Which perspective views prison as part of a system that masks the effects of poverty and inequality as personal individual failings?

Functionalism views society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote stability and social order. While it acknowledges the existence of prisons, it primarily focuses on their role in maintaining social norms and preventing chaos rather than critiquing the underlying social inequalities that lead to crime.

Symbolic interactionism examines the meanings and labels assigned to behaviors and interactions within society. This perspective focuses on the micro-level of social interactions and would analyze how individuals experience and interpret their time in prison but does not address the broader systemic issues of poverty and inequality as causes of criminal behavior.

Feminism analyzes the ways in which gender inequalities shape social structures and experiences, including the criminal justice system. Although it addresses issues of inequality, it primarily focuses on gender rather than the broader socioeconomic factors that the conflict perspective emphasizes as contributing to the failings attributed to individuals within the prison system.