Correctional knowledge by the public is heavily based on media portrayals of the prison system. The media utilizes four main types of prison film narratives to tell the stories of inmates and the corrections system. The first type of prison narrative is the “nature of confinement” prison film (Surette, 2015). In this narrative, the prisoners are portrayed as victims of injustice, often have been framed for a crime they did not commit, a chance accident, or pushed into crime by forces beyond their control. Consequently, these films from 1929 to 1942 tend to highlight the corruption of the prison system and backwards laws. Additionally, these films show the unjustly imprisoned inmates battling against unruly prison administrators and oppressive
