Real Prison Culture And The Shawshank Redemption Sociology Essay

Real Prison Culture And The Shawshank Redemption Sociology Essay A large majority of the population will not have any knowledge of what prisons are a really like, if it was not for the movie studios and the television stations. The population acquire the knowledge about prisons through movies, documentaries, drama and action series involving actual prisons around the world as made available through these two medias. The National Geographic television channel has a program titled Lockdown where crews go inside actual prisons and film the everyday aspects of prison life. This program shows their viewers how difficult, stressful and how dangerous prisons are (National Geographic Television Production, 2010). Compared that with Hollywood movies where a director tells a story to his or her moviegoer customer. The director must ensure that he or she has included some of the real life aspects of the prison environment but he or she can exclude some of these aspects if it does not fit into the storyline. The movie Shawshank Redemption is a perfect example of this. The director, Frank Darabont did not to play the race card and allowed Andy Dufresne and Ellis Boyd Red Redding to become friends. Pending on which real life prison you look at, this might not occur. For example the program Lockdown did an episode titled Gang War. One of their film crews entered Salinas Valley State Prison in California and showed their viewers that the prison is a powder keg ready to erupt at any time because the prison is divided by racial lines (National Geographic Television Production, 2006). If a prisoner crosses these racial lines, violence will occur amongst the prisoner race and the race group he offends (National Geographic Television Production, 2010). This paper will explore the various aspects of prison life, using the movie Shawshank Redemption to show the various aspects of prison life. The following aspects of prison life will be explored: prison as a machine and its use as a form of punishment, prison adjustment on inmates and the prison c ulture. Prison Culture: A prisoner in a federal corrections institute in the United States of America by the name of Michael Santos has a website titled Prison News Blog Prison News and Commentary. Santos writes on what he has experienced while he has been incarcerated since he was 23 years old. Santos writes describing prisons and the prison subcultures as the following: Prisons are like mini communities, totally separated from the wider society. Those who live inside find cultures that differ in remarkable ways from the America that most citizens know and love (Santos, 2008). In this section of the paper the topic of prison subculture will be explored explaining culture in general, inmate subculture, the deprivation, importation models, pains of imprisonment, the different roles of inmates and the types of correction officers. Is there a difference between subculture and inmate subculture, the textbook describes the term subculture as the distinctive values, beliefs, norms, symbols, language, and ideologi es embraced by a particular group or community set apart from the larger society (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001, p. 131). The term inmate subculture is defined as the norms, beliefs, values, language, and ideologies by inmates within correctional institutions (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001, p. 131). An example of culture is the people who believe in the Roman Catholic religion. In comparison inmate subculture are people who are incarcerated at one of the federal, provincial or local correctional institutions and the social structure these inmates create and how these inmates interact with each other. Inmate subculture can be further explained by two approaches from Sykes in 1958 and then re-examined by Messinger in 1970. The first approach is the deprivation model, this model describes that prisoners experience considerable suffering and frustration attendant with the deprivation of [the daily] basic needs [a free citizen has] (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001, p. 132). The needs are the follow ing: freedom, time alone when you need it, you can purchase what you want and obtain the services you want, sexual relationships, independence and the feeling of being safe (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001). The above list of items can also be called the pains of imprisonment. The pains of imprisonment can be defined as the kinds of deprivations inmates experience by virtue of being in prison (Stojkovic Lovell, 1998, p. 244). This creates the inmate subculture and the social interactions between the inmates (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001). A single prisoner can function as an individual, me against the world attitude or allow themselves to integrate with the other inmates to alleviate the pains of imprisonment. (Stojkovic Lovell, 1998 and Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001). A prime of example from the movie The Shawshank Redemption is the character Andy Dufresne, Andy remains by himself until he starts to speak to Ellis Boyd Red Redding. Andy then allows himself to integrate into the inmate subc ulture and becomes friends with the warden, prison guards and other inmates. The second approach of the inmate subculture is the importation model which attributes the development of the prison subculture to the values, roles, beliefs, and inclinations that prisoners bring with them into the prison. [In short,] a prison is a microcosm of the outside society, reflection of the world outside the prison walls and not due to the pains of imprisonment (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001, p. 132). The importation model includes the prisoner-staff dynamic how they interact between each other. The three different types of inmates which are the following: awaiting trail, post conviction awaiting sentence and serving his or her prison sentence (Stojkovic Lovell, 1998 and Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001). The various racial groups within the prison population such as (African Americans, Latinos, Asians and Caucasians). The type of offence the inmate is in prison for and if the inmate is in prison for reoffending. The inmate subculture will be also be effected by the following: the personality differences of each of the inmates before being sentenced to prison. The hierarchy of the inmates in which the powerful ones will be on top and the weak ones will be on the bottom. The inmate sexual preference will also play a role e.g. sexual urges. Both models are very similar but the deprivation model looks at the pains of imprisonment, while the importation model looks at prison subculture and prisons are like cities in the free world. (Stojkovic Lovell, 1998 and Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001). Many examples from the movie come to light; they include the warden allowing the prisoners to work outside of the prison repairing the roof of the prison and other jobs as a work gang. The prison gang The Sisters and the leader Bogs Diamond trying to get Andy to perform oral sex on him. The last example from the movie is the economic system in prison, Ellis Boyd Red Redding gets Andy a rock hammer and two posters during Andys stay in prison. Red has to smuggle these items into the prison through the laundry area and the help of other inmates. Both the deprivation and importation models are valid theories but what an inmate does before he or she was incarcerated will have an impact on his or her behaviour while they are incarcerated in the prison system (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001). So if the inmate is an outsider before he or she were incarcerated they will be an outsider during the ir prison time. On the other hand, if the inmate does not respect authority and runs wild, he or she will be the same way in the prison system. In the prison system, inmates have established certain names for the various roles each inmate has. The term coined for this set of terms is prison argot rules (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001). The following are the roles that were seen in The Shawshank Redemption movie. The first role seen is fish. A fish implies [to] the vulnerability of the new inmate who must learn to adjust to the prison environment, in other words to sink or swim (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001, p.134). The movie depicts this role when Andy and the other new inmates are being unloaded from the bus and the older inmates are calling Andy and other new inmates names and making gestures about a reeling a fish in. The movie also shows the current inmates betting on which new inmate would be the first to cry the first night after lights out. Once the lights go out the current inmates start trying to make a new inmate cry. A Centre-Men are inmates that are unpopular with other inmates and these inmates attempt to ingratiate w ith the prison warden and guards (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001).The two characters in the movie are Andy and Brooks. Andy helps Warden Samuel Norton and the guards with their tax forms and investments and Brooks maintains the prison library and deliverers books to the other inmates. Both men are popular with the other inmates so they are not true centre-men because the other inmates are friendly to them. The next term is the Merchant/Peddler is an inmate who sells when he or she is in the position to give and the inmate population regards the merchant as someone who exploits his companions (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001, p.134). An example of a merchant/peddler in the movie is Red. He can get what you want if you are willing to pay his price for it. The last two argot terms depict in the movie is the wolf. A wolf is an inmate who take[s] on the male role in the sexual encounter [and] these individuals are very aggressive and a punk is inmate who is forced into the female sexual role. [The punk inmate] are forced into submission by wolves (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001, p.134). The movie portrays the character Bogs Diamond the leader of the prison gang The Sisters. Bogs and The Sisters assault Andy numerous times and one scene Bogs tries to get Andy to perform oral sex on him but does not prevail. The most important argot term in the prison world is the rat. A rat is an inmate who gives information about another inmate to prison officials in exchange for their own personal benefits, preferential treatment and the use of contraband goods (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001). Rats are the lowest of the low in the prison on the same level as rapist or child murderers. In short, if other inmates discover that someone is a rat then he or she will become an outsider in the prison. All these definitions are some of the argot rules that are part of the adjustment an inmate will have to face during their prison adjustment phase. As with inmate argot roles, correction officials (prison guards) have their own roles in terms of the different types of correction officials. The different types of officials are the following: the rule enforcer, hard liner, people worker, the synthetic officer and the loner guard (Cesaroni, 2010a). The first example is the Rule enforcer who is an officer that tends to be very rule based, inflexible officer who believes that he or she is in the prison to teach discipline. This officer is only interested in custody and control and does not want to negotiate with the inmates. Lastly this type of officer does not believe in being friendly to the inmates (Cesaroni, 2010a). The Hard liner officer is someone who is power hungry, enforces the rules very strictly, likes to punish and show their authority, this type of officer tends to be abusive and aggressive to the inmates and have a negative attitude with the inmates. He or she also identifies strongly with his or her follow officers and this type of officer has a negative attitude with the inmates and resent on having to provide any services to the inmates (Cesaroni, 2010a). The People worker officer tends to an older and experienced correctional officer. He or she relays on their verbal skills and common sense, interpersonal skills to resolve problems through mediation and not by conflicts. He or she is flexible with rules has a comfortable style with the inmates (Cesaroni, 2010a). This type of officer enjoys the challenge of dealing with the inmates and does not like being authoritarian with them (Cesaroni, 2010a). The Synthetic officer is a cross between the rule enforcer and the people worker in wh ich he or she follows the rules closely but takes each and every situation into consideration before reacting to it. This type of officer is firm but fair for each situation and they do not let themselves be taken advantage of by other correctional officers or inmates (Cesaroni, 2010a). Lastly the Loner officer, he or she strictly enforces the rules because this type of officer is afraid of being criticized. We see this type of officer with females or minorities. This officer does not want to negotiate with inmates and does not want to make mistakes while on duty. The officer enjoys working in the correctional administration part of the prisons and not rather on one-one-one relations with the inmates (Cesaroni, 2010a). Examples from the movie are the following: Warden Norton is depicted as a people worker officer at the start off of the movie when he informs the new inmates that he believes in two things, discipline and the bible but as the movie progresses the movie watcher sees Warden Norton true colours and the type of officer he really is. Norton shows that he is a hardliner officer by allowing inmate Tommy Williams to be murdered and Andy set free because of the new information that Williams has on who really murdered Andys wife and her mistress. Other examples of Norton being a hardliner officer is that he uses the inmates as inexpensive labourers and he takes bribes from other agencies who are competing on the same contracts. The last example is Captain Byron Hadley, the head officer. Hadley can be seen has a rule enforcer officer. In the movie Hadley is seen yelling, screaming, to re-establish order in the prison after the older inmate made a new inmate start to cry after lights out on Andy s first night at Shawshank. Hadley was the officer that uses his woodened asp baton on this inmate to confirm his authority with the older inmates and show it to the new inmates. Prison as a Form of Punishment and Prison as a Machine: As describe in lecture punishment is a necessary evil and when a punishment is invoked when someone is believed to have done wrong (Cesaroni, 2010b). In 1954, Andrew Flew outlined the rules of punishment. The rules of punishment are the following: there must be human suffering, as a result of a criminal offence; the offender who committed the offence is the only one being punished fourth [b]e the intentional creation of the suffering other humans in response to that offence and lastly [b]e inflicted by [an authorized governing body that created the rules and laws for the society as a whole that the offender has committed the offence in (Cesaroni, 2010b). In 1991, David Garland outlined the Sociological Perspectives on Punishment. The first perspective is the moral process. This perspective stated that punishment of the offender functions to preserve the shared values and norms of the society wishes. Punishment symbolizes and enacts moral judgements and punishment sustains solidarity and collective conscience (Cesaroni, 2010b). An example from the movie is when Andy is sentenced to two consecutive life terms. The second perspective is economic and political where a part of a wilder strategy of controlling the poor and lower classes (Cesaroni, 2010b). It is a known fact the offenders that come from poorer areas are treated harsher then people from wealthier areas. The prison system uses their inmates as a cheap labour force as seen the movie when the inmates are tarring the roof and other times seen working outside. The third perspective is power; knowledge and discipline (Garland, 1991). Power comes from the judges and the court to co nvict offenders (Cesaroni, 2010b). The prison system is setup to educate inmates and to reform these inmates. Prison Officers are the discipline in which they use in daily practice to keep order in prisons. In the movie one scene shows Warden Norton allows an officer to search Andys for illegal items but none are found but is pleased when the warden sees Andy reading the bible. Lastly cultural transformations are changes in attitude, conduct, social organization and modes of interactions (Cesaroni, 2010b). In the past 500 years there have been changes in how society handles the following sensitive issues: sex, violence, bodily functions, illness, suffering and death. Each of these sensitive issues has been moved from a public domain to a private domain (Cesaroni, 2010b). The above perspectives can explain the complicated items of prison as a form of punishment in society (Cesaroni, 2010b). The prison system has been developed to run like a well oiled machine. The prison machine system will not function correctly unless the inmates behave as the parts of the machine. Mason writes the following on the prison as a machine as a the system with its impenetrable sets of rules and regulations which grind on relentlessly. The effect of such mechanistic depiction of punishment is to highlight both the individual fight for survival and inherent process of dehumanization that comes with incarceration in the system. The monotony and regulation of prison life is most often depicted by the highly structured movement of prisoners (Mason, 2003, p. 289.) In the movie there are many examples of the above occurring. The first example is when Captain Hadley yells at an inmate you eat when youre told to eat, you shit when we say you shit, you piss when we say you piss are the set of rules and regulations which grind on relentlessly. The individual fight for survival and inherent process of dehumanization examples are the stay in the hole for Andy when he fights Bogs Diamond and the daily checks every morning by the officers before inmates go for their breakfast and the prison staff discovers Andy has escaped sometime during the night. Lastly the highly structured movement of prisoners is seen when they are being allowed out of their cells, going for meals, eating together and spending time in the yard. Prison Adjustment: When a new inmate enters a correctional institution (prison) the inmate will experience three stages of prison adjustments. The three stages are: initiation, prisonization/ institutionalization and rehabilitation. Based on Wheeler theory that prison life and culture is in a U-shaped curve (Cesaroni, 2010c). The top of the U is the entry period of the correctional institution for the inmate. This is a high stress period for an inmate regardless if they are a first timer or a repeat offender. The middle part of the U is where the prison inmate subculture is established and the inmate and is the farthest away of what they were like in the free world Cesaroni, 2010c). The last stage of the U is when the inmate is nearing the end of his or her sentence and starts to reconnect with their love ones and the outside world. This period is another stressful period for the inmate because the inmate does not know what to expect in the free world but is eagerly looking forward to it (Cesaroni, 201 0c). The initiation process according to Goffman is a radical shift in the social self. This adjustment to prison involves a psychological process (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001, p.130). Goffman refers this as the mortifications of self the process of adjusting to the institution requires the loss of a civilian identity and the incorporation of a new institutional identity (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001, p.131). This is depicted in the movie when Andy and the other new inmates are paraded in front of the older inmates and these inmates are calling them fish. The new inmates are then paraded into a dark room where Warden Norton and Captain Hadley continue this process by informing the inmates of the rule one no blasphemy and we tell you when you can do things. The inmates are told to strip down, are then hosed down with water and then are covered with a white powder. The inmates are given their prison clothes and a bible and a forced to walk through the prison naked to their cells. The text stat es that Clemmer argues that the inmates loss of autonomy encourages the inmate to identify with the prison hierarchal system that is very similar to that of the outside world (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001, p.131). Most of the new the inmates adjust to the prison subculture in order for these inmates to feel safe in prison environment and allowing them to learn and obey the rules of the prison (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001). Goffman describes the term total institution as a place of residence and work where a large number of like-situated individuals, cut off from the wider society for an appreciable period of time, together lead an enclosed, formally administered round of life (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001, p. 130). Prisons are controlling structures and social organization in which prisons functions. Clemmer coined the phrases prisonization or institutionalization. This refers to the process of socialization of an inmate into the subculture of the prison. This process includes [the] learning about the prisons subculture such as values, beliefs and behaviours that challenge the prison staff (Ishwaran Neugebauer, 2001, p. 131). An example of this is when Brooks is being released from Shawshank; Brooks did not want to leave Shawshank and was forced to do so. Brooks discovered he could not survive in the outside world after being in prison for fifty years. He killed himself by hanging himself in the halfway house after craving his name in the rafters. Offenders commit crimes mainly because they are lazy. They need to learn to work hard and be taught a new attitude toward work. (Cesaroni, 2010d). Thus last phase in the prison adjustment is the rehabilitation phase. In this phase the prison system attempts to re-educate inmates so one day they can return to the general public one day. Throughout history, a strong work ethic was directly related to a positive social behaviour. Currently, the prison systems are teaching the inmates that if you work hard, you will develop work skills that can be used in the free world (Cesaroni, 2010d). An example of this from the movie is the character Brooks, he was paroled after fifty years in Shawshank prison. The parole board got him employment with a grocery store and living in a half-way house. In the end Brooks could have been rehabilitated more to handle the stress after being in the prison system for five decades and the numerous social changes that occurred since Brooks has been in prison su ch as how common the automobile has become, electricity, how people dress. In conclusion, the Shawshank Redemption movie is the closest motion picture that depicts what prison is really like. It is a terrible place to live disconnected from the outside world. The movie also proves that all that correction officers are not the same. Some tend to be power hungry while others prefer to be loners working in the prison office. Inmate subculture is also dealt with by the movie showing the different the various types of roles prisoners have in prison. The three different stages of prison adjustment an inmate goes through while in the prison system. The stages are the initiation phase, the prisonization or institutionalization phase and the rehabilitation phase. Lastly the movie shows the prison system acting as machine and as form of punishment. The Shawshank Redemption is movie that should be watched by any student studying criminology.

Witness Statement

Witness Statement/Bosnia I think that we should not go to war unless the United States’ military, citizens, or leaders are involved in the problem. A very good example of when we did help and it ended badly was what happened in Bosnia in 1992. Many different ethnic and religious groups lived together under a repressive communist government in Yugoslavia. In April 1992, Serbia set out to ethnically cleanse the Bosnian territory by removing all Bosnian Muslims, the Bosniaks, after the president Tito died in 1980.In 1993, The UN learned about this cleanse and made Sarajevo and many other places safe areas for Bosniaks. Slobodan Milosevic responded to the UN by attacking Bosniaks and surrounding Sarajevo. He blocked all roadways and closed down all the airports in Sarajevo. The Serbs then opened fire on thousands of UN peacekeepers and other citizens. This was the largest massacre in Europe since World War 2 by killing a rough total of 23,000 women and children and 8,000 men, whic h many were part of the UN aid.The UN tried to help again by sending thousands of flights to try and air lift the remaining people out of this unsafe area. In December 1995, the U. S. led negotiations that ended the conflict in Bosnia and provided a force to maintain the problems in the area until it was safe. Some could argue that the UN’s help was critical to stopping this issue, but I think it made it worst. I understand that the issue would have been terrible if no one stepped in but the Serbs didn’t actually do something until they noticed that the UN declared a safe zone.The UN making a safe zone made Milosevic angry and he then took over the safe zone. It was unnecessary for anyone to get involved in this issue besides the Serbs and Bosniaks. There were many deaths that could have been stopped if the UN just left the situation unfold by itself. I think that we should not go to war unless we are a part of the problem and this is a perfect example of why.

Myth and the Evolution of Heroes

What is a hero? What comes to your mind when someone speaks of heroes and or heroines or Super Heroes and Heroines for that matter? Well lets see, Webster defines a super hero as a benevolent fictional character with superhuman powers and a hero as a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for their courage and outstanding achievements, and is typically identified as a person of noble qualities. A person who people will sympathize with. A man of the people. Or, the people’s champion if you will.These character types are often used in media and education and can be applied to almost any story, be it in literature, theatre, film, television series, games, or whatever. In classical mythology we find some of the first of many accounts of these Hero’s. In all actuality they could be called the first super hero’s. Although they did not have the superpowers that we come to expect from modern day super hero’s they still make the cut. And in many ways the heroes of legend could be what you would expect from (and I do use this loosely) real superheroes.See the births, backgrounds, and life’s of these characters are a bit more on the adult side of the movie store so to speak. They tend to reflect that of real people and real life. Not the real life that is watered down and boxed and fed to kids but the hard life and reality that we all come to realize is reality the more we grow up. Their stories are that of struggle, humility, sacrifices, and all that trial and tribulation that you have come to know and loathe through out the years.But at the same time they stick with the layout that, as though given to them of Russian scholar Vladimir Propp. See Propp broke down almost all myth with the publication of â€Å"Morphology of the Folk tale†. In this publication he depicted that all folk tales follow what is essentially a predefined course of action for almost all stories. Oddly enough this is still relevant to this day. A summary of which is the following: The hero usually has a birth that is very out of the normal. And from the moment of his birth he usually undergoes and over comes a threat to his life as a small child.As he grows up he usually under goes an extreme task and or an extreme amount of small tasks that for some reason or another he feels or is expected of him to prove his worth. Or these tasks maybe forces upon the hero by the antagonist. Usually these task are almost impossible and the hero then begins to meet friends and ally’s that aid him on his quest. These quests usually involve all type of thrills chills and of course the possibility of death for our hero. (Come on what epic story would be complete with out that? Also these quests always come with some sort of taboos that the hero must not do. They usually exist in the form of challenges that conflict’s with the up bringing of the character. Upon the over coming of that challenge the hero usually grows up, if the ir a kid you start to see where the hero is growing up. This concept is generally really popular with the long running cartoon stories of kids and helps the viewer learn right along side our protagonist. The viewer then grows with them and grows up with the character themselves learning life lessons.This is a good and bad thing. Because of this in modern society we have generations of children raised by stories as such. For some odd reason I guess lazy parents have taken these stories as alternatives to raising their children themselves. Ultimately death is the ultimate conquest that the hero will end up facing. This usually comes in the form of some journey to the underworld or realm of the dead or whatever they choose to call it. In some instances the hero actually dies and is resurrected.I know of a few stories where the hero dies and is resurrected numerous times symbolic of the conquest over death or maybe just the mocking of it to show off the heroes might. That not even death can stop them. From this point the hero then usually reaches a point of enlightenment or transcends into a higher being. This is a rough summary of Propp’s outline but most stories and heroes of legend commit to it. For example one of the most notable of extraordinary births is Perseus. Zeus got a hold of his mother while she was locked up in an underground chamber.After his birth his mother raised him there for four years in secret. After Acrisius discovered the birth of the child he put him and his mother in their coffin for an old sea man’s burial. They set a float until they landed on the island of Seriphos and were discovered by the old fisherman Dictys. Even when the hero’s are young or in some cases in there infancy they under go tribulation. Like Oedipus who’s name means â€Å"swollen-footed†. This is cause his feet were tied together when he was a baby so that he may never walk.He was to fulfill a prophecy that said he would kill his fath er and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family. So he was supposed to be casted out into the wilderness and left to die. Fortune favors the young hero and he is eventually taken in and cared for until he comes of age and has Propp’s states must under go labors to prove his worth. The growing pains of Heracles’ 12 labors are probably the most famous in all of classical myth. The labors of the character’s journey are what transform the protagonist from joe-shmo to our loveable and courage’s hero.The meat and potatoes of the story, for it is here where they evolve into the hero. Cause their actions usually start from seemingly mundane but upon the completion of their mission they gain the praise of the people. In most cased because they end up saving a city, or a massive amount of people from destruction. Or a young woman of noble birth that resides, as say a princess of a powerful city. In some really basic stories after the compl etion of this the hero becomes king or just saves the day and wins the girl and then lives happily ever after.In others the end of the labors are signified by the defeat of the antagonist. Like the killing of Hector by Achilles. Some of my favorites are when upon the conclusion of the finale the hero dies. I know that sound kind of bad but the ending is more real because in these versions just as in real life there isn’t always a happy ending. Usually is these epics the hero is transformed into a legend and revered because of his ultimate sacrifice. Best example of this is Oedipus. He had worked his way into the Gods favor and upon his death Colonus was blessed.And through his death he was made into a hero once again. This motif is all to familiar to Christians for it is capstone for their believe structure. Theses allegories of myth show us how heroes come to be and through Propp’s illustration of all folktale template we see the underlying structure of all stories. A nd the evolution of all heroes.Works Cited Morford, Mark P. O and Roberet Lenardon. Classical Mythology 8th ed. New York: Oxford 2007. â€Å"Vladimir Propp† Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. July 07, 2010. .

The Berlin Conference to Divide Africa

The Berlin Conference was described by Harm J. de Bli in Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts: The Berlin Conference was Africas undoing in more ways than one. The colonial powers superimposed their domains on the African continent. By the time independence returned to Africa in 1950, the realm had acquired a legacy of political fragmentation that could neither be eliminated nor made to operate satisfactorily. Purpose of the Berlin Conference In 1884, at the request of Portugal, German chancellor Otto von Bismark called together the major western powers of the world to negotiate questions and end confusion over the control of Africa. Bismark appreciated the opportunity to expand Germanys sphere of influence over Africa and hoped to force Germanys rivals to struggle with one another for territory. At the time of the conference, 80 percent of Africa remained under traditional and local control. What ultimately resulted was a hodgepodge of geometric boundaries that divided Africa into 50 irregular countries. This new map of the continent was superimposed over 1,000 indigenous cultures and regions of Africa. The new countries lacked rhyme or reason and divided coherent groups of people and merged together disparate groups who really did not get along. ThoughtCo / Adrian Mangel Countries Represented at the Berlin Conference Fourteen countries were represented by a plethora of ambassadors when the conference opened in Berlin on November 15, 1884. The countries represented at the time included Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden-Norway (unified from 1814 to 1905), Turkey, and the United States of America. Of these 14 nations, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal were the major players in the conference, controlling most of colonial Africa at the time. Berlin Conference Tasks The initial task of the conference was to agree that the Congo River and Niger River mouths and basins would be considered neutral and open to trade. Despite its neutrality, part of the Congo Basin became a personal kingdom for Belgiums King Leopold II. Under his rule, over half of the regions population died. At the time of the conference, only the coastal areas of Africa were colonized by the European powers. At the Berlin Conference, the European colonial powers scrambled to gain control over the interior of the continent. The conference lasted until February 26, 1885 — a three-month period where colonial powers haggled over geometric boundaries in the interior of the continent, disregarding the cultural and linguistic boundaries already established by the indigenous African population. Following the conference, the give and take continued. By 1914, the conference participants had fully divided Africa among themselves into 50 countries. Major colonial holdings included: Great Britain desired a Cape-to-Cairo collection of colonies and almost succeeded through their control of Egypt, Sudan (Anglo-Egyptian Sudan), Uganda, Kenya (British East Africa), South Africa, and Zambia, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), and Botswana. The British also controlled Nigeria and Ghana (Gold Coast).France took much of western Africa, from Mauritania to Chad (French West Africa), as well as Gabon and the Republic of Congo (French Equatorial Africa).Belgium and King Leopold II controlled the Democratic Republic of Congo (Belgian Congo).Portugal took Mozambique in the east and Angola in the west.Italys holdings were Somalia (Italian Somaliland) and a portion of Ethiopia.Germany took Namibia (German Southwest Africa) and Tanzania (German East Africa).Spain claimed the smallest territory, which was Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni). Source De Bli, Harm J. Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts. Peter O. Muller, Jan Nijman, 16th Edition, Wiley, November 25, 2013.