The questions :
- How do Ponyboy and Johnny Cade Compare to the Inmates at Soledad State Prison (Now The CDCR)?
- How do they differ?
- Would the two boys deserve to be in prison with the inmates at the CDCR?
-What do we need to decide what we need to know to answer Q1 and Q2? How do we find out?
(We list what we already know, and then we list what we assume. )
-What we know - Ponyboy and Johnny
(Considered fact from the book's content) We assume nothing of the boys; information is in the book.
- Ages -14 Johnny, 16 Ponyboy
Sex -Male
Committed a crime
Social group
Upbringing -Johnny, Abusive home/ Ponyboy, Orphan
Their crimes -Johnny, Justifiable homicide/ Self-defense of another -Ponyboy, Aiding and abetting at best.
- Intent -No malintent
Character/Moral standards - Genuinely good
-What we know about the average inmate residing in the CDCR -
They have committed a crime
They are adults ages 18+
-What we assume about the average inmate residing in the CDCR. Confirmed through research.
They have committed a crime -
They are adults ages 18+ -average age is 34 [1]
They are mostly male
They are mostly minority, 41% Latino, 23% Black [1]
Troubled childhoods, with 18% growing up in foster care, 32% in families receiving public assistance, 33% with incarcerated parents, as well as many being homeless before the age of 18. This also establishes a lower social class. [7], [5] • The crimes are of a violent nature, 44% being violent crimes against another person, Assault, Battery, and Assault of a Sexual nature. [1]
Moral standards can’t be proven, and due to the nature of their crimes, can be safely assumed as highly questionable.
• Intent can’t be proven, due to the nature of their crimes, and can be safely assumed as malicious.
Now that we have our facts, we can compare the similarities and the differences between the boys in the book, Johnny Cade and Ponyboy Curtis, and the average inmate residing in the CDCR.
Similarities:
Males
Committed a crime
Come from Broken Homes• Minority Groups /Social class
Differences:
Age Group
Type of crimes committed
Intent- Fact and assumed based on fact.
Moral Standards – Fact and Assumed based on fact.
We can now use these facts to decide if the two boys would deserve to be in prison with the inmates at the CDCR. This will answer Q3.
My opinion is that they do not deserve to be incarcerated for their crimes. I came to this decision because the boys do not meet the criteria for incarceration in this prison, and because of their character.
First, the boys are minors [2][3][4]; that fact alone would be sufficient to say they don’t belong at an adult correctional facility. But for the sake of the question, I will go on. Secondly, the crimes committed by the boys do not fit in the category of crimes committed by the people who reside in the CDCR.
Johnny's crime would most likely be classified in one of these categories: Justifiable homicide, Self-defense of another, or Voluntary manslaughter to prevent a potentially lethal assault on another. No malintent nor premeditation was involved. Therefore, his crime is not classified as an imprisonable offense. The crimes committed by those who do
get imprisoned are of a violent nature, with the large majority of the cases being violent crimes against another person, including assault, sexual assault, battery, aggravated robbery, and aggravated assault. Ponyboy's crime would be at most aiding and abetting, but in any real court, classified as no crime committed.
We cannot use any assumptions, whether or not based on fact, about the character of the inmates; there are too many real-life factors to consider. Based on the nature of their crimes, though, we can say that they have the character consistent with those of serial killers, murderers, and those who commit sexual assault.
The boys pose no threat to society and, in fact, pose a genuine asset in the face of an emergency when putting themselves in harm’s way to save the lives of innocent children. [3]
Many inmates have served multiple incarcerations, proving that they were and are a threat to society.
To conclude, neither boy deserves to be in the CDCR prison. The record shows Ponyboy
committed no imprisonable offense, and Johnny’s crime occurred while preventing an ongoing, potentially lethal assault, which is conduct consistent with Self-defense of another, so they don’t meet the facility’s basic admission criteria or any fair standard for imprisonment.
References
1) California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (2014, May 21). *Characteristics of felon new admissions and parole violators returned with a new term, calendar year 2013 (ACHAR-1).* https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/research/wpcontent/uploads/sites/174/2021/05/ACHAR_d2013.pdf
2) CliffsNotes. (n.d.). *The Outsiders: Chapter 12—Summary and analysis.*https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/o/the-outsiders/summary-andanalysis/chapter-12
3) LitCharts. (n.d.). *The Outsiders: Chapter 12.* https://www.litcharts.com/lit/theoutsiders/chapter-12
4) Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). *The Outsiders.*https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Outsiders-by-Hinton
5) Beatty, L. G., & Snell, T. L. (2021, December). *Profile of Prison Inmates, 2016* (NCJ 255037). Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/ppi16.pdf
6) (Duplicate of #1; same CDCR ACHAR-1 report.)
7) Wang, L., Sawyer, W., Herring, T., & Widra, E. (2022, April). *Beyond the Count: A deep dive into state prison populations.* Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/beyondthecount.html
8) United States. Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2024). *Survey of Prison Inmates,
United States, 2016 (ICPSR 37692)* [Data set]. Inter-university Consortium for
Political and Social Research. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37692.v5
