Review of Scum (2014) by Rachel E — 26 Dec 2012

Write a short essay in the form of a movie review, contrasting the world of âScumâ? with the restorative justice ethos of today. Should we return to a more punitive system?

The 1979 film Scum represents the reality of life inside a 1970â(TM)s British borstal under the welfare model of British youth justice. The welfare model recognises the influence of socio-economic factors on criminality (Hale, Hayward, Wahidin and Wincup, 2005). Borstals were introduced by the 1908 Children Act. The intention of these institutions was to keep young offenders out of prisons and rehabilitate them through education, support, trade training, exercise, discipline and religious training (Warder and Wilson, 1973). The restorative approach of today alternatively, is designed to reintegrate offenders into society through community based, offence appropriate punishment, commonly known as community service and promotes individual responsibility via direct repararation to the victim (Walklate, 2007).

The reformative intentions of the borstal system as identified by Warder and Wilson (1973) are evident throughout the film. However, Scum also shows the corruption of these intentions, possibly most apparent throughout the film is the violence experienced by the inmates at the hands of sadistic officers under the justification of discipline. In the opening scenes an officer is seen attacking inmate Carlin with the explanation; â~speak when youâ(TM)re spoken toâ(TM). Gershoff (2002) suggests that punishment such as this may increase undesired behaviour, finding associations between parental corporal punishment and increased aggression, antisocial behaviour, physical abuse and criminality. This could explain the violence between inmates evident throughout the film. For example, Pongo, the â~daddyâ(TM) of â~Aâ(TM) wing wakes Carlin with a Glasgow kiss to which the officers turn a blind eye and accuse Carlin of fighting. Carlin, bound by an unwritten code of conduct, explains his injuries with the often repeated â~I fell sirâ(TM). Such perpetuation of undesirable behaviour was reported by Cockett (1967), who noted that 60% of youths reoffended within the first year after release from borstal. This also indicates failings in the reformative intention of borstals. In comparison, the youth justice statistics for England and Wales (2010/11) show a reoffending rate of 33.3% for 2009/10. Reoffending was slightly higher among young offenders released from custody at 69.7% compared to 65.9% among those given community sentences. However, Donoghue (2012) raises concerns that courts have failed to apply community justice principles appropriately.

Scum also addresses the reformative intention of borstal through physical exercise. One particular scene depicting a basket ball game however, descends into racial segregation, failing to uphold the reformative intentions. Scum also shows physical exercise as a method of discipline, for example when Archer is sentenced to solitary for dubbing â~I am happyâ(TM) on a wall, he is denied physical exercise. The officers and governors abuse the discretion afforded to them by the system using this â~insolenceâ(TM) as an excuse to punish the trouble maker despite him not breaking any specific rules. Among other things, Archer is particularly vocal about his atheism. However, according to one of the officers â~theyâ(TM)re all atheistsâ(TM). This suggests that the system encouraged religious behaviour such as attending church without encouraging spirituality. A study by Piazza, Bering and Ingram (2011) demonstrates why true belief may reduce reoffending while atheism disguised by religious behaviour will not. Piazza et al found that children who genuinely believed they were being watched by an invisible person while completing a task, refrained from cheating to the same extent as children who were actually supervised, compared to children who believed they were unsupervised. Whitehead (2011) however, reviewed the benefits of post-release community chaplaincy on reoffending within the modern restorative justice approach. The emphasis here being on providing pro-social support and promoting moral behaviour rather than encouraging religious behaviour only.

Borstal also claimed to reform offenders through education and trade training, providing them with the skills required to gain a job on release. However, the film highlights failings with a scene between Archer and another inmate, Woods asks Archer to read him a letter to which Archer enquires âHavenâ(TM)t they taught you to read yet?â? Woods replies âI canâ(TM)t understand what they mean, you know and I donâ(TM)t like asking.â? It is likely that Woods is dyslexic and the system cannot address such needs. In 1966 Banks (cited in Warder and Wilson, 1973) raised concerns about increasing numbers of mentally, socially and educationally troubled boys entering borstal. In 1968, Alpher-Benedict noted the introduction of group therapy sessions in borstals, presumably to address these issues. Such a session is portrayed in Scum, it is lead by the only female member of staff who fails to address any issues raised by the boys. The boys are equally unforthcoming, bound by the unwritten rules of borstal. Snow and Sanger (2011) consider the difficulties in implementing modern restorative justice reparation conferencing between offender and victim, due to undetected language problems in young offenders such as Woods. However, they suggest involvement from speech-language pathologists in policy and programmes regarding such individuals, rather than institutionalised group sessions, to address these issues and reduce reoffending.

Scum identified the failings of borstal however, studies such as Whitehead (2011) and Snow and Sanger (2011) indicate concerns raised in the film, such as religion and education which remain within the youth justice system today. However, reformative methods of restorative justice such as community punishment aim to reintegrate and reform offenders in more successful ways than those attempted by borstal. These methods also reduce the number of young offenders within institutions, preventing abuses of the system such as those identified in Scum. While statistics appear to indicate a reduction in reoffending rates and suggest that community punishment is more effective than custodial sentencing, there remains concern (Donoghue, 2012) about the effectiveness of restorative justice. Considering Scum as a point of reference it does not seem appropriate to return to a punitive system, leaving young offenders vulnerable to abuse. However, while Scum may represent the reality of life in a 1970â(TM)s British borstal, it also represents a corrupted system. It is possible that a truly reformative punitive system with measures in place to protect young offenders and intensions such as those described by (Warder and Wilson, 1973) could improve youth justice and assuage public concern.