The Inmate - Original Writing
The sounds of the keys echoed across the hallway. Past each set of
bars the keys rang a wanted freedom. As the keys and the guard
strolled past, almost motionless bodies turned, all drawing closer to
the keys. Closer, closer … stop. The cold bars formed the wall that
could not be broken. The freedom. All hands were on this wall except
one. One set of hands lay quiet, still and with no movement. These
hands belonged to a tall, dark-haired person, a man, and a ghost?
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As the guard reached the end of the hallway this sly-looking being
whispered,
"It's mine…"
Laughter spread across the cages as usual.
" You on the high again, Mark?" sniggered Jon.
" Wait and see, wait and see." The evil laugh that sounded after
seemed to be from the movies. The voice trembled. Everyone just lay
quiet.
The next morning appeared as quickly as the routine it was accustomed
to. The inmates were gathered for breakfast, given time outside for
some exercise and then brought back to their cages. Same routine, same
times, same people-but today something was different. Something was
just not right.
" What is it 'bout today?" questioned Henry, " It's just so strange. I
can't put my finger on it". The other men nodded in agreement
" Yeah, it feels like some one jus' died," replied Mark
The hall filled with an uneasy silence. Mark got up and looked outside
the small window, in the back of is cell he stood there gazing. He
said to himself,
"I've spent too long in here, 20 years of my life, 20 years for
something I didn't even do."
A strange voice then called,
" Mark! Mark! I will set u free" he turned but nothing again the voice
" Mark, Mark" still nothing. Mark turned to his fellow inmates and
shouted,
" Who is that? " they all looked at him blankly. He ran to the cold
The Convicts, by Iain Lawrence, is a story of a young boy who faces great odds to complete his quest to help his father. This novel takes many twists and turns through the landscape of London, more specifically in nineteenth century London. However, London is not described in the picturesque view many people have come to know London as. Lawrence shows the uglier more rugged lifestyle of many poor people in London during this time period. Within a society like this in London, swindling, gangs, and prison become common subjects among the lower classes, especially in this novel. Although life was hard for many, the characters in this novel find adventure along the way while aboard ships and through underground sewers.
Angela Davis disputes that prisons should be abolished due to the plethora of social and moral issues that they create (Davis, 10). She claims that society chooses to ignore the issues stemmed from a rise in the amount of prisons, due to the indoctrination of modern society into accepting prisons as an established component of our culture (9).
The text circulates in the form of a letter written by renown Civil Rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, JR. The letter was originally written on April, 16 1963 and subsequently published on June 24th of the same year. The letter was crafted as an explanatory response to the criticism made by eight white Alabama clergymen who openly condemned his civil disobedience demonstrations. Therefore, one can logically conclude that the author’s targeted audience only comprised of the eight Alabama clergymen. Letter From Birmingham Jail, analyses the concepts of direct action, justice, human progress, oppression, and freedom from a religious and moral framework. Lastly, parenthetical citations are used throughout sections of the letter in order to
When people think of reform movements, they often look for one key sign, and ask one key question of whether that the reform was a success. Did the reform create a lasting change in the way people view the institution that was reformed? All the great reformation movements, from Horace Mann and his education reforms, to Martin Luther, and the Protestant Reformation, to the civil rights movement, all created lasting change in the minds of the average person. One other reform, often overlooked historically is the Prison Reform movement. As the world shifted from 18th to 19th century ways of life, many key aspects of life underwent tremendous change. As the United States gained their independence from Britain and began to shape their own identity, the reforms and revolutions that occurred in this infantile stage of its history played an immeasurable impact on the future of the entire country, with the most notable and impact reform being the reformation of prisons from the 1820s until 1860.
The number of Americans that are in prison has elevated to levels that have never been seen before. Prisons in the US have always been crowded ever since the first prison was invented (Jacobs and Angelos 101). The first prison in the US was the Walnut Street Jail that was built in Philadelphia in 1773, and later closed in the 1830’s due to overcrowding and dirty conditions (Jacobs and Angelos 101). The prison system in modern US history has faced many downfalls due to prison overcrowding. Many private prison owners argue that the more inmates in a prison the more money they could make. In my opinion the argument of making more money from inmates in prisons is completely unconstitutional. If the private prisons are only interested in making
Not only is prison ineffective in preventing reoffending in women and is expensive, it can be extremely damaging to the female’s well-being and their families. The effect that a custodial sentence has on women is arguably far worse than for men. Women are often not prepared or equipped for their life following their prison sentence; due to the fact that women are more likely to be lone parents before prison (Social Exclusion Unit, 2002), are more likely to leave prison homeless and unemployed (Wedderburn, 2000), and are more likely to lose access of their children whilst serving their sentence (Corston, 2007). Statistics from 2010 showed that around 17,000 children become separated from their mother by imprisonment (Wilks-Wiffen, 2011). This can be absolutely devastating to not only the female offender, but to their innocent children too. Moreover, due to the small number of women’s prisons, the average distance that women are sent away from their homes is around 60 miles (Women in Prison, 2013). Therefore, even if the women are lucky enough to keep in contact with their children, it can be tremendously hard to organise visitation and uphold
Solitary confinement is a penal tactic used on inmates who pose a threat to themselves or other inmates. Solitary confinement is type of segregated prison in which prisoners are held in their cell for 22-24 hours every day. If they are allowed to leave their cell, they will silently walk shackled and in between two guards. They can only leave for showers or exercise. Their exercise and shower are always done alone and inside. They can exercise in fenced in yards surrounded by concrete. Solitary confinement is either used as a punishment for prison behaviors, a protection method for targeted inmates, or a place to keep prisoners who are a threat to the general prison population. Many prisoners are put in Administrative Segregation for their protection. Many prisoners in this type of segregation are teenagers, homosexuals, and mentally ill prisoners. Many mentally ill prisoners are sent to solitary confinement because there are not rehabilitation services available, and prison officials have run out of options (Shalev, 2008, p [1-2]). Solitary confinement is a convenient method for prison systems, but the detrimental effects on inmates make it an unsuitable option for inmate control.
The prison system in the United States was not always like it is today. It took mistakes and changes in order to get it to the point it is at. Some people think that prisons should still be being changed while others feel that they are fine the way they are. It is hard to make an argument for one side or the other if one does not know about the history of prisons as well as the differences between prisons structures and differences in prison management. Knowledge of private prisons is also needed to make this difficult decision.
There are many things that will affect you in prison. I’m going to give you several facts about how it will. My first topic is physical health. At the time of prison release, one half of men and two thirds of women reported having been diagnosed with a chronic physical health condition. Physical health status was assessed by asking respondents to note those conditions that a doctor or nurse had diagnosed them with. Table 3 shows full range of conditions that respondents were asked about their self-reported rates of illness for comparison purpose, these are displayed alongside national prevalence estimates for correctional populations developed by the National Commission on Correctional Health care. Asthma hepatitis infection
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?
for youngsters who have a long history of convictions for less serious felonies for which the juvenile court disposition has not been effective” (qtd. in Katel).
“You don’t know me.” My voice sounded as unsteady as his stance. He shrugged as he chuckled; the laughter turned my blood cold. He seemed to know something I did not.
Prisons serve the same reason for women and men, they are also tools of social control. The imprisonment of women in the U.S. has always been a different experience then what men go through. The proportion of women in prison has always differed from that of men by a large amount. Women have traditionally been sent to prison for different reasons, and once in prison they endure different conditions of incarceration. Women incarcerated tend to need different needs for physical and mental health issues. When a mother is incarcerated it tends to play an impact on the children also. Over time the prison system has created different gender responsive programs to help with the different needs of female offenders. After being released from prison
The United States of America contains the third largest population in the world, as well as the world’s largest prison population (Aliprandini and Finley). In order for the large criminal justice system to be successful, it must have a strong parole system. But the U.S. parole system is known to have a multitude of problems within it. Many of these problems can be solved by focusing on the relationships between the parole officers and the parolees (a person on parole). By participating in systems to better the work ethic of parole officers. Following through to fixing these affairs may seem unrealistic, however the outcome would be beneficial to society.
Throughout this paper, one will obtain a better understanding of the correctional system and how it is an important aspect of the criminal justice system. Therefore, the history of corrections, their mission statement, and sentencing goals will be briefly discussed. In the correctional system, there are different alternatives to imprisonment, such as probation, parole, and intermediate sanctions. I believe that parole makes a significant impact on the criminal justice system because it gives inmates who have already served time and shown good behavior the opportunity to be released early from prison. For example, there are two primary models of parole. First, the parole board grants a prisoner their parole based on their judgement