While the researchers conducted this public interest ethnography, their subjects, female inmates from two California correctional facilities, revealed their experiences with five major impediments in the prison healthcare system. The penitentiaries studied in this research falter in the following areas: support for personal health maintenance, reliability of prison medical staff, efficiency, adherence of protocol and prevention of perpetuating poverty.
Before addressing chronic illness and emergency healthcare treatment in the prison system, it is essential to acknowledge the prisoner’s right to maintaining a healthy lifestyle through nutrition, exercise and hygiene. However, the women’s stories show that they do not have access to well-rounded
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Many instances of mistrust stem from the language barriers between non-English speakers and the staff members. Upon entering the prison, inmates attend an orientation meeting and are presented a Title 15 document. According to the prisoners’ statements, the prison only offers these procedures in English. Nicole, an inmate at Valley State Prison for Women, attested to the mistrust fostered by the language barrier between medical staff and inmates. She was prescribed medication for high blood pressure without any information translated into Spanish, her native language. Nicole was not aware of any side effects, so panic set in when she experienced a racing heartbeat. Because of the language barrier, she could not describe her symptoms. She screamed to get the attention of the medical staff, but the correctional officers just stripped her and places her in isolation for five days. Now afraid of the menacing staff, Nicole refused to eat or drink anything they offered her and vowed to never see a prison doctor again. As expressed in this anecdote, many prisoners face insensitive medical staff. Some even report verbal abuse and unwanted sexual advances. Vicky, a 45 year old inmate, recalls the prison doctor inappropriately and tauntingly flicking her nipples during a routine breast exam. The medical staff oftentimes takes advantage …show more content…
To receive treatment, inmates must request medical attention through a ducat. The time between getting ducated and actually receiving treatment sometimes leaves prisoners suffering for prolonged periods of time. Some inmates fail to receive simple treatments like antibiotics. Others must suffer excruciating pain while awaiting surgery. The “med line” also proves problematic due to long wait times. The line to receive medication can be so long that inmates must choose between taking their medication or eating dinner. Mary, a 58 year old asthmatic inmate, testifies this claim. Additionally, even after the death of an inmate, the prison staff lacks efficiency in signing the death certificate and releasing the body to the inmate’s family. While incarcerated, poverty prevails due to debts accrued through embracing the prison’s formal healthcare system. Before any treatment is given, inmates must pay a five dollar co-pay. If the inmate cannot afford this copay, they still receive treatment, however they will accrue debt. This debt adds on to any restitution debt from court fees and other legal expenses. Prisoners are given $0.18-$0.60 an hour pay for prison jobs. The prison automatically takes 44 percent out of prison job wages to pay restitution debt. The five dollar copay is almost a week’s wages, so getting healthcare often becomes a
A reality where the prisoner is dehumanized and have their rights and mental health abused. “I have endured lockdowns in buildings with little or no heat; lockdowns during which authorities cut off the plumbing completely, so contraband couldn’t be flushed away; and lockdowns where we weren’t allowed out to shower for more than a month” (Hopkins 154). A prisoner currently must survive isolation with improper shelter in the form of heat. Issues compound with a lack of running water and bathing, a proven severe health danger, especially for someone lacking proper nutrients such as a prisoner in lockdown. These abuses of physical well being then manifest into damage of prisoners’ mental well being. “Perhaps I should acknowledge that the lockdown-and, indeed, all these years-have damaged more than I want to believe” (Hopkins 156). Even for the experienced prisoner the wrath of unethically long lockdowns still cause mental damage. Each and every isolation period becomes another psychological beating delivered as the justice system needlessly aims to damage the already harmed inmates. The damage is so profound inmates even recognize the harm done to them by their jailors. An armed and widely used psychological weapon, the elongated lockdown procedures decimate mental health each and every time
These methods were found to result in extreme anger, deep set depression, and were in fact making the inmates that much more likely to commit another crime (Eerie History). Doctors at the Eastern State Penitentiary countered these accusations by making absurd excuses for why the inmates went insane (Eastern State). This fact alone provides the proof that the officials of the penitentiary knew that what they were doing was wrong and therefore came up with faulty excuses to cover their mistreatment of the inmates.
Assaults on correctional officers in prison are not uncommon. Aggressive inmates need to be kept under control, which can sometimes cause fights between themselves and the officers. According to Stephen C. Light, a graduate from SUNY Plattsburgh “The sample consists of the 694 incidents of assaults by prisoners on offices that were reported to have occurred in 31 New York State prisons” (Light, 1991). The amount of assaults on officers demonstrates how violent inmates can get. Over 600 assaults in 31 different NY State prisons, displays one of the many hardships and challenges that come with being a corrections officer. Prison cells and housing areas are two places where prisoners spend most of their time. Those areas are the ones with the most frequent outbreak of assaults occur (Light, 1991). However, there is more to the assaults on officers than just how many there are and the location of where they
Unfortunately, this rush to develop and implement preventive measures has resulted in a degree of polarization which has hindered progress towards implementation of effective prevention measures. Prisons and jails offer uniquely important opportunities for improving disease control in the community by providing health care to disease prevention program to a large and concentrated population of individuals at high risk for disease. Inmates often have little interaction with the health care system before and after being incarcerated. (U.S. News & World Report) The bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported that in 1999, HIV/AIDS in prisons and jails was a growing problem in American correctional facilities. The AIDS rate in US prisons was five times the rate of general population. (Society. 2003)
The system of the Prison Industrial Complex operates within the law. The law allows private companies to infiltrate the prison, while keeping prisoners in a subjugated position. The law, under the Eight Amendment obligates prison officials to provide prisoners with “adequate” medical care. This principle applies regardless of whether the medical care provided is by governmental employees or by private medical staff under contract with the government (Project, 2012). If prisoners believe they are being denied their constitutio...
The U.S is only 5% of the world’s population and houses a quarter of its prison inmates; well over 2 million people. In the past decade the war on drugs has filled many state and federal prisons with a numerous amount of inmates. Building new prisons is not the answer to tackling the prison overcrowding dilemma. The U.S doesn’t have the money due to economic strains, and it will not solve this issue head on as needed. “California may be forced to release up to 33,000 prisoners by 2013” (Shapiro & Wizner, 2011, p.1.). Some women and men do not belong in prison, and should be given other opportunities to sought help. Prison overcrowding is a growing concern in the U.S today. There are many different alternatives to end prison overcrowding versus releasing them into the community. For example by launching a parole support group or treatment or rehabilitation programs for inmates as well as ex-offenders, house arrest or probation are other routes to explore.
Assaults such as theses often result in inmates being seriously injured or in some cases dead. Modern day slavery within prisons is another form of cruelty and exploitation inmates face every day. Writer Vicky Pelaez, describes the forced labor situation in private prisons that inmates are exposed to in her article describing, “All of their workers are full-time, and never arrive late or are absent because of family problems; moreover, if they don’t like the pay of 25 cents an hour and refuse to work, they are locked up in isolation cells” (Pelaez, 2014). This scenario is representative of an indentured servant, who is not only working to reduce their sentence but also getting payed very little in order to take care of their in jail expenses such as; soap, tooth paste, shampoo, etc. Cruelty such as this, is supported in 37 states and funded by “IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, [and] Compaq” (Pelaez,
To Health Service In Correctional Evironments: Inmates Health Care Measurement, Satisfaction and Access In Prisons.” Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 50.3. (2011): 262-274. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 May 2014.
An article was released by the The Journal of American Academy of Psychiatry and Law which they discuses the challenge that medical doctors face when dealing with inmates that have experienced solitary confinement. Solitary confinement involves isolation from other inmates or any form of communication which has been linked to physical torture (Metzner). Inmates that are either in Supermax prions or wings of prisons that are only solitary confinement, experience abnormal environment, extreme security and only are allowed fours a week to leave their cell (Metzner). Solitary confinement can be very hurtful to an inmate’s mental health especially if they if they have pre existing mental illnesses, if they are in solitary confinement for an extensive period of time and if they have anything available such as radios ...
According to Thomas Weiss the three most common types of complaints reported include, “Denial of access to disability-related devices and medical services, Denial of access/unequal access to the facility's activities and programs, and Lack of effective communication for inmates who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or have low vision (Weiss).” The reasons why these complaints are filed are because of a lack of responsibility, care, and good structured and disciplined employees at any correctional facility that deals with these disabled offenders. Not all individuals in the prison are the same therefore should be treated and cared accordingly to reduce any type of problems in the facility. The prison system would not have to worry if everyone had done their individual jobs correctly and gathered the right type of information to file for any inmate with a certain
In the United States prison system inmate’s struggle and face conflicts within the culture, they live in on a daily basis. Prison life is very structured and within this system, there are multiple layers of racism, bigotry, and injustice. As a result of extreme conditions and the prison climate, many prisoners often experience stressful situations that influence their mental health. In addition to mental health issues, many prisoners often experience emotional, social, organizational, and arduous physical conditions while incarcerated. Due to these harsh conditions, further research is needed in our prison systems to evaluate the impact of our prison culture and the climate that these inmates are subjected to when incarcerated. Corporate
Attorney General's Report to Congress on the Growth of Violent Street Gangs in Suburban Areas
("International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology", 2012) According to the International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology “…goal of improving the quality of mental health care for criminal offenders, the IACFP formulated standards for the delivery of mental health services in correctional agencies and facilities.” ("International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology", 2012) One ethical issue that psychologist who work in prison face is; offenders are not detained to receive further punishment once detained, therefore there it's the moral obligation of the psychologist to oppose the pressures of society, staff, and the lack of medical supplies. These pressures can influence the quantity of mental staff in an establishment, the measure of care that a detainee gets, inappropriate evaluations, documentation, medications, and harsh
This means that inmates are kept with minimal or no rehabilitation efforts. Within Oklahoma, parolees have no choice but to be deigned by the government if they are to be set free into the community again. Because finances are so limited within these prisons, they were forced to come up with an alternative. A low cost solution that they have come up with is to have other prison inmates trained to be orderly’s to work in the infirmary. This allows these inmates to help in providing care for the sick and elderly patients within the prison.
Reports suggest that male prisoners consult their doctors three times more frequently compare to men outside in the communities. The report also noted that the same prisoners consult their healthcare workers seventy times more frequently than their counterparts out of prison. (Marshall et al, 2001; Bridgewood and Malbob, 1995). Services like NHS or A & E are often utilised by prisoners for treatment purposes. The majority of patients admitted to A&E are often related to mental health and substance abuse or misuse.