the Institutions and Practices of Prison in Taiwan under Japanese rule

This thesis explores the process of the prison formation in Taiwan under Japanese rule, the relation with institutions and practices of the penal system, how the techniques of the prison demonstrated power and knowledge within empire’s social control. Through concrete practices of the prison, what kind authority and symbolic significance the empire expressed to Taiwan society, and how Taiwanese interacted with the prison. I want to disclosure the interaction between institutions and practices to find the legal culture of colonial Taiwan.
The prison became one of indicators of modernization and civilization. The prison reform was promoted by Western European Empires and Meiji Restoration patriots. The process of the modern prison in Taiwan was driven by unification of the empire’s social order and the gazing of western European Empire. One of civilizing tasks which Japanese empire ruling was to extend the penal system from metropolitan regime. However, in the beginning, there was no modern prison buildings to treat prisoners, therefore, resulted in many prisoners escaped and inhuman treatment. Until the modern prison buildings completed, combined the bureaucracy of the prison and the institution of after-care, the mechanism of the modern prison in Taiwan established.
The prison as a civilizing mission cost a lot of budget, therefore Japanese empire used other kinds of punishment such as flogging, fine and shelving indictments to release the pressure from establishing the prison, through this way which presents political economy of social control. In addition, comparing to Japan and Korea, discriminating the colonial and strategic position of Second Sino-Japanese War made institutions of the prison in Taiwan to present ill-disciplined, reproduce inferior subjects. From this perspective and historical investigation, I resupply Foucault’s view about the relation between discipline and law existence heterogeneity accomplish with different concern of political economy.
Japanese empire used the prison to deliver and disseminate authority of empire, to consolidate the morality of control and reproduce empire subjects. Inmates were treated as backwardness in the society. The state had responsibility to correct and educate these criminals to enable return to the society. On one hand, this way showed rich concept of collective responsibility, not treat crime as merely individual responsibility. On other hand, empire placed these inmates under order of the Japanese empire, co-operated with royal ceremony rituals. Besides, the Shin sect (of Buddhism) monopolized the education and correction of the prison, to advocate the sprit of the emperor. The prison as discipline space for the poor in Taiwan society used correct, guard and labor to discipline inmates, accomplishing with social work and the police to make inmates have sprit of labor under the empire. While it was true that the prison health care obligations bring civilize, but it could also be differentiated through the classification system.Furthermore, it was a constant problem that the prison health care obligation conflicted with emotions of part society requiring harsh punish. In addition, the prison emphasized to maintain domestic order with regulating inmates body, moreover, producing arbitrarily prison violence. In this way, although the prison was named modern prison, prison execution go to behind the scene, the social could not understand what have done in the prison apart from inmates and bureaucracy. Hiding from view reproduced the possibility of de-civilizing. It represented paradox of the modern law.
Facing practices of the prison which did not conform ideas and norms of the prison, Taiwan intellectuals advocated concepts of modern law to improve and enlighten the people. The modern law which colonists brought entitled possibility of emancipation and critic. However, colonial’s political speech made limited effects.
There were full of diversity and conflicts in the dimension of criminal law and punishment of colonial Taiwan, partly legal consciousness trusted operations and authority of law, with combining their moral rules and emotions to justify and use the law even for others had no legitimacy, to construct legality of criminal law and punishment of colonial law. However, another legal consciousness believed and committed the freedom of people with suspecting and challenging the law, even sculptured some criminal behaviors as symbol of rebelling colonizers and pursuing freedom, to against the authority of colonial government and deconstruct the legality.
During this period, the reception of modern law was processing in Taiwan. The empire used the formal law to government colony. The law sometime could restrain the practicer. However, colonial government also produced exception which don’t conform rule of law to reproduce inferior subjects, to maintain the authority of empire. Confronting the law, partly Taiwanese critiqued it and wanted to improve. But some accepted the law due to conform their moral. Therefore, many kinds of legal consciousness interacted and competed to form diversity of colonial government