Hard Time: Worse of the Worse

A life behind bars is not an easy life, but a life that many people become accustom to, not because these people want to, but because they have to. The prison life is one that includes adverse challenges, dangerous situations, gang violence, and unpleasant living conditions. As shown in the documentary, Hard Time: Worst of the Worst, the inmates at the Southern Ohio Correction Facility in Lucasville, Ohio are no strangers to the prison life. Opened in 1972, the prison houses some of Ohio’s most dangerous inmates, totaling 2,200 inmates. The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility is known as a level 4, or a maximum-security facility. Here, correction officers control each and every movement of inmates. The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility houses inmates who find themselves in trouble once they are in inside of prison, such as stabbing or killing another inmate. The inmates are then sent to Lucasville to serve “jail time” for whatever act they may have committed while in prison.

According to the documentary, the prison has more attacks on inmates and staff than any other facility in the state of Ohio. Typically new arrivals are classified as 4B. These inmates spend their entire stay in the “hole”. Which means the inmate is confined to his/her cell for 23 hours of the day with strict movement and little privileges. If the inmate breaks the rules, the time starts over. If the inmates are compliant, their status moves to 4A, where the inmates will still spend 23 hours a day in his or her cell, but the inmate will have more privileges such as recreation time that is not as strict. The prison staff needs to be strict and concise to prevent an inmate take over, which has happened in the past at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility res...

... middle of paper ...

...ng way; this is all apart of the prison culture as well.

The documentary, Hard Time: Worse of the Worse offered an eye-opening glimpse into the American prison system. The film showed the American prison system is one with strict rules to follow, ran with a zero tolerance policy. The documentary was an accurate portrayal of how prison life is that offered adequate information of how inmates behind bars live their lives day to day in a maximum-security prison. It was interesting to see a documentary on a maximum-security prison, since it is less common amongst the security types. The documentary depicted the American prison system to be ruthless, rule orientated, and militaristic with high security discipline, and its own prison subculture.

Works Cited

Lab, Steven P. “Institutional Corrections.” Criminal Justice: The Essentials. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print.