| |
| |
You are here: Frontpage > Issues > 2445 >
|
|
You could argue that a lot of things were different in 1919, but Dutch anarcho-pacifist Clara
Wichmann certainly had some progressive ideas on crime and punishment...
Against the current views on crime and punishment
Dr Clara Meijer Wichmann
Why is punishment inflicted? Most people don't even ask themselves that
question. For them it is
evident that prisons exist, cells in which those who have transgressed the penal laws of this society are
locked-up, for weeks or months or even for years. They walk past these prisons, and are not disturbed
by their existence.
Others, who have examined this question, find it easy to answer: a sense of justice, they say, demands
repayment for injustice committed. Or they put forward the interests of society and determine that
society should protect itself against infringements of its order by deterring crime, by - if possible -
making the criminal better, and - if this is, in their opinion, not possible - by rendering them harmless.
Pain and exclusion
This reasoning presupposes that the person who infringes the existing penal laws is a bad person, [...]
and that the society in which the majority condemn such people is a truly humane society. It also
presupposes [...] that inflicting pain and exclusion are appropriate reactions against "criminals". From
the bottom of our hearts, we think all of this is wrong and tragic: an un-salutary delusion that keeps
inhumane relationships alive.
It is obviously untrue that our present-day law represents an eternal truth; because it protects the
property-owning classes, it upholds the existing property relationships as if they were worth upholding
at any price. It's nice and easy to think that most condemned people are moral deficients, and most of
the un-condemned are people of a superior order; but truly, it's not that simple! While we are not at all
underestimating the importance of personal aptitude, we are absolutely not saying that what a person is
driven to depends solely on the circumstances; but we see that aptitude and circumstances influence
each other continually, in constant interaction.
But reflect that, in all countries, the vast majority of condemned people, even in relation to their share
in the population, belong to the un-propertied classes! If crime only proceeded from "the evil of the
hearts", would that still be the case?
"Improvement" and deterrence
Let us think [...] of those criminals who would really need improvement. What does punishment then
do to them? The punishment pushes them down, humiliates them, robs them of their last bit of
resilience. From the start of the criminal procedure onwards, they are placed in opposition to society,
regarded as enemies.
As a result of all this the inner development, which follows every action, and also every wrong deed, is
broken off; [...] the inner healing process is disturbed. In essence, in this day and age, the criminal is
still not treated as a human, but processed as a thing. Everything that merits being called humane is
denied him [or her] in prison. In prison he [or she] doesn't even have the opportunity to turn his good
resolutions into deeds; and this is why improvement of the criminal through prison is impossible.
Can prison deter then? Little. The rise and fall of criminality are, in general, determined by wholly
other causes than the effect of punishment, [this is] ... continuously demonstrated by the large number
of repeat offenders. But above all, the whole concept of deterrence is immoral, because it regards
human beings solely as a means.
Render them harmless then? The term itself is unworthy! And the result of this attempt is that many
leave prison "more harmful" than they went in. Awaken the good in people, do what you can to make
them strong, to let all the positive and constructive capabilities inside them grow; but don't attempt to
render them "harmless".
[While some].. among the criminals [are] "incorrigibles", in whom it seems nothing good can be
awakened, who in their whole person appear sub-human, victims of degeneration ... [We should] regard
and treat them as people who are sick, and not think of "punishing" them any more than we in our day
would punish crazy people.
The concept of punishment
But more powerful than all these "purposes" it is hoped punishment will achieve, [is] the old retaliation
principle [which] lives on in people where revenge has hidden itself. It calls for letting the person who
caused suffering also suffer pain, it desires "repaying" everything and evening the score.
Penal law is just one manifestation [of something] we find in all domains of personal and social life.
[...] We are deeply convinced [that] we oppose the whole concept of punishment itself. It is not how
human to human relationships should be, it is not the way people should face each other.
We propose another principle of life: do not judge. Do not retaliate. Do not punish. Do not reward. But
try with all the power within you to create a truly humane society, in which the conditions for growth
and development for every person are present; and try - in yourself and others - to overcome evil
through good. Crime can only be fought indirectly; not by destroying forces, but by awakening forces,
by transforming what started destructively into something
constructive.
In a true Community there would be a willingness to help each other overcome our difficulties; for
which we would be prepared to sacrifice many an immediate "interest". We wouldn't, as we do now,
always have in mind the "objects of law which are threatened", but instead the human being, who
always faces a struggle with themself. We would know that when one of our own succumbed in that
struggle, it was our common failure.
And therefore - even though we will rejoice over each real improvement that is made to penal law and
the penal system - our aim is wider: we ask for radical transformation, not partial changes; we see
another principle appear on the horizon: that of a new era, of a brotherly humanity, which will break
the principle of punishment.
In life Dr Wichmann was head of the criminal statistics department
of the Central Bureau for Statistics
of the Dutch government.
Original editor's notes: This text was written in June 1919, and
tens of thousands of copies have since
been distributed. We would also like to draw to your attention the book Crime, Punishment and Society
by the same author.
PN editor's notes: This is a translated and edited excerpt from the
original Dutch version.
Translation by Koen Moens.
|
|
|
|
