The Visual Semiotic Photograph of a Prison and its Potential Interpretations

The Visual Semiotic Photograph of Prison and its Potential Interpretations

Overview of Visual Semiotics

Semiotics serves as a comprehensive framework that encompasses various sign systems, including linguistics, sounds, symbols, visuals, rhetoric, and audios, and how they are interpreted (Van Gundy, 2024). Much like symbolic interactionalism, which focuses on language and symbols within groups, semiotics recognizes the law itself as a symbol laden with meaning and crucial for its functionality, otherwise it is devoid of significance. Combining linguistics, symbolic interactionism, symbolism, and meaning, semiotics delves into the construction and communication of meaning, particularly within legal contexts where meanings can vary and produce effects upon the legal system (Jackson, 2017).

Semiotics operates across three dimensions: semantics, concerned with the interpretation of the meaning of signs, words, and sentences; syntax, which focuses on the rules that govern how signs are structured in sentences to convey a particular meaning; and pragmatics, which addresses the application of signs in particular contexts and their resulting different meanings (Milovanovic, 2022). Legal semiotics, in particular, finds a legal concept must be placed in a linear narrative for comprehension, signs and symbolism are binary, words are built upon each other internally within the law, have intent, and are often unconsciously associated with specific meanings (Van Gundy, 2024).

For instance, a photograph that depicts the interior of a prison serves as a visual, expressive semiotic symbol connected to the concept of justice and subject to diverse interpretations within the legal system. These different interpretations shape debates surrounding the purpose of incarceration – whether it aims for rehabilitation, retribution, incapacitation, or deterrence – and highlights the multifaceted nature of legal semiotics in sociologically analyzing and understanding the complex societal construct of law.

Legal System Interpretation

The interpretation of a visual semiotic photograph of a prison at the micro/individual level, generates a spectrum of meanings, fostering diverse perspectives on its role within the criminal justice system as a form of punishment. These interpretations encompass various philosophies of punishment including rehabilitation, retribution, incapacitation, and deterrence. In this case, prison is the signifier, and the philosophies are the signified (Milovanovic, 2022).

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation advocates for punishment aimed at reforming offenders, with the goal of changing their behavior to reintegrate them into society so they no longer pose any harm (Mishra, 2016). Emphasizing the social and psychological roots of crime, the rehabilitative perspective would interpret a semiotic photograph of a prison with the words inequality, injustice, harm, overcrowding, and the exacerbated, unacknowledged existence of mental health issues. Individuals following this viewpoint would commonly not associate this symbol with justice, but rather interpret it as an outdated and misguided form of punishment lacking empirical support for reducing crime rates.

Within the legal framework, this interpretation would view incarceration and prison as the last resort as well as prioritize alternatives that focus on reforming behavior rather than punishing it (Milovanovic, 2022). It would instead advocate for a framework of rules, procedures, and institutions used to interpret and enforce laws focused on mental health interventions aimed at addressing underlying issues rather than solely punishing past actions.

Retribution

The retributive theory emphasizes the principles of rights and justice, finding that offenders deserve punishment that is equal to the severity of their crime, often summarized by the notion of “an eye for an eye,” (Mishra, 2016). This underpins support for capital punishment and prioritizes the concept of retribution over rehabilitation. Therefore, the interpretation of this symbol would include deserved, justice, balance, and proportionality. Followers of the retributive theory of punishment associate these meanings with this particular symbol, viewing it as a means of delivering just punishment within the legal system. Retribution views the law as an opportunity to impose prison as a form of repayment or revenge for the committed crime (Mishra, 2016). They would interpret this as a justifiable form of punishment within the legal system and an instrument used for imposing a proportional punishment upon the offender for the sake of the victim and society.

Incapacitation

The theory of incapacitation, one that is prevalent in the U.S. alongside retribution, believes removing individuals from society who have committed crimes serves to prevent them from committing a future offense as well as to shield and protect society from their potential influences (Piquero & Blumstein, 2007). Seeking to reduce crimes by interrupting offender’s ability to engage in criminal activity, incapacitation is highly associated with incarceration and as a result, has become a contentious subject of debate with current high incarceration rates. The words this theory would associate with the visual symbol of a prison is safety, separation, prevention, necessity, and protection. It would find that incarceration primarily is a means to ensure the safety of society by segregating offenders from the community and preventing them from posing any further threats (Mishra, 2016).

Deterrence

Lastly, deterrence believes the object of punishment is to deter the offender (or others) from committing the same or a similar crime in the future (Mishra, 2016). It finds that swift, consistent, and severe punishment will prevent the offender from reoffending by instilling fear of similar consequences. By treating crimes as past offenses and administering corresponding punishments, deterrence theory aims to deter future criminal behavior. Incarceration, from this perspective, serves as a warning. The words they would associate with the visual photograph of prison would include discouragement, deterrent, sanction, and deprivation. It finds that the legal system not only enforces the law through punishment but also seeks to discourage others from engaging in similar crimes. It deems consistency and swiftness as crucial for maximizing the impact of punishment in deterring crime (Mishra, 2016). Therefore, prison is viewed as a means of discouraging and deterring future criminal behavior.

The Application of Law/Lawyering

Beyond its interpretation within the legal system and its potential micro or individual-level meanings, the concept of imprisonment can significantly influence the application of law. For instance, 18 USC 3581: Sentence of Imprisonment, states “a defendant who has been found guilty of an offense may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment.” However, amid the current backdrop of racial disparities in sentencing and evolving dynamics of different forms of punishments, the interpretation of the term “imprisonment” can vary widely. Subject to diverse interpretations, imprisonment can be considered something that is based upon rehabilitation, retribution, deterrence, or incapacitation and as a result, is either disadvantageous or beneficial. This interpretation often rests on the application of the law itself, even potentially influenced by the biases of those administering it. Legal semiotics, often unconscious, may lead to automatic assumptions, such as the prevailing notion in recent years that imprisonment primarily entails incapacitation within prison (Milovanovic, 2022). However, imprisonment could also signify an opportunity for rehabilitation. While the direct definition of imprisonment denotes being confined, typically as a result of a crime and its determined punishment, the interpretation can be significantly diverse. This variation in interpretation can ultimately impact the application of law when determining an offender’s sentence.

Most Appropriate Interpretation

Based upon my personal encounters with an individual enduring lifelong incarceration without access to mental health resources both prior to and during his sentence, I have come to align myself with the rehabilitative philosophy of punishment. However, the reality of our current system often leads me to automatically interpret a photograph of a prison through the retributive lens. Interacting with several incarcerated individuals has shed light on the pervasive inequality and injustice within our criminal justice system. My studies in criminology have underscored the empirical evidence supporting rehabilitation as the most effective form of punishment. Witnessing someone’s imprisonment has allowed me to see both the benefits of a rehabilitative approach and the detrimental effects of a flawed system. Regardless, the association of imprisonment with retribution prevails.

The interpretation of prison is inherently multi-faceted. Semiotics finds that the law functions as a symbol, carrying the meaning we attribute to it (Van Gundy, 2024). This is exemplified by the prevalent assumption that prisons serve a primarily retributive purpose and should. Consequently, a photograph of a prison conveys a meaning that is shaped by individual perception. These divergent interpretations create conflicts in the analysis and dissection of specific laws (Milovanovic, 2022), as demonstrated by the potential conflicts within 18 USC 3581. The semantics – interpretation of signs, words, and sentences meanings – can significantly influence jury decisions based on their beliefs or demographics. The syntactic structure of laws, such as 18 USC 3581, highlights the impact of sign configuration in sentence structures to convey meanings. Additionally, the pragmatics of imprisonments application within different contexts, such as upon a poor Black man vs a wealthy white man, showcases how contextual factors shape and impact meaning (Van Gundy, 2024).

Legal semiotics emphasize that words carry intent, and individuals unconsciously associate meanings to symbols (Milovanovic, 2022). Within this framework, there exists the signifier and the signified, and visual legal semiotics delve into how meaning is assigned to images. In the case of prisons, interpretations may include retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence, and incapacitation among others, reflecting culturally and contextually specific visual codes, particularly prevalent in America with its high reliance on incarceration as a form of punishment (Milovanovic, 2022). The use of visual evidence in courtrooms, emojis, and digital media all exemplify the ways popular culture can and has shaped the interpretations and perceptions of society, including those related to the purpose of prisons.

In conclusion, visual semiotics are a growing category, but one that wields significant importance and power (Milovanovic, 2022). The potential interpretations of the symbol of a prison outlined in this paper serves as just one example of how a single expressive semiotic related to justice and the law can possess a specific intent yet produce varied meanings and semantics unconsciously for different individuals.

References

Jackson, B. (2017). A journey into legal semiotics. Actes Sémiotiques. https://www.unilim.fr/actes-semiotiques/5669#article_auteur

Milovanovic, D. (2022). An introduction to the sociology of law (4^th ed.). Carolina Academic Press. https://read.amazon.com/?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B0BLHZYBD9&consumptionLimitReached=false&hasMultimedia=false&requiredCapabilities=EBOK_PURCHASE_ALLOWED&ref=yb_qv_ov_kndl_rn_rw&yourBooksUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fyour-books%2F%3F_encoding%3DUTF8%26ref%3Dyb_ip_ksf_d%26ccs_id%3Da71fb2a0-f890-4dd0-a814-fcd86b6cffbe%26ref_%3Dyb_ip_kwf_rn_a

Mishra, S. (2016). Theories of Punishment; A Philosophical aspect. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 2(8), 74.

Piquero, A. R., & Blumstein, A. (2007). Does incapacitation reduce crime?. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 23, 267-285.

Van Gundy, A. (2024). Sociology of law: Semiotics and Law [PowerPoint].