Academics debated the effectiveness of prison at a recent event in Brighton, hosted by the University of Sussex.
Academics debate the effectiveness of prison at Brighton event. A sell-out audience gathered at the Brighton Museum this month to watch an expert panel of academics debate the effectiveness of prison. The debate was hosted by the University of Sussex as part of its 'Sussex Salon' series, which is aimed at providing an alternative evening out that highlights research at Sussex and explores contemporary topics likely to appeal to a wide audience. The series, which is organised by the University's School of Law, Politics and Sociology , has previously covered topics as diverse as the Human Rights Act , The Future of Europe and Corruption in the UK . A panel featuring Sussex's Marie Hutton , Dr Andrew Sanders and Dr Paul McGuinness , plus Dr David Maguire from the University of Oxford, tackled questions on the purpose and appropriateness of imprisonment as a form of punishment. The panelists argued that the idea of normalizing prisons to make them more comfortable questions the disciplinary power of prison, and highlighted that in order for punishment to be meaningful, it should be done in the community, through community sentences. They also raised the question of whether it would ever be possible to destigmatize offenders by putting them into prison - prisoners being one of the most highly stigmatized communities of our era.
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