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“A Place to Stand”
Prisoners are confronted with a unique set of exigencies and pressures to which they are forced to respond and adapt to, in order to survive. In Jimmy Santiago Baca’s memoir “A Place to Stand,” he tells his courageous story. In Baca’s book, he identifies the prison system as being flawed and the immense amount of torment he had become accustomed to while incarcerated. When describing the terrible reality of prison, he reveals the effects of prison on the lives of the people around him, and how the human spirit can only take so much before it breaks.
At twenty years old Jimmy Baca discovered himself living a life he did not want. Convicted of drug charges and sent to Arizona state prison, he found himself serving his sentence in a place filled with hardened criminals. Prison takes young rebellious men and women and turns them into serious offenders. For instance, Baca was not imprisoned for a violent offense; however, the situation he found himself in, forced Baca to brutally attack a black inmate that was making advances toward him. While, he tried to ignore the man, Baca realized he had no choice but to handle the situation or risk becoming an easy target to other convicts. Macaron tells Baca, “. . . this is the way it is . . .fight or get punked, step out
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Macaron tells Baca, “I was like you -- hoping for a better life, working to do right -- but that time passed . . . I lost hope, and I could never get it back again. My soul broke. It died. That day, I became a criminal. That day I had no more hope” (130). Once a person has nothing to believe in and no hope they give up. Macaron explained to Baca that he once was optimistic, like him, and eager for a better life, but prison broke him and turned him into the full out criminal he was fighting not to
I feel that this book gives a rough, inspiring and passionate warning that the rush to imprison offenders hurts the guards as well as the guarded. Conover reminds us that when we treat prisoners like the garbage of society, we are bound to treat prison staff as garbage men -- best out of sight, their own dirt surpassed only by the dirt they handle. Conover says in one part of his book, “Eventually admitting that being in a position of power and danger brings out a side of myself I don’t like.” I feel both prisoners and officers deserve better.
In writing the book Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, Conover undergoes a transformation as a correctional officer in order to expose the problems within our prison systems. The reader learns a lot about what is taking place in prisons right now and what it is like to be a guard, but in sum what one must foremost take into account is that this is not how prisons how they have to be. There are social, political, and economic realities that have constructed this system and in order to dispel them it is more beneficial to understand these factors rather than one man’s experience in a place of power at one prison.
Incarnation usually transforms an inmate, but sometimes it's not always for their best interest. Jimmy Santiago Baca, the author of A Place to Stand, did however learn how to transform to better himself and his future for after prison life. While in prison Baca teaches himself how to read and write despite being illiterate from a very young age. By teaching himself how to read and write, Baca transforms his life through his love of poetry. This also helped him survive in jail for the 5 years he was there. His poems “I Am Offering This Poem”, “Who Understands Me but Me”, and “Immigration in Our Own Land” convey multiple messages of character transformation and survival that Jimmy depicts within his prison memoir A Place to Stand.
Throughout his novel, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, author and professor Robert Perkinson outlines the three current dominant purposes of prison. The first, punishment, is the act of disciplining offenders in an effort to prevent them from recommitting a particular crime. Harsh punishment encourages prisoners to behave because many will not want to face the consequences of further incarceration. While the purpose of punishment is often denounced, many do agree that prison should continue to be used as a means of protecting law-abiding citizens from violent offenders. The isolation of inmates, prison’s second purpose, exists to protect the public. Rehabilitation is currently the third purpose of prison. Rehabilitation is considered successful when a prisoner does n...
“Loneliness is a destroyer of humanity” and “The agony of solitary confinement is like being buried alive”, are only some of the thoughts of inmates placed in solitary confinement. In his article “Hellhole”, Gawande elaborates the disastrous consequences that arose from solitary confinement. Gawande begins his article by stating, “Human beings are social creatures” (1), and to exist in society as a functioning human being, social interaction is fundamental. He further states, “Our identities are socially created” (8), therefore, it is through the relationships that
Santos, Michael G. Inside: Life Behind Bars in America. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2006. Print.
The authors begin the book by providing advice on how a convict can prepare for release from prison. Throughout the book, the authors utilize two fictional characters, Joe and Jill Convict, as examples of prisoners reentering society. These fictional characters are representative of America’s prisoners. Prison is an artificial world with a very different social system than the real world beyond bars. Convicts follow the same daily schedule and are shaped by the different society that is prison. Prisoners therefore forget many of the obl...
James Baldwin tells a story about an African American man named Sonny. The setting of the story takes place in the projects of Harlem New York during the nineteen fifties. The story is narrated by Sonny’s brother and in this story the narrator describes the hardships of growing up in the projects. Sonny was the family screw up for he fell into the life of crime and drug uses. Sonny fell into the life of crime for he grew up in Harlem where he “turned hard... the way kids can… in Harlem” (Baldwin 49). Sonny was especially into heroin or referred to as horse in this story. Because of his drug use he was always in and out of jail “He had been picked up, the evening before, in a raid on an apartment downtown, for peddling and using heroin” (49). Harlem and the society had and impact on the African Americans for they never had the same opportunities to succeed before the civil rights act. Even the narrator who was the good and smart kid who had a college education and who was sober could not afford to live outside of the projects. It seems as if nothing would work for every escape lead them back to the projects. Sonny tried every thing to escape poverty, but never could escape it. Sonny said “I don’t want to stay in Harlem no more, I really don’t… I want to join the army or the navy, I don’t care” (60). Sonny was so desperate to escape poverty that
Is it possible to make vital life changes to become a better person at heart? Who’s the one that can help you? The only person that will get you up on your feet is yourself, and you have to believe deeply to make those changes. In this essay there are many main points that are being brought across to explain the problems and wisdom that arose from Baca’s life as an inmate. It talks about how he was grown up into an adult and the tragedies that he had to face in order to become one. Later I fallow steps that lead to the purpose and rhetorical appeals of Baca’s essay. The purpose dealt with the cause and effect piece and problem/ solution structure.
In this critic, I will be analyzing and comparing two books. The first book is “A question of Freedom a Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison” by R. Dwayne Betts. The second book is “Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing” by Ted Conover. In this comparison will first give a short summarization of both books. Second I will be answering the fallowing questions, what prisons are discussed? What types of prisoners are there- age, race, sex, level of crime? How current is the information? What are the conditions of the prisons? How are the prisoners treated? How are the guards and their viewpoints represented? How are the prisoners and their viewpoints represented? What forms of rehabilitation are there? What are the social relationships with other inmates? What opportunities are available to occupy prisoners? What point of view is the author taking – critical, Positive, does she/he write from the viewpoint of a guard, a prisoner? What evidence is/are the author’s points based on and how is the evidence presented - for example, first hand observations, Statistics? Also what changes, if any, are proposed or discussed by the author? How does the information in this book compare with what you’ve read in the text and articles and what you have observed on a class trip? Lastly what is your opinion of the information and viewpoint expressed in the book?
The story begins with the narrator’s brother, Sonny, being arrested for using heroin. When the narrator discovers what has happened to his brother, he slowly starts to relive his past. Up to this point, the narrator had completely cut his brother and his childhood from his life. He disapproves of the past and does everything in his power to get rid of it. The narrator had become an algebra teacher and had a family who he moved to get away from the bad influences on the street. As a result, it is shown in the story that he has worked hard to maintain a good “clean” life for his family and himself. Readers can see that he has lived a good life, but at the toll of denying where he came from and even his own brother. For years, his constant aim for success had been successful. However, as the story progressed everything he knew started to fall apart.
Diction shows the difference in Meursault’s views and beliefs as he spends more and more time in prison, adapts to his new lifestyle, and understands the future of his life. Camus diction displays Meursault’s change toward growth in self-reflection, realization of the purposelessness of his life, and unimportance of time.
The origin of the word prison comes from the Latin word to seize. It is fair to say that the traditionally use of prison correspond well with the origin of the word; as traditionally prison was a place for holding people whilst they were awaiting trail. Now, centuries on and prisons today is used as a very popular, and severe form of punishment offered to those that have been convicted. With the exception however, of the death penalty and corporal punishment that still takes place in some countries. Being that Prison is a very popular form of punishment used in today's society to tackle crime and punish offenders, this essay will then be examining whether prison works, by drawing on relevant sociological factors. Furthermore, it will be looking at whether punishment could be re-imagined, and if so, what would it entail?
Prison was designed to house and isolate criminals away from the society in order for our society and the people within it to function without the fears of the outlaws. The purpose of prison is to deter and prevent people from committing a crime using the ideas of incarceration by taking away freedom and liberty from those individuals committed of crimes. Prisons in America are run either by the federal, states or even private contractors. There are many challenges and issues that our correctional system is facing today due to the nature of prisons being the place to house various types of criminals. In this paper, I will address and identify three major issues that I believe our correctional system is facing today using my own ideas along with the researches from three reputable outside academic sources.
... overcome the obstacles that once held them back and had led them to prison in the first place The experiences of prison are enough to make a former inmate “do whatever it takes to avoid a second term” (“Rehabilitative Effects”) This being said, the many religious, therapeutic, and educational proceedings have also given prisoners an initiative to stay out of prison The religious aspect gives inmates hope and courage The therapeutic provides inmates with a safe environment to share their issues and to receive positive encouragement And finally, the educational offers a way to acquire a GED and or occupational skills that will enable the previously incarcerated with skills that will give them an advantage to obtaining a job. The negative side of prisons has become the face of prisons, blinding the public to all of the good that incarceration offers the incarcerated.