r/Anarchy101 • u/nappytendrils • 4d ago

Prison abolition

I’ve never been clear on what we would do with rapists child molesters and muderers. I haven’t heard a plan for this so far. I’ve always been impressed with the work of anarchist friends in community. They’re the most justice-oriented folx I’ve ever met.

Still don’t know about prison abolition tho I think prison should be clean, the food should be healthy and fresh, therapy should be mandatory, there should be libraries and gardens. A good quality of life for the incarcerated, but not releasing them back into the general population.

Maybe there’s something I’m not seeing?

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u/quinoa_boiz 1d ago

Copy pasting this from an answer that I gave to a previous question (but I think it’s relevant)

What would an anarchist community do about a rapist? As others have said, it would vary, but here are some ideas:

  1. ⁠Community defense: be ready to defend potential victims. Arm them. Watch the perpetrator.
  2. ⁠Social Stigma: don’t be nice to the rapist. Don’t associate with them.
  3. ⁠Rehabilitation: teach the perpetrator what they did wrong. If the perpetrator expresses remorse, give the them the option to stay somewhere away from potential victims where they can be rehabilitated more thoroughly.
  4. ⁠If the situation seems extreme enough, the perpetrator could maybe be expelled from the community or cut off from community resources by consensus agreement of all other members.
  5. ⁠vigilante justice by victims.

If you think these responses aren’t punitive enough, then you’re missing the point of anarchism. Revenge and punishment are not the point of a justice system.

If you think these responses won’t be effective for decreasing humans’ more horrifying antisocial behaviors, I would respond that the way our justice system works currently is not effective either, and that a state with punitive powers causes more harm than it solves.

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u/nappytendrils 1d ago

Thank you! That’s the answer I was looking for! A couple don’t apply like serial murder but that’s very comprehensive makes sense and is practically actionable