each, he chooses not to even drink and sits with a strange smile on his face. This is an inspiring scene of how our social needs are so important to us when Red says, “You could argue he'd done it to curry favor with the guards. Or, maybe make a few friends among us cons. Me, I think he did it just to feel normal again, if only for a short while.”
One of my favorite scenes is when Andy rebels after receiving all the funds for the Shawshank Library project. Taking the record of Italian women singing shows how at that moment, Andy uses social psychology of music to emotionally reach every person within the prison. His controllability of his actions is clearly not motivated by consequences in this scene, but rather the simple love for music that everyone can relate to. Afterwards Andy spends time in the hole and comes out with a smile on his face. This is where he and Red differ because they argue about Hope. Andy claims that hope is something they can’t touch and you can still feel through music. Red says that hope is a dangerous thing and can drive a man insane, especially in prison. Red mentions something about playing a harmonica when he was younger but hasn’t touched one in years. I think this shows that Red has completely lost hope and Andy gives it back to him by buying him a harmonica.
Overall, social psychology is the biggest survival technique when in prison. If you’re alone in prison, you will not survive. Andy, Red, Haywood, Officer Hadley, etc. all have ways of proving this. After seeing this movie many times, for the first time I viewed it differently through the eyes of a social psychologist and realized how humans are so dependent on being social in order to remain mentally and physically stable, especially when in a helpless situation.
Terms: social psychology, learned helplessness, controllability, external causes, internal causes
The movie The Shawshank Redemption was probably my favorite movie we've had to watch for this class. I am currently reading Orange is the New Black and I drew a lot of parallels from that book to the movie, as well as from the text. The movie starts out with Andy at the trial for his wife and her lovers murder. The state had a lot of circumstantial evidence, most damning was a brandy bottle, foot prints and bullets from a gun that matched the murder weapon, all of which belonged to Andy. The fact that Andy had just learned of his wife's affair and they had fought provided murder. He was the perfect suspect. Though Andy maintained his innocence he was found guilty and sentenced to two life sentences in federal prison. The rest of the movie follows him through prison as he learns the rules and fights to find his place in prison.
Upon arrival the new inmates are stripped, washed, and then deloused. This serves to dehumanize them. They are no longer people with rights, they are inmates under the guards control. You see this when one inmates asks when they can eat. The response is "you will eat when I tell you to eat, sleep when I tell you to sleep, and piss when I tell you to piss". Prisoners have no external control over their lives. The same experience was shared by the author of my book. The hardest thing for her to acclimate to was the loss of control of the most basic things we take for granted like when she could eat or sleep. This highly regimented way of living provides structure, but does not help a person when they return to the general population. This well may be a contributing factor to the high rate of recidivism.
Another thing they talked about in the movie was the concept of people becoming institutionalized. In my book they talk about this as the highest insult, to be institutionalized is to have forgotten who you are and become content to live in prison. In the movie however they talked about it almost with sympathy. When Brooks was released and killed himself Red tried to rationalize it to his fellow inmates by telling them he was institutionalized. He no longer knew how to live on the outside. When one has become institutionalized, behind the jail walls is where the world is safe and known. You know what to expect, when to expect it, and how to behave. You have a place and worth in the prison system and none on the outside. Brooks talks about this a bit before he kills himself. The world was all new to him, and he didn't feel like he fit into it anymore. There was no place in this new world for him.
Brooks also touched on something that has been a major part of my book, and that is the difference in the pace of life in prison versus the outside. In the highly regimented world of prison, time moves slowly. On the outside however, everyone is in a hurry. The author of my book did time in a federal prison and she talked about how slow everything moves in prison from the general passing of time to the pace of paperwork. This is why Andy and Red stress the importance of having something to occupy one's mind. In Andy's case it starts out with rock carving, then moves to the library and tax forms for the guards, which leads to money laundering, and then eventually to his escape. Andy demonstrated a high locus of control which helped him stay sane while doing his time especially in the solitary unit. The treat of solitary confinement was a very salient threat both in the movie and my book.
The money laundering was an interesting part of the movie. Andy made a comment that I found especially interesting; he said "it took coming to prison to make me a crook". This really speaks to the undercurrent of crime that happens in prison. While Andy was involved with formal crime with the warden, Red was the head of the underground contraband market. If you needed something, he was the guy that could get it for you. This trade was financed by a token economy based largely on cigarettes and favors. These quid pro quo acts are what helped lead to friendships. these friendships are what helped you keep from getting beat up the way Andy was in the beginning. Once he began doing taxes for the guards and got some of the guys beers he had people looking out for him. This is what eventually got The Sisters to leave him alone.
Institutionalized, Quid pro quo, loci of control, token currency, recidivism
The movie Shawshank Redemption was such an amazing movie. I’ve heard of the movie before but never have watched it. This movie is about a man named Andy Deufresne and how he was wrongfully convicted of a crime. Andy was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the murder of his wife and the man she was having an affair with. Even though in Andy’s trial he was telling the truth about being innocent there was a lot of evidence that led the jury to believe he was actually guilty of murder. Andy spent 19 years in prison and the movie goes through all of his experiences through those 19 years.
The evidence in court placed Andy near the scene of the crime the night of the murder. He did tell the court that he was sitting outside of the house waiting for them to get home, he also told the court he had been drinking heavily that night and he had a gun with him. He didn’t know what his intensions were when he was sitting there but he stated once he started to sober up he got back in his car and drove away and through the gun into the river. Yes is did show that Andy had motive to kill his wife and her lover and it gave the jury hard evidence to believe he did commit the crime.
Andy went through some hard times at prison including being harassed and assaulted by a group of prisoners called the sisters gang. The first couple of years were the worst for Andy but he soon became respected and made friends with a group of the prisoners one being names Red who plays a huge role in Andy’s life. In the movie it shows that in part of the movie Andy receives respect from the guards and the Warden. This gave him special privileges and they knew Andy was a smart man so in time Andy began to do all of the guard’s tax returns. By forming this relationships with the guards and even the warden it helped Andy’s time in prison a lot easier than most. He was able to get protection from the guards and was even able to form a library for the prisoners.
Andy’s friend Red is known as a man who is able to get things for the prisoners. Andy asks for a poster of a woman, not knowing that this was to cover up his escape plan. Also another friend of theirs was Brooks, who was released and soon after committed suicide. Red then talks to the group and explains to them that after Brooks was in here for 50 years he became institutionalized. This means that since you have been in prison for so long you forget who you really are and become dependent on the prison. You feel as if you are important in the prison but when you go beyond the walls you are nothing. Andy had a talk with Red and Red stated that he was institutionalized and knew that he couldn’t live beyond these walls. Andy told Red that he knew he could make it and told him that once he got out to come find him on the pacific ocean so they could sail to Mexico and live there together. Red made a promise to Andy and he kept it. Andy saved Reds life by giving him hope and helping him to believe that he could make it outside in the real world and he didn’t have to be dependent on the prison.
This movie was such a good movie and it related to psychology in many ways. This was my favorite movie that we have had to watch so far in this class. It gave great insight of what prison life is like and how dependant you become being in prison for so long it makes you forget who you are and you don’t have your individuality anymore.
Shawkshank Redemption is an awesome movie! I have seen it numerous times before and its just as good every time I watch it. I have just got done reading my novel "Picking Cotton" which is also a story based on wrongful conviction.
Andy is convicted of killing his wife and the man she was cheating on him with. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for a crime he did not commit. During trial Andy seemed as if he wasn't remorseful. Evidence was presented throughout his trial that seemed to point all to him. Andy knew he was innocent but the jury was led to believe he was guilty. Of course no one in prison believes you when they say "I'm innocent." From the minute Andy was put up in prison he was plotting his escape. After 19 years Andy finally got his redemption and escaped.
He became close with Red who was the guy people went to when they needed something. Immediately Andy was requesting a rock hammer.
What I enjoy most about the trial was how honest Andy was. He admitted he was outside the house with a gun but that doesn't mean he murdered them. He left the house after he sobered up and realized he wasn't going to hurt anyone. Because of his honesty I'm sure it led the jury to believe he actually did do it.
One concept to discuss as was in the Stanford Experiment is when an individual becomes institutionalized. This means they are totally stripped of their identity and its been said most can't and don't know how to function once they are released back into the public. Many convicts would rather just stay in prison because they know they can't serve and adapt to the world on the outside because they don't know any different. You see this happen in the movie with Brooks. The old man was finally released and struggles fitting in and surviving. He ends up committing suicide.
Another aspect of the movie I enjoy is watching Andy put on a front to all the guards and warden. Andy finds a way to help the guard in keeping $35,000. This intrigues the guard and they become close. Andy uses this to his advantage and sets up the papers needed. He also helps the warden with paper work. I don't doubt that Andy's intentions are good but he also have motives behind them, helping plan his escape. As you learn in the end of the movie, Andy gets the warden in trouble for money laundering. Andy's interaction with the warden and guard shows so much social interaction which is what social psychology is.
I like how the tides turn on "the sisters." Andy begins to stick up for himself and eventually "wins". The last time Andy was beaten was the last time Bogs laid his hands on anyone. The guards "took care of him" and he was removed from the prison to a minimum security hospital. It was said that he would never walk again and had to be fed through a feeding tube.
Social psychology is what makes this whole movie. Whether it be between the guards and inmates, all the inmates themselves interacting, Red and Andy relationship or even the Wardens relationship and trust in Andy. Everyone has their own intentions and it is what keeps them alive in the prison.
terms: social psychology, guilty, innocent, 2 life sentences, institutionalized, warden, guard, evidence
“The Shawshank Redemption” is one of my all-time favorite movies, so I was so happy to know that it was one we were required to watch! I loved tying in concepts and ideas we learned from the textbook and lecture to the images and examples that the movie provided.
There were many psychological principles operating in terms of the realities of prison life, and a lot of the time there was a particular focus on social psychology, which is the branch of psychology that deals with social interactions. The movie began with Andy’s trial. He was being tried for murdering his wife and her lover and was ultimately convicted and given two life sentences in prison, despite the fact that he repeatedly told everyone that he was innocent. He was sent to Shawshank Prison, where he was put through severe humiliation tactics and dehumanization processes so that the guards could assert their control over the new prisoners. The environment was emotionally distressing and was a huge wake up call to the new prisoners.
Dealing with social psychology, it is safe to say that there is a definite hierarchy within the prison system. The warden is the man on top. He, along with the guards, asserts the most power over all of the inmates at the prison. Then there are the prisoners that the guards and warden have taken a liking to. It was obvious from the movie that they play favorites, and Andy was able to help the guards and warden out with personal matters due to being so educated, so they all repaid him with protection and extra benefits that the other prisoners did not get. Although the guards and warden play favorites, there is still a sense of manipulation that they use to get what they want from these specific prisoners. It appeared to be a very unfair system.
A big thing I noticed was that corruption is a huge problem within the prison. There were countless items being smuggled in to the prisoners with the help of the guards and the other prisoners, there was brutal physical punishment and even death placed upon inmates who fell out of line, and there was a whole bunch of dirty money and sketchy deals that could have gotten a lot of higher up people in the prison in serious trouble, which ultimately did end up happening. At one point in the movie, one of the inmates comes forth and tells the Andy that one of his cell mates from a different prison admitted to committing the crime that Andy was doing time for. Andy went to the warden and told him the story and told him of his innocence, but the warden did not want to hear it. In fact, the warden had the inmate who told Andy that story shot and killed.
Along with the higher ups punishing the inmates, there was also brutality between prisoners. Some of them would gang up on others and put them through severe physical punishment and would sometimes even rape them, which is a very traumatizing experience. Prisoners who were beat up on started to get into a routine, meaning that they were used to the torture and just began to accept it. This is the breaking point for some prisoners. This is where a sense of learned helplessness may begin and continue throughout the rest of the stay in prison. Prisoners had to accept the fact that they did not have any freedoms and that they could be subjected to harsh treatment. Although a lot of prisoners did pick up a sense of learned helplessness, Andy did not. He was continually hopeful throughout the whole movie, and keeping his hope intact proved to pay off in the end. His hope is what allowed him to persevere through the rough patches and escape the prison that confined him for so long.
Solitary confinement was a punishment that really took a toll on some of the prisoners. Being locked up in a cell, day and night, all alone can be extremely damaging. It cuts off all social ties that a person has and leaves them in the dark with their own thoughts. It can literally cause a person to go crazy. The social interactions are what keep many people in prison sane. Solitary confinement was not something that the prisoners looked forward to, and they usually looked like death after being locked up alone for so long.
Something that really caught my attention from the movie was life after prison. When Brooks, the old librarian, was released from prison, he was terribly confused and lost in a free world. This was because prison was all he ever knew. He was in there for fifty years and was essentially institutionalized, which means that he fully depended on the prison. After a short time of being free, Brooks ended up hanging himself because he felt as though he did not belong anywhere but prison. He had no idea what to do with his life. This is a sad thing to think about because it means that prisons are so dehumanizing that being locked up for decades can literally cause a person to kill themselves when they are finally set free.
Something else that I really noticed was that there were a lot of emotions, such as anger and sadness, at the beginning of the movie when the new prisoners arrived at Shawshank, but after a while, everything began to turn into a routine and became more dull. I think this is probably because of the fact that the prisoners have accepted that they are stuck there and don’t really have a say in any type of matter. It just shocked me, though, when Andy pulled the stunt of having music play over the intercom and ended up affecting literally every prisoner there. They hadn’t felt joy about music in ages. It was obvious that many people in the prison had given up all hope about the outside world and the niceties that go along with it.
All in all, this is a great movie and was perfect to use for tying in concepts from the textbook and lecture. I was able to see how social psychology plays such a large role in the prison system, and I was also able to identify multiple psychological principles operating in terms of the realities of prison life.
Terms: social psychology, social interaction, trial, conviction, sentence, innocence, humiliation, dehumanization, emotional distress, hierarchy, power, inmate, guard, warden, manipulation, corruption, crime, rape, learned helplessness, hope, solitary confinement, institutionalized, emotion, anger, sadness, joy
Shawshank Redemption was about how prison can change a person very quickly whether you are innocent or guilty which was similar to the Stanford Prison Experiment blog with the psychologists trying to find out the effects of prison life had on someone.
Andy’s behavior throughout majority of the movie was very calm or as Red stated about Andy, “Like this was a walk in the park” with the occasional spurt of anger and enjoyment. The first sign of his calm demeanor was when he was on trial, for the murder of his wife and another man, Andy was very relaxed throughout the trial and did not show really any physical signs of distress even when he was sentenced the most intense facial expression he gave when he was convicted guilty was his eyes were just a little bit bigger and that was it for much of the movie. Slowly as the movie was ending his behavior changed when he found out Tommy knew the real killer that had murdered Andy’s wife and her lover but he was murdered for knowing the truth by the warden. When Andy found out about this he became frantic and devious.
For everyone that played a role in the movie they had stayed very much the same in their own normal behavior as well. The warden and the guards were just assholes, pardon my language, to the convicts. An example of the guards brutality to the inmates was the overweight man at the beginning of the movie was beaten up for crying by Captain Hadley and was just left on the floor which no one came to get him which it was mentioned by a fellow inmate a day later that he was dead. The warden even though was a religious freak was just as bad having fellow inmates murdered, using bribery, and extorting money from his community by using inmates as free labor.
Social psychology plays a role in pretty much all prisons as far back as when they were created to the present. It did not matter what crime you committed or how long your sentence was in Shawshank Redemption everyone was in the same boat. All incoming inmates had to deal with everyone who scrutinized them for just being new they were even called, “fresh fish”. It was mentioned by Red that there is always someone who will cry and when someone does then they get beat up by the guards most of the time which was apparent since no one ever mentioned anything to the guards cause if they did no matter what someone would get beaten up. Another social behavior was even if you were heterosexual or homosexual it seemed it was okay by other inmates to rape a fellow inmate since no one on the outside viewed them as anything else but evil people there was very little an inmate could do to protect himself. I’ve read about sexual intercourse in prisons from my book “Orange Is The New Black” about an all female prison except for some guards and coworkers, and it was mentioned in the book the best way I could put it for this movie explaining the sister gang was that they were “gay for the stay” because Red stated that they were not homosexuals.
Terms: behavior, trial, murder, bribery, extorting, free labor, social psychology, inmates, heterosexual, homosexual, rape, sexual intercourse, and gang
Though I have heard many positive comments about Shawshank Redemption, I had never watched the movie before today and I absolutely loved it. This movie does a phenomenal job at depicting how prisoners are treated while incarcerated. Although I understand that this movie was set over in the forties, and many ethical codes have been implemented since then, there are still many reasons to believe that prisoners are not always treated justly. The movie itself illustrates many principles of psychology in regards to prison life while maintaining the interest of the viewer.
One of the first initial psychological aspects that were displayed in this film was regression. When group of prisoners were stripped and sent to their cells for the first time, everyone was a bit uneasy. Red narrated that one of the prisoners will always break down and cry on the first night, and that is exactly what happened. The man that caved first began to cry and yell out for everyone to hear; he was reverting to a younger stage in life as to comfort himself. He yelled out that he wasn’t supposed to be there and most importantly that he ‘wanted his mom’. He continued his tantrum even while being beaten by the head guard, and ultimately murdered.
Self-serving bias was a very obvious psychological term that was often revisited throughout the film. We see a large part of this theory when Andy first reaches out to Red. When questioned about his crime, he replies, “I didn’t do it”. His response caused a chuckle among the inmates, who also believed that they ‘didn’t do it’. The only difference is that in Andy’s case, he was truly innocent. Because the inmates are saying that they didn’t do it, or that it wasn’t their fault, it is demonstrating this bias to a T. During this same conversation, Red points out that 'The Sisters' had taken a liking to Andy, at which he responded that he wasn't homosexual. Red replied that they were not either, which goes to prove that sexuality can be compromised within certain environments and circumstances.
‘Institutionalized’ is a big word with a big meaning to the inmates at Shawshank, especially Red. When Brooks was released into the real world after being imprisoned for over fifty years, he wasn’t sure how to handle it. He felt scared, alone and confused. It could even be said that he showed signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He had become institutionalized; he had a role in the prison, but not in the real world. He knew he wouldn’t be able to cope living outside of the prison, and that emotion was very apparent when he held a fellow inmate at knifepoint to keep himself there. Though he had a role in the prison, it was still a traumatic experience that caused a lot of stress on him, especially when he was released. To relieve the stress of living in an unfamiliar world, Brooks killed himself. Red experienced the same symptom when he was released after forty years. He was all alone and contemplated violating his parole agreement. He did violate that contract when he crossed the United States border to reunite with Andy in Mexico. Around the same time, he narrated that some birds just are not meant to be caged, and he was referring to Andy. Though Andy was only incarcerated for nineteen years, he too was showing signs of becoming institutionalized. But Andy knew he was innocent and never gave up hope; he was able to free himself from Shawshank.
In terms of social psychology, it is very obvious that the prison is a social system. In order to survive the treatment of the brutal prison life, you have to know the right people and create a network among them. Luckily for Andy, he befriended Red who was a very influential smuggler within the prison. Most of the main prisoners that we saw seemed to be dependent on at least one other person, even if it was just to hand off a smuggled item. The guards played a big role in this ‘network’ of people as well. Andy depended on the guards for protection just as the guards depended on Andy for financial advice. He even began doing the guards’ taxes! Whether it was the guards or the prisoners, they were all socially connected in some way.
Overall, I thought that the psychological principles that were displayed in this movie were executed very well. I think that knowing I had to pick out the psychological aspects of this movie lead me to view and understand it with a different perspective. I was able to appreciate not only the entertainment of the movie, but also how psychology relates to the everyday living conditions of prisoners.
Terms: perception, regression, self-serving bias, PTSD, homosexual, sexuality, incarcerated, prison, innocence, murder, institutionalized, theory, emotion, parole, social psychology.
I had never seen The Shawshank Redemption before, so I was excited to have the opportunity to see it. There were so many things in this movie about what it is like to live in prison. The movie starts out with Andy's trial. He is convicted of murdering his wife. Once found guilty, he is charged with two life sentences in prison.
At first I was shocked by the pain the guards inflicted on the prisoners. For example, they brutally beat a man to death who had just arrived. Group dynamics were also something that stood out in the movie. Morgan Freeman (Red)has a group of men that all associate together. They make bets on who the first new prisoner to cry will be. The first one who cried was the man who was beaten to death. From then on, they stopped making bets. It was kind of a bad learning experience for the inmates.
Several relationships were also seen quite frequently in the movie. Red and Andy became close friends and were able to share things with each other. Andy was welcomed to the group after he was beaten by a group called the sisters. The leader of the sisters brutally beat Andy and earned himself time in the "hole." When he was released, he was beaten by the guards and was sent to a mental hospital where he was institutionalized. I couldn't believe all of the beatings that occurred! I know that prisoners get into fights but I didn't expect such behavior from the guards.
Andy was also welcomed to the group after standing up to one of the guards. He was talking about how he was going to lose money, but since Andy was a Vice President in a financial firm, he stepped in. He persuaded the guard to let him help to save money. Andy requested beers for his co-workers in return. He was granted his request and his co-workers were able to enjoy a few beers. I thought it was cool how Red said that they felt like free men sitting there drinking beer in the sun. It really gives insight into the little things that we take for granted.
I also like the part when the warden was talking to Andy about his faith. Andy was reading the Bible in his cell and the warden quoted some verses with him. I always wondered how inmates dealt with religion. I know that some become very religious while some don't care. This movie showed how some prisoners seek help from other motives, such as religion.
It was amazing how much Andy could do in the prison. He sent letters for six years to have new books sent to there. After six years, the books finally showed up along with some records. While one of the guards was in the bathroom, Andy looked himself in the guards office and proceeded to play songs from an Italian opera. Red was the voice over and was talking about how none of the inmates knew what it said, but for a minute they all felt free.
Also, during the movie, Red said that a man will do anything to keep his mind occupied in prison and that is what Andy did. He tutored the new kid and taught him how to read and write. This builds a level of trust between the new guy, Red and Andy. The new guy tells Andy about what he did to get in prison. In turn, Andy tries to talk to the warden and explain that the new guy is innocent.
It was interesting to see how the other prisoners tried to determine whether each other was guilty or innocent. I couldn't believe that they ended up shooting the new guy towards the end and that the warden lied to Andy about what actually happened. Andy ended up getting a month in the "hole." I think that the hole would be so psychologically damaging! A person is cut off from people, looked up in a tiny space, and can barely see the light of day. To me, that would be the worst kind of punishment.
As you can tell, there are several aspects of social psychology. We wee relationships form and fall apart. Also, we see good groups and bad groups and how they interact with each other in a prison setting. Basically, the prisoners didn't see a way out and they had to make the best of their situation. With Barry, he could not see a life outside of prison. Once he got out, he had nothing to do with himself. He had a menial job as a grocery bagger and had a hard time sleeping. I couldn't imagine how hard it would be to adjust to normal living after fifty years in prison. He needed help, but didn't get any and ended up killing himself.
Overall, the movie portrayed a really good insight into prison life. It showed how prisoners interact and live their lives on a daily basis.
Terms: Social Psychology, Group Dynamics, Innocence, Warden, Guard, Two Life Sentences.
I have heard really good things about the movie Shawshank before, however I was wondering if it would live up to the expectations that I had. I was surprised that it was set up in the 1940’s and even though there were differences than in the prison systems now, there are some principles and attitudes that have not changed throughout the years, depicted a realistic portrayal of inmates, their ideas, and lifestyles in prison. This film takes place in the 1940’s and follows the imprisonment of Andy Dufresne, who is falsely convicted of killing his wife and her lover. He befriends a fellow prisoner, “Red” Redding, and over the years has to deal with not only the prison environment but also the other negative aspects that prison life offers. Although he gets beaten up towards the beginning of his sentence, the guards protect him because he used as a financial helper for the warden’s money laundering operation. The film centers on freedom, and how important the feeling of ‘hope’ is to prisoners, which is one thing that the prison cannot take away. Eventually, Andy escapes through a tunnel that he carved out of the wall in his room, and uses laundered money to live in Zihuatanejo. After Red is released on parole, he violates it, joining Andy on the beach.
Throughout the film, psychology is shown in many ways, including aspects of cognitive psychology, which is portrayed in how the prisoners look and perceive their sense of freedom in prison, and the hope that they hold on to keep persevering to be let out. It is first and foremost shown through Andy, and his search for his own identity in the Shawshank prison. Cognitive psychology is expressed when Andy understands that everyone has a certain place in the prison system, and how important it is for him to not stand out and to find his place. Cognitive psychology is also represented by how prison changed a way an inmate can see and adjust to the world around them. Brooks, the prison’s librarian, is released on parole cannot seem to become comfortable with the outside world and ends up committing suicide in his apartment. This explains how psychology is used in inmate for them to be able to cope with such drastically different conditions then they are used to in the outside world. After years in the prison system, this perception because automatic, and natural making it difficult to return to society and being able to cope with the new sense of freedom.
Social psychology is also apparent in the ways that prisoners interact with each other as well as the guards. There seems to be unwritten rules in the prison system, and a sense of mutual respect between the inmates and the guards. This is depicted when Andy is beaten up while he is on laundry duty. It seems that new inmates have to prove themselves, and sticking out is asking to be “put in place” in a sense. There is a hierarchy is the prison system that allows some prisoners to be set apart from the rest, which is portrayed when Andy helps the warden and gets protection from the guards, that he did not receive in the beginning of his sentence. Social psychology can also be seen in the way that possessions are traded and how power is distributed throughout the prison. For example, Red gained a lot of respect in the prison for serving time there, and being a supplier of items such as cigarettes, posters, and other coveted items from the outside world. Respect was given to Red automatically because of his ability to help out others, giving him tremendous power in the prison system.
The last aspect of psychology I got from this film was how prisoner’s felt about their fate in prison. Andy seemed to have an internal locus of control, making it seem like he felt as though he had control over his fate. This was seen in his emphasis on dreaming, and his feeling of hope, which he identified as not being able to be taken away by the prison as well as his motivation to not give up. Others, such as Red, portrayed more of an external locus of control. Making them display feeling that their fate in prison is predetermined, and what ever would happen is bound to happen.
Overall, Shawshank Redemption was a film that adequately portrayed aspects of prison life, even though it was set in the 1940’s. It displayed psychology throughout the movie, portraying cognitive psychology, social psychology, and aspects of internal and external locus of control. The understanding of the prison’s system hierarchy, and unwritten rules is crucial for inmates, and this film created a better understanding how inmates are able to deal with such harsh and difficult conditions.
Terms: prison, inmate, sentence, convicted, social psychology, cognitive psychology, laundered, internal locus of control, external locus of control
Shawshank Redemption was a phenomenal movie. This movie provides insight into the prison system and environment in the 1940’s, 50’s, and 60’s. More importantly for this course, it contains different examples of social psychology.
The first portion of the movie focuses on the prisonization of Andy and the other new inmates. We can tell that a part of the prison culture is being abused by the guards and other inmates. This is evident through the abuse “fat ass” receives on his first nigh t after being antagonized by other prisoners as well as through the constant abuse and rape Andy is subjected to. This prisonization and culture is a social norm for their prison environment. Another social norm is the acceptance that it doesn’t take much for the guards to become abusive as seen in almost every scene with Captain Hadley.
Conditioning is frequently used in the prison environment to attempt to get good behavior out of the prisoners. Throughout the movie, prisoners are receiving positive punishment. Positive punishment is the addition of something unwanted when an individual engages in an undesired behavior. When “fat ass” is crying, he is beaten with by the guards. This happens throughout the movie. There is also negative punishment. Negative punishment is the removal of something the organism enjoys. In the case of the movie, when prisoners are put in “the hole” their opportunities for interaction with the other prisoners are removed.
Another important social psychology factor in this movie is self-concept. The prisoners are dehumanized by the guards. In some cases this causes their self-concept, or image of themselves, to change. Red and Brooks both discussed how they shouldn’t leave because they wouldn’t be able to function outside of the prison again. In Red’s final probation hearing, he mentions how he remembers how he was when he was young and he wishes he could talk to “that guy” and get him to change his ways. This means that he views himself differently now. During his time in the prison, his self-concept evolves.
One thing that Red inadvertently mentions is social comparison. He mentions how in the prison he is the guy that can get stuff. However, if he goes out into the world, he won’t be anything. He will just be another guy in the world doing little jobs because people can get their own stuff. He wants to stay in the prison where he can do downward comparison by comparing himself to people with lower abilities. This movie was an excellent example for the course.
Terms Used: Social Psychology, Prisonization, Social Norm, Conditioning, Positive Punishment, Negative Punishment, Self-Concept, Social Comparison, Downward Social Comparison
I greatly enjoy the main character of the Shawshank Redemption. He's the kind of guy who would be a sidekick in almost any other film. He's a fairly intelligent but otherwise average guy. He is a very average man in all other ways, maybe even tending toward the puny side of physical stature. I frequently do my best to imagine the differences in this movie and Cool Hand Luke if you switch the main characters.
The judge in the beginning refers to Dufresne as a particularly icy and remorseless man. I really don't see that, of all the things that I see about him. He may not be the most passionate man I've ever seen, but I don't see him as remorseless or even really emotionless. He has a very shocked quality in the trial scene in my opinion, and he strikes me as a really quiet man to begin with.
There is a huge difference between being cold and emotionless and being calm and introspective. By and large, there are worse things than Shawshank, even worse than being put there, possibly without committing any crimes.
It astounds me that the guy that is brutalized with the guards died. I missed that the time around. Dufresne's question of his name strikes me as a particularly germane and important question given the circumstances. To die and to have no one know your name is a hell of a way to go.
The main character in Shawshank has the same freedom that Rubin Carter talks about in the Hurricane. The difference is that Defresne's freedom comes naturally. It isn't a weapon for him, or even a coat or a shield, it just is. It is an intrinsic part of him, he's just that introspective. Going to jail, walking the prison grounds would be a hell of an experience.
They handle male rape fairly well, elegantly even, and they make it true to form. Dufresne gets brutalized and raped for two years before things even start to change. He works to fight them off but he's not successful and he hardly comes out for the better.
The roof scene is brilliant, because Andy literally makes more allies in that one day, guys who are probably loyal to him than he has in the entire time. I like the way how Red talks about the freedom that drinking the beer engenders. A little bit of freedom feels like a whole lot more when you have no freedom on a regular basis.
The carving of the chess pieces is almost romantic in my mind. There's something awesome and mighty about making something with your hands, even something so small and simple as chess pieces. There are few things quite as satisfying as something well made that you put together yourself. Be it furniture, or carved wood. I've never tried stone but I think I would enjoy it, though I wouldn't consider myself even a moderate hand at wood carving these days.
I like the first scene of the warden tossing Dufresne's cell and the exchange of the bible passages. It tells you basically everything you need to know about both of the characters. Andy's passage speaks about freedom, both of of the body but potentially also the mind. The warden's passage deifies him, it is literally something that Jesus said rather than anyone else. I think it's John 8 :12. Either way, the Warden doesn't strike me as an exceptionally bad guy relative to what he could be, but he is definitely turning a blind eye to vicious guard abuse. That at least, could stand to be changed.
The Brooks freedom scene hurts my head. The worst part is I know it's a phenomena that happens. Some individuals who have spent long chunks of time in prison aren't comfortable in the outside world. With all the horrors and trouble of prison, they'd rather be inside the walls rather then outside of them. It's like they forget what it's like to control their own life. Fifty years within the walls, fifty years with prison. It'd be more comfortable then the outside. At that point, Brooks has literally spent at least half again as long on the inside then he ever had on the outside. It's huge really, and it's such a strange aspect of rehabilitation. I wonder what the actual incidence rate is for suicides after passing parole from long term incarceration.
The P.A. Scene is awesome, but the aftermath sums it up. Dufresne calls solitary the easiest time he's ever faced. I believe him, he seems like the kind of guy who could easily curl in on himself and spend his time reciting the few bars of music he was allowed to play before the guards broke the glass in. He probably knows even more than that really. Classical music is fairly timeless all in all. The fact that the arrangements that were first documented in famous classical music continue to appear in modern pop, rock and even rap from time to time, whole and untouched but hidden almost shows that for how much we don't listen to classical music anymore, it has sort of seeped into a universal unconscious.
Funny thing is, I was straight as an arrow on the outside. I had to come to prison to become a crook. That's also a pretty good summary of the prison system. Especially in Andy's case. He's developed pretty hardcore embezzlement chops Normally it's the fellow prisoners you learn the extra skills from and learn to polish them.
Shawshank Redemption was a movie rife with social psychological concepts. Additionally, it really piqued my interest in prison psychology.
One of the more evident theories within the movie was the concept of friendship. I would venture to guess that very few people would seek out convicted criminals to become some of their best friends, but when in a prison there are a few reasons why you would become friends with your fellow inmates. First, the idea of proximity with others increases likelihood of friendship development. Research indicates that we tend to become friends with those we are around or those we see most often. For example, since Andy Dufresne was around Red and the other inmates quite frequently for twenty years, it is only natural that they become friends. Most of the people in the prison became better friends with their fellow inmates then their friends on the outside. Dufresne had a bit of difficulty forming friendships at the start for a wide array of reasons, but two psychological concepts rise to the front: 1) He isn’t exactly what you would call a friendly person; he probably has a very low score for extraversion on any personality measure. 2) Dufresne was actually innocent, he was only a perceived felon (he was convicted, not an actual felon (he didn’t actually commit the crime). His innocence was a dissimilarity beween Dufresne and the other prisoners, so it may have made it difficult for him to relate to his fellow inmates. As time passed, however, Dufresne began to get to know them a little better and get past his initial distaste and find other similarities with them.
One can also look at the concept of self-disclosure when examining the friendship between Red and Dufresne. It started off with Dufresne telling Red about his love of rocks and continued to grow until they each spoke about some of their deepest fears or greatest desires. After all, what do you have to do in prison besides talking.
Dufresne also mastered the concept of pro-social behavior. He may not have done this intentionally, but he was very helpful and it created positive feelings for him from the people he helped. This is evident by his treatment by the guards after he helped them with finances, his new friendships after getting them all beer and his continuing ‘partnership’ with Warden Norton.
Though these concepts are strewn throughout the movie, they don’t exactly relate to prison psychology. The idea of prisonization can also be found in the film as Dufresne was socialized to the prison life. As time went on, he got more and more comfortable with the other inmates and once he began to get a sense of how things worked, he used that to his advantage by doing favors for those in charge. Looking at Brooks Hatlen, the original librarian of the prison library, one can see that the prisonization or socialization to prison life, after so many years, replaces our original socialization to contemporary society. Brooks became so socialized to prison life he forgot how modern society worked. It didn’t help that society also changed a lot while Brooks was in prison. This is also evident in Red’s life after parole, especially with his incessant asking to use the restroom. He was used to having everything scheduled for him and having no freedom.
Which leads me to my next point: prisons tend to do away with anything that would individualize the prisoners. For example, they wouldn’t let them go to the bathroom on their own. They had to ask to do so. They gave them prison numbers, shaved their heads, had them walk into the prison completely naked. All of this just destroys any sense of individualism. They also freaked out on Dufresne when he played music over the intercoms, which reminded the prisoners of life beyond Shawshank. I’m fairly surprised, however, that they allowed the library to come to be as it allowed prisoners to develop their own taste in books, music, etc.
Also, the idea of social roles is quite apparent through the relationship between the guards, prisoners and the warden. The guards, who I am sure were quite normal when at home, adopted to the role of the cruel prison guards in order to command respect from and maintain authority of the prisoners. Captain Hadley was especially cruel, which was fitting with his role as the captain of the guards. Warden Norton used religion as a shield from criticism, but, in reality, was not very religious. Norton may have originally began religiously and wanted to save the prisoners, but as time went on, one noticed less and less mention of the Bible and more and more use of threat, force or manipulation to achieve his ends. Norton grew into his social role as leader of the prison. Also of note, Norton very clearly had a high social need for power. He seemed to get off on his roles in manipulating others.
Terms: social roles, friendship, self-disclosure, proximity, power,
Shawshank Redemption definitely shows how cruel prison life really can be. It shows how just about anything can happen in prison, including the guards beating inmates without punishment. The main psychological principle was obviously social psychology but I also thought that psychology of personality came into play as well.
I think that the mentality of the prisoners had everything to do with how they managed to survive the prison and how they dealt with things. Their different personalities allowed them to all deal with being imprisoned in their own ways. I also think that others' personalities can even affect the way they interpret stimuli. I think seeing someone who is dealing with imprisonment well, like Red, can make other prisoners feel as if they are going to make it out okay. It kind of gives them hope, as Andy was saying.
Social psychology within a prison environment is especially important to your survival. For example, if someone gets close to the guards and that someone doesn't like you, you're basically done for. Like in Andy's case, he became close with the guards because he could help them out. The person that beat Andy up continuously was then beat him almost to death. You really have to make the right friends. Red, for example, could get just about anything he wanted because he knew the right people and knew how to get things without getting caught.
It also applies to an example in the movie where Andy gets put in solitary confinement for an extended period of time. Andy confronts the warden about the possibility of another inmate that might have actually killed his wife and her lover in another prison somewhere. When the warden doesn't like something you say or an idea that you present he can do whatever he wants, like one month in solitary confinement, and then another month right after that. One really has to be careful who you interact with and how.
Another thing is something Andy says near the end of the movie. It was something along the lines of how he was straight as an arrow on the outside and that in order to become a crook he had to come to prison. This is another true statement within the prison society. Most criminals get all their ideas and techniques from other criminals that have been in prison. Sending people to prison can be risky in that they could pick up other skills that could be destructive to a lot of people on the outside.
I thought this movie was a great example of how prison life is and how closely it's related to social psychology.
Shawshank Redemption is a story about Andy Dufresne’s time spent in prison and how he copes with the harsh life. Shawshank Redemption is an excellent movie and example of social psychology that occurs within the prison system.
The ability to feel like an active member of a society or group offers fulfillment for a person that is needed in order to live a happy life. Without the ability to feel like a productive member of society or a sense of belonging, an individual will feel like they are left without purpose. This desire to be a functioning member of a society or group is explored in Shawshank Redemption. All the new inmates, including Andy, strive to fit into the prison lifestyle and the community that had been created. For many people, this involves taking on roles that they would not necessarily have in order to fit into a group as a plausible solution. Andy Dufresne is an example of this when he becomes the warden’s financial assistant and helps him launder money. Andy Dufresne uses his skills with money and financials to take on a role that would make him accepted at Shawshank and make him a part of the prison society. The sense of belonging is a contributing factor in why prisoners lose a sense of who they were outside of prison, because they make changes in order to be accepted.
In Shawshank Redemption, two characters, Red and Brooks, learn to integrate themselves into the prison community and create a sense of stability in their uncertain environment. Like many other inmates Red and Brooks, due to their long sentences, become entrenched in the prison community and develop institutional syndrome. Red utilizes his natural ability of relating to others and a way of building rapport with other prisoners to become a staple within the prison community. Known as "the guy to go to when you need something", Red establishes himself as a respected member of the prison and fears that he would not belong in the outside world because his prison life had become the norm. Similarly Brooks, an older prisoner who had spent a majority of his life in prison, also had become a functioning member of Shawshank. He was solely in charge of maintaining the Prison library and was respected by most. After being institutionalized for a number of years, Brooks and Red had adapted to their life as prisoners and, eventually, being a prisoner was the only role they knew. Both men found happiness and fulfillment in their prison lives because it brought them the respect and dignity that they would not find in the outside world. Red and Brooks underwent prisonization due to their long sentences that prevented both men from truly wanting to be integrated back into the outside world. For Red and Brooks the prison lifestyle was their reality and the outside world was an unknown territory. Once Brooks was released into the free world on parole, he lost his function and importance. Upon returning to mainstream society, he had to change his mind frame to one which he had not known for a decade. Brooks’ uncertainty in the outside world and the lack of stability lead him to commit suicide as the only escape from an unwanted life.
The psychological concepts of conditioning and social hierarchy are themes in Shawshank Redemption both dealing with the treatment of the prisoners from the guards and prison staff. Negative reinforcement is utilized when prisoners are sent to solitary confinement, taking away social interaction, which is one of the few privileges that inmates are given. Positive punishment was also utilized in Shawshank as a way of conditioning the prisoners to behave in a manner that the guards saw fit. The guards used force and maltreatment as punishment of bad behavior such as possessing contraband items. The use of force and maltreatment may also be seen as examples of guards and other prison staff exercising their power over the prisoners. In the prison system there is a social hierarchy in which guards and prison staff are at the top and possess power, whereas inmates are at the bottom of the hierarchy and are stripped of any power. There are several instances in the film where the prison warden or a member of his staff is seen verbally or physically abusing one of the inmates in an attempt to assert his power over the inmates. In these overt instances, violence is used by the dominant group to establish their control over the inmates and, as a result, inmates do not see themselves as anything more than prisoners.
Shawshank Redemption is an excellent example of social psychology and its connection to the corrections system and life in prison. The movie depicts the reality of the harsh life in prison and how inmates must adapt and change themselves in order to survive.
Terms: social psychology, belonging, institutional syndrome, prisonization, parole conditioning, positive punishment, negative reinforcement, guard, warden, social hierarchy, dominant group
I have never seen Shawshank Redemption before watching it. I thought it was a great movie which portrayed different aspects such as friendship, prison life, and the concept of hope.
One of the major concepts that deals with social psychology is the relationships that were made during the movie. When Andy first arrived to the prison you could tell how scared and how much he kept to himself. However, after being in the prison for a while he started being attacked by a group of people known as the sisters. They would beat him up violently and attempt sexual assaults. During this time, we begin to see how Andy does well with numbers and first we see him help out a certain guard which was the start of the change. The guards stuck together and the other thing they would have to do with the prisoners is attacking them in some way. After Andy provided help to the certain guard which led him to help the warden and other faculty and prisoners around the prison, the guards paid him respect by beating up the leader of the sisters which caused Andy to not be attacked by this group. Another close friendship that was made was with Andy and Red. Their friendship transformed into something special, especially by the end of the movie. I believe social psychology is portrayed very well in this movie because of the friendships that were made and how well they would all stick together, through the good and the bad.
Prison life in this movie is completely different today. I thought it was awful how the guards beat the hell out of the guy at the beginning of the movie just because he was crying and saying he didn't belong here. Guard today wouldn't get away with anything like that. Guards pretty much could do whatever they wanted to, to the prisoners and would never get in trouble for it. Prison life today is more of a concept to rehabilitate the offenders and to treat them like any other person even though they've committed a certain crime. Throughout the movie, you begin to see the change in some of the guards especially towards Andy. Andy was practically the model prisoner, and with all of his help they were respecting him. The biggest surprise to me in this movie was when the warden came to Andy to ask him for his help and that's what Andy did. In a sense it seemed as if Andy was changing the life around the prison and he just wanted to help people. He didn't kill his wife and her lover, but just as the movie said, "do you want to spend you life living, or spend your life dying," and he spent his life living. He knew that somehow he had to make the best of this even though it's not where he was supposed to be, and what better way to do that then to help people. Another surprise was when Andy found out from a new prisoner who killed his wife and lover, and when he went to the warden he didn't want to help him. Andy spent years helping the warden and he didn't want anything to do with helping him because Andy was doing the prisons finances and he didn't want him to go since it was all practically a scam. Even the warden caused the execution of the prisoner who knew the truth behind the real murderer. After that, the warden threatened to make Andy's life miserable for the rest of his time here if he quit doing the finances, but Andy ruined his life. The ending of the movie was great, and that's what the prison gets for trying to pull a scam while having one of the smartest men do it. Along with this is the concept of hope, which was Andy's way of living. If you give up on hope then you're pretty much giving up on living. That's how it played out for Andy. He kept the hope alive and he eventually made his way out of the prison and ruined the wardens life and began a new life for his own at a place he always wanted to go, and even left money for Red to come join him.
terms used: social psychology, warden, friendship, hope, sexual assualts, prison life, guards, prisoners, rehabilitate
Andy, the main character in this film, is wrongly accused of a double murder, and sent to the notoriously brutal correctional center, Shawshank. A former banker, Andy poses not only the knowledge of finances, but is able to utilize these skills during his incarceration, and eventually his escape.
The two main characters in the plot seem to handle the prison life exceptionally well. After learning about the Stanford Prison Experiment, I learned the devastating psychological effects that brutal prison life can take on the human mind.
Shawshank was nothing short of brutal, and at some times incredibly violent. There were many accounts of prisoners being beaten by the guards, who was sent to another prison hospital because the beating caused him to be paralyzed.
The "Sisters" that were in the prison repeatedly raped and beat prisoners, but their main focus was the sexual assault that they performed.
Andy seemed to mentally handle this as well as to be expected, although on of their beatings put him in the infirmary for around a month. What was interesting to see was how the guards reacted to the incident. Andy had been helping not only prisoners, but guards as well with their financial situations and gave important advice on ways to hide money, and also launder it. This gave Andy a unique bond with the guards, who later beat one of the "sisters" so badly that he was paralyzed from it.
Andy's best friend in the prison, Red, provided emotional support to him and also created a stable bond that he could trust. This crucial relationship helped Andy keep his state of mind within the confining walls of the prison.
One of the most major actions that Andy had in the prison was the providing the sense of freedom in random acts that he conducted throughout his time in confinement. One in particular not only helped himself be free, but also the rest of the prison. Andy was able to lock Hadley, on the prison guards that he had been giving financial advice to, in a closet and played classical music over the PA. The music was soothing and produced a calming effect among many of the prisoners and even some of the guards. The act helped Andy get a sense of control, something that he hadn't felt in many months, and if it was only for a few moments, it helped his mental state, and also the other prisoners. They were able to sense a moment of freedom while in the confinement of the prison walls, and was a help to their psychological state.
The group dynamics among the prisoners were common for their situation. Andy was considered weak when first arriving, but also was accepted into Red's group as soon as he stood up to one of the guards. Prison life has little tolerance for the weak and also anyone that may be different. Andy had to prove himself time and time again, but after many times came to be on of the most respected prisoners by other inmates and also the guards. The social psychology that goes into the relationships within a prison can be a little unorthodox at times, but can also provide
The power-submissive relationship that was displayed between the guards and the prisoners was a typical situation for the brutal prison that the film was portrayed in. The dehumanization of the prisoners seemed to play a significant role in the actions of both the prisoners and the guards. Many prisoners became hardened to this aspect of prison life, and many were in a routine that they would never be able to come out of. Brooks, an older prisoner who is eventually released on parole, commits suicide after his time spent at Shawshank. To me, this showed that the prison almost becomes a way of life for many of the inmates, and trying to become a part of civilian life is not an option, mentally, for some of the inmates that are released.
One inmate that changes Andy's life forever is named Tommy, comes to Shawshank after Andy has been there for a while. After many conversations and putting pieces together, Andy realizes that the man who killed his wife and her lover, was in Tommy's prison and sets out on his quest to either get parole, or escape from Shawshank.
The information that Tommy provides gives Andy a new sense of hope, which I believe in the strongest emotion, even stronger than fear. Andy is discouraged after he learns that Tommy was killed, and revamps his plan to escape from Shawshank.
I think this hope that was provided to Andy gave him a new sense of motivation due to the fact that there was evidence and that Tommy could have been used as a witnessed to prove his innocence. Before, Andy had absolutely no one or nothing to prove his innocence. Although Tommy was killed before being able to testify on Andy's behalf, the new sense of hope gave Andy the motivation he needed to come up with an escape plan out of Shawshank and later to Mexico.
Andy's intelligence and his persistence proved to be two of the best assets that any of the prisoners could have had. He learned to use his intelligence in proactive ways in order to provide moments of freedom, develop relationships, and even successfully escape from Shawshank. He also was able to profit from his financial skills. After helping one of the guards launder his money into many accounts using a fake alias, Andy had all the information he needed to get the money out of the accounts and take off for mexico.
Over all this is probably one my favorite movies I have ever watched and loved how they showed the reality of a violent prison, but also gave a hopeful message at the end of the film. I loved the psychology and the law aspects that this film portrayed especially that of an innocent person who had his life taken from him over false allegations that he was convicted of by the jury assigned to his case. This story shows determination and how prison life motivated Andy, not hurt his mental state, and allowed him to free himself from the nightmare that the justice system had ensued on him.
The Shaw Shank Redemption is a prime example of justice being served. An educated man is found guilty of murder and sentenced to prison. During his time in prison there are several examples of imprisonment. I did not watch the entire movie, although, I saw many examples that correlated from our text and other assignments.
After being found guilty he was taken to the prison called Shaw Shank Andy’s experience is much like the Stanford prison experiment. While watching this movie and seeing the concepts for the second time I gained an understanding of the detailing of the self prior to starting a sentence. The psychological reaction of taking away self identity and worth makes a prisoner believe that they are just a number. Andy is an extremely interesting character, these techniques don’t change the way he carries himself. When the verdict is presented as guilty the text states that they sentence based on the crime, and also personal attributes. Andy is in total control of himself while remaining stable throughout movie. The guidelines for for punishment seems to be relevant to this movie. Our text states that a person who commits a crime may not always get the same punishment. While meeting each character in the movie several of them have committed a similar crime with a large sentence. For determinate sentencing I understand that there is a regular mandatory time for each crime. On page 351 the table of offenses and time made me realize the use of punishment more. Andy is referred to as “Cold”. Psychologically this might have reflected why Andy was found guilty. The jury plays such a large role in determining a life, and psychologically, a persons attitude and look matters.
Upon entrance to the prison Andy is given a speech by the Warden. He states that he will receive two things that he needs, faith and discipline. The paragraph from chapter sixteen gives the goals of imprisonment as; incapacitation, deterrence, and retribution. Each goal is clearly met with a prison, however, it may not have the best results. That is why we have such an issue with criminals recommitting. Infact many inmates seem to become dependent on prison life that they strive to come back “home”. The old man hanging himself is a prime example of how the three goals of prison can negatively effect a human. The three goals make sense for a person while in prison, but they are not preparing them for the real world. The use of half-way houses make for change with that, but from what I understand not everyone can get those privileges. Another aspect of prison that was present in the movie is the rights of prisoners. Andy found a way to gain incentive by doing certain things for the guards, but his rights were different than the average inmate. Gaining a library gave the inmates at this prison a new set of rights to gain education. That alone helps gain happiness based on needs.Andy’s situation is very interesting and it makes me curious to how often the rules of prison are bent over time. Overall this movie was great and helped me understand a prison and its intentions.
Key Terms; inmate, prison, guilty, verdict, incapacitation, deterrence, retribution,jail, stability, controllability.
Before going to prison, Andy is shown pleading not guilty in front of the jury. Despite the lack of a confession, the jury convicts him and the judge sends Andy away for life. This shows how surrounding factors, like carrying a weapon and drinking alcohol, can convince the jury of a person’s guilt.
Shawshank Redemption demonstrated several psychological effects of imprisonment. One of the most prevalent themes was how being taken from one’s natural habits and environment can alter mental health. Andy Dufresne, wrongfully convicted, did everything he could to feel “normal,” from carving rocks to getting beers for his fellow inmates.
Many parallels between the Stanford Prison Experiment and Shawshank Redemption are shown. This film also demonstrated the social dynamic which develops between guards and prisoners in a prison. In the first scene where the new “fish” are being brought in, a guard yells at a prisoner for asking a question and then strikes the prisoner with a billy club. The fat prisoner is also killed by a guard after the fat prisoner starts to cry during the first night in prison. Additionally, the taunts from the prisoners tear the fat prisoner down until the prisoner loses any shred of control. The prisoners are also hosed down and deloused then forced to stand naked in front of the cells. Without any external control and dehumanized, the prisoners break down quickly and are more likely to follow the orders of the guards.
While living in prison for over forty years, another inmate, Brooks, became accustomed to the daily routine of being told what to do and where to go. When he was freed, he could not handle the environmental change and his mental health broke down. His health deteriorated until his suicide. When explaining Brooks’ spiral, Red told Andy that Brooks had become “institutionalized,” meaning Brooks could no longer handle being outside of the prison.
“The Sisters” are one of Andy’s main problems while imprisoned. Andy is routinely raped by these men and the raping continues until the guards beat up and permanently injure the ringleader of the gang. The guards presumably beat up the ringleader because they want to protect Andy so that Andy can file their tax papers. In controlled environments, rapists can much more easily track their victims and commit these heinous crimes.
Not only does Andy file the guard’s taxes, but he also launders and hides money for the warden. This type of bribery and deceit also occurs in actual prisons. Guards will use intimidation or abuse to control the actions of the prisoners. In this movie, the prisoners were repeatedly beaten and screamed at if they acted in a way that did not please the guards. Even in the closing scene the guard threatened to kill Andy, who was no longer in the prison, if Andy did not come out of his cell.
Cons between prisoners also occur. In this film, Red was the man who could “get things.” Red has given up hope and just tries to fly under the radar so that he doesn’t get beaten by the guards. If Andy had not forced Red to promise Andy that he would look for the black, volcanic glass upon release, Red may have also killed himself like Brooks. Andy essentially became Red’s support group. Prisoners who have support groups like family members or friends are less likely to become depressed or to commit more crimes when released.
In one scene, Andy says that it took being imprisoned to turn him into a crook. This shows that the purposes of prisons, retribution and rehabilitation, sometimes work in opposite directions. Some prisoners are hardened by prison time and will continue to commit violent crimes upon release. Being hardened in this manner partially explains recidivism.
Terms:
Social psychology, mental health, confession, evidence, warden, institutionalized, dehumanized, locus of control, controlled environment, rape, intimidation, social support, depression, suicide, retribution, rehabilitation
The Shawshank Redemption is a great example of many of the topics that we have covered in class. The movie begins with the main character, Andy, being wrongly convicted of murdering his wife, and sent to prison with a life sentence. Though he maintains a plea of not guilty, the evidence leads the jury to convict him. They saw his cold, calculating demeanor along with the circumstantial factors like possesion of a weapon and alcohol consumption as indications of guilt.
The film is largely an exploration of daily prison life, and there are many instances of psychologically significant goings-on. The first example of this is the scene in which Andy and the other new inmates are being transferred into the prison. The new inmates or "fish" are the subject of a game in which current prisoners place bets as to which one will be the first to crack under the new pressures of prison life. One of these "fish" does crack first and begins to sob uncontrollably, pleading to the guards that his being there was a mistake. He is beaten brutally for this outburst. This scene does a great job of illustrating the hierarchical nature of prison in which only the strong survive.
Andy also experienced the psychological trauma of solitary confinement, beatings, and rape throughout the time he was in prison.
The movie also captured a really good example of institutionalization with the character Brooks Hatlan. He had spent at least 60 years in prison and he was finally set to be released. He was so terrified of the idea now that he was an old man that he put a knife to a fellow inmate's neck. His hopes were that if he killed the man, they would let him stay in prison. Andy was able to talk him down, and brooks was released. He was unable to adapt to life on the outside and committed suicide shortly after.
Terms: murder, plea, conviction, jury, evidence, circumstantial, sentence, trauma, solitary confinement, institutionalized, suicide