FREE ESSAY ON EFFECTS OF PRISONS

EFFECTS OF PRISONS

Eric Cavallari J. Foley
Psychology101 10/10/00
The Downward Spiral; Psychological Effects of Prisons
I have visited some of the best and the worst prisons and have never seen signs of
coddling, but I have seen the terrible results of the boredom and frustration of empty
hours and pointless existence
-former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger
If recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated 1 out of every 20 persons
(5.1%) will serve time in a prison during their lifetime.
-U.S. Department of Justice 
One of the largest problems with the prison issue in America today is that it gets little
attention. Unlike education, pollution or gun control people are usually not concerned
enough to get involved with the problem until it happens to someone they love or
themselves. Many people don't realize that the U.S. in on the same level as third world
and totalitarian nations in it's practices of corrections, according to some activists.
The prisons in the U.S. are in severe default of the international laws on human rights
and cruelty. The facts have been proven true in studies done by the UN. Guards are now
known to perform acts of violence on inmates that are sometimes more severe than the
crime that put the inmate in prison. In one article about the harshness of the correction
officers a former inmate describes one of the beatings of another inmate as one of the
worst beatings he'd ever seen. The assistant Warden grabbed his testicles and starts
yanking on them.  At least fifty guys got in on it maybe more. (Prison Activist Resource
Center, 1) 
The more and more I open my eyes and read about prison conditions the more I realize that
they are concentration camps in the sense that a abnormal number of people are
concentrated and tortured within its confines. In a lab test done on rats, the rodents
that were confined closer together were much more hostile that the ones that were given
enough space to feel comfortable. This study represents a parallel to the behavior found
in incarcerated humans. Jails cause the same psychological side effects as prisons, to a
smaller degree, in the effects of being en-caged, however, the overall standard of living
in jails is much higher. There is a decent relationship between the guards and the
jailers. The jailers are allowed to interact with the same people on their 'block'
between lockdown times. Lock-down is when the jailers are confined to their cells,
usually at night and for a short while in the day, during a change of shift. This method
allows inmates to play cards, watch TV together and at very least walk around something
else besides their cell. The prison system, however, usually remains in lockdown all the
time, although they can speak to each other, they usually can't see each other without a
mirror. Observing these two methods, and what little problems there are in jails as
opposed to prisons leads me to believe that if you treat a human being like a human being
they will act like a human being. If you lock them in a cage all day they may as well act
like an animal. (Prison Activist Resource Center, 1-3)
People sometimes argue this case stating that the offenses committed by jailers are less
serious than by prisoners and that prisons are more hostile because they house the more
serious offenders. These people forget that jails hold people before they are sentenced
to prison, and that a large percentage of jailers will eventually be imprisoned when
their case is settled. To sum it up, most jailers are soon-to-be prisoners, so why is it
that their behavior is so much more human in jail than prison? The answer is the way that
they are treated in prisons. It is an informal policy that guards must be extremely
authoritative to the inmates and can be removed from working at a facility even for
making small talk with prisoners. This policy doesn't exist in jails. The idea upheld in
prisons is that by running a tight ship they have more control over the prisoners. The
truth is that it makes the prisoners more hostile. 
The only thing found to be more damaging to an inmate's behavior is the use of control
units. This is otherwise known as solitary confinement. A prisoner is locked in their
cell all day long with no contact with other inmates or guards. New prisons in the south
now have remote control doorways and video cameras to take the person from place to
place. Thus making the job of the guards safer by not escorting prisoners, however, this
means that a prisoner in a control unit now literally can go years without contact with
another human being. The idea of less contact with prisoners has come from the increasing
number of assaults on prison guards in the past 10 years. However, most of the assaults
are coming from maximum-security prisons with control units. Control units which all
started roughly ten years ago. It is clear to see the parallel in human behavior in this
situation. The higher the level of 'security' or detainment, however you look at it, the
more violent the inmates. A clear example of this theory is a prison in Indiana called
'Marion'. It was bumped up to the highest level security prison in the country in the
late seventies. Shortly thereafter it became the most violent facility throughout the
nation. (From Alcatraz to Marion, control unit prisons, 5) As the idea of detainment of
prisoners for security purposes has swept the country the number of assaults on prison
staff has risen from 175 in 1991 to 906 in 1993. (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2) 
Looking at my theory of human behavior in prisons, I find support for my opinion from a
different point of view. In the early 1900's a jail/prison in Montpelier, Vermont had
designed a program that had practically let inmates come and go as they please. They were
not forced to wear a uniform. They are not supervised out in the town. They are free to
spend the day doing as they please. The plan originated in the idea that jailers could
leave for the day to do work. When the idea was proposed the townspeople were scared that
murderers and thieves were free out on the streets like everybody else. In the beginning
a couple of inmates (out of 800) tried to escape and were punished with a longer
sentence. However, the rest understood the rules of the game and were grateful to be
treated like a human again, they returned to jail everyday at their declared time and
served their sentence. All the while morals were being taught to the prisoners and they
cooperated with the system like professionals. (Swift, 1-14) 
The ideas expressed in this paper represent the basic laws of human behavior being
applied to the incarceration of people. The prison industry is a negative, but
rapid-growing advancement. It does create more jobs, however, it changes the attitudes of
the people working in prisons. Anyone working in a facility will tell you it is not a
happy place to be. I've witnessed for myself on a tour of Great Meadows maximum-security
correctional facility the coldness of the employees. The corrections industry is the
fastest growing industry in the country today. The sad part is it's an industry based on
the torturing of other human beings. The reason it is growing so fast it that the number
of inmates returning to prison is about 86%, 40.8 % returned within the first 3 years of
release. Not to mention the war on drugs which is filling the cells so fast there is less
time space for murderers, rapist and other violent offenders. (Federal Bureau of Prisons,
1) 
Prisons are so damaging to one's mental health that they find it almost impossible to
find a place for themselves in society. In no time at all they find themselves back into
a life of crime. From what I have read, it seems as if the only chance a criminal has of
rehabilitation is before he or she enters a prison. A virgin to the prison system has a
much greater chance off being taught morals, values and self-respect than after he or she
has lived the life of a prisoner. After he or she serves a sentence in a facility, the
frame of mind of the convict is in such a criminal tone that only the mentally strongest
of people have a chance of leading a normal life. The SHOCK program for first time
offenders has shown to have a much lower recidivism rate. This once again proves the fact
that decent human treatment is far more effective than methods practiced in the rest of
the corrections system. In my opinion the SHOCK program should do a better job at
promoting pride and values and should be longer than a few months, but is definitely a
huge step in the right direction.
Bibliography
Chris Cozzone. Coddling My Ass. 1994-1999. (opening quotation) 
Chris Cozzone. Gallery. 1994-1999 
Swift, Morrison I.. Humanizing the Prisons. The Atlantic Monthly August 1911, 10/12/00 
Recidivism Among Federal Prison Releases in 1987: A Preliminary Report. Miles D. Harer,
PhD. March 11, 1994 http://www.bop.gov/orepg/recid87a.html
From Alcatraz to Marion to Florence-Control Unit Prisons in the United States. 1992.