The Psychological Effects of Prisons

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The 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 con...

... middle of paper ...

...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:

Works Cited

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.

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