What I Learned As A Kid In Jail

For new inmate, the bus ride to prison, the processing at the prison reception center, and the belittling shouts from the inmates are all part of the early stage of what is known as prisonization (Clear, Cole, Petrosino, Reisig, 2015). It is the process whereby newly institutionalized individual are introduced to and come to accept prison lifestyles and criminal values; the learning of convict values, attitudes, roles, and even language (prison argot) (Schamelleger, 2001). The new inmates gradually learn the set of rules of conduct that reflect the

He discusses the unfair treatment these children who are locked up receive as well as the employees who so desperately fight to keep their job rather than help the children. Gatesville, a institution in Texas is described as having “job interviews that last ten minutes [as well as the] techniques to screen out potentially abusive applicants, such as screening, not being done” (Wooden, p.15). Another issue addressed in these sections is the fact that most, if not all children when sent to an institution, do not get a psychological evaluation. These children can come in, learn to obey the teachers and guards and be released without any psychological treatment to deal with the issue that sent them to the facility in the first place. Wooden also addresses the issue of the employees who work there need the facility more than most of the children do. This causes a problem which leaves more employees than children. Although there are many issues with these facilities themselves, how these children got into these facilities is Wooden’s next

Alice Goffman, the speaker in this TED Talk, does a great job reaching out to her audience in a great number of ways. Her purpose in this TED Talk titled, “How We’re Priming Some Kids for College, and Others for Prison,” is to grab the attention of all people, but it is directed towards the younger generations, to show them that they have to work together in order for change to be made. The change would be to work together to help end the problem of mass incarceration; to help completely rebuild the Criminal Justice System. Throughout her talk, Goffman uses examples of logos, ethos, and pathos to reach her audience in an effective way, and to inform them of the problems going on with the United States Criminal Justice System.

Whenever you imagine prison, you think up ideas and violent images that you have seen in the movies or on TV.   Outdated clichés consisting of men eating stale bread and drinking dirty water are only a small fraction of the number of horrible, yet “just” occurrences which are stereotypical of everyday life in prison.   Perhaps it could be a combination of your upbringing, horrific ideas about the punishment which our nation inflicts on those who violate its’ more serious laws that keeps people frightened just enough to lead a law-abiding life. Despite it’s success in keeping dangerous offenders off the streets, the American prison system fails in fulfilling its original design of restoring criminals to being productive members of society, it is also extremely expensive and wastes our precious tax dollars.

Ted Conover’s book, New Jack, is about the author's experiences as a rookie guard at Sing Sing prison, in New York, the most troubled maximum security prison. He comes to realize that being a correctional officer isn’t an easy task. This is shown from the beginning when he is required to attend a 7 week training program to become a correctional officer. He comes to realize what inmates have to endure on a daily basis. Throughout his experience into a harsh culture of prison and the exhausting and poor working conditions for officers, he begins to realize that the prison system brutalizes everyone connected to it. New Jack presents new ideas of prisons in the United States in the ways facilities, corrections officers, and inmates function with

Childhood is a time in which memories are created, adventures are explored and social awareness begins to develop. The events that occur during childhood are pivotal in the development of a healthy and substantial life. However, what if those experiences were taken from a child? What would the outcome be if a child could not experience what it is like to be young? Juvenile incarceration strips a person of their childhood and essentially takes away the experiences necessary for them to develop into healthy functioning adults. Even though juvenile incarceration is an effective method of punishment for those who have committed heinous crimes, the justice system should not convict children and adolescents as adults because of the child 's circumstances that lead to the crime as well as the disastrous effects it causes on the mental and emotional state of the child.

Skip Hollandsworth candidly explores the subjects of juvenile crime and sentencing in the electronic long form newspaper article, “The Prisoner”. The purpose of the essay is to inform the reader about juvenile sentencing and to persuade the audience that there are clear problems with aspects of the U.S. prison system. The article is easily accessible to a large audience because it is online. Hollandsworth takes into account that his audience, mostly consisting of Texas Monthly readers, may already have pre-established notions about the topic, so he considers other sides while still supporting his argument. Edwin Debrow, a preteen member of the Crips, committed a murder when he was 12-years old and received a 27-year sentence through the

Over the last half-century, the United States has turned more and more frequently to the use of incarceration as a form of punishment. Sentencing policies and stricter laws requiring mandatory minimums for certain offenses, no matter the conditions of the offense, have boosted the incarceration rate in this country to staggering heights. The typical issues that affect America’s prison systems are reflected in Jennifer Gonnerman’s book, Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett. Elaine Bartlett’s life, along with the lives of surrounding family and friends, is forever changed by her 16 years of incarceration. Elaine Bartlett is only one of many Americans that have been wronged by the cruel and unusual punishments implemented by a society claiming to have a fair, balanced, and equal justice system. A fair and balanced justice system that convicts people who carries the right amount of drugs in weight to have a mandatory incarceration for a minimum of 15 years to life, yet those who commit murder or rape may receive a lesser sentence. There is also the issue of transitioning back into society after being incarcerated for so many years. Incarceration does not just punish the offender; the offender’s family and friends are also negatively affected by the conviction and imprisonment of a loved one. Children could be put in the system or need to be raised by other members in the family. This could lead the children to deviate down the same path as their parent who

After reading the book I have gained a new understanding of what inmates think about in prison. Working in an institution, I have a certain cynical attitude at times with inmates and their requests.

‘Scared Straight’ programs were first implemented in the U.S. in the 1970’s. However, they became nationally popular in the aftermath of the 1978 Arnold Shapiro documentary Scared Straight!, in which a group of delinquents are berated by a group of convicts known as “lifers” for three hours. At the end of the film, the appropriately terrified teenagers state that they have decided that they do not want to go to jail (Lowry, 1999). Scared Straight programs allow juveniles who are criminal offenders or deemed at-risk for becoming such to have contact with adult prisoners. The process varies across the country according to the prison, and can include jail tours, one-on-one conversations with prisoners, or even being integrated into the facility and living life as a prisoner for a day. As their name would suggest, these programs’ purpose is to discourage juveniles from committing further criminal activity; the expected outcome is that a child who is exposed to the undesirable conditions of prison life will be deterred from future delinquency due to shock and fear. Unfortunately, this is not rarely the case. Scared Straight programs are unproductive at best and counterproductive at worst, and allowing them to continue is a strain on the community as a whole.

She served nineteen years in Central California Women’s Facility until she was granted clemency by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and released on parole. Sara’s story turned out well in the end, but not all juvenile prisoners are as lucky. This is why juveniles should not be sent to adult prison facilities. It is detrimental to their health, it is unethical, and it is not cost efficient. Now that we have examined all the reasons why juveniles should not be sent to adult prison facilities it is evident that drastic renovations of current protocols should be enacted. Juveniles suffer dreadfully in adult prison facilities, but they are not the only ones that suffer. Our whole society suffers when youth are imprisoned. It is our responsibility to not turn away from this pressing issue, but instead face it head on. It is of the utmost importance that we come together as one country, one community, and one people to protect the lives of those who cannot protect themselves. If we do not address the problems of the justice system we will forever be immersed in an angry society that is full of lost

Although many believe that having a young adult go to jail is a reasonable and helpful punishment, it has been proven to be insufficient. In the article “Prison Is Too Violent for Young Offenders” it says ”Young prisoners overwhelmed by feelings of helplessness and hopelessness cannot focus on changing their thinking and behavior because they are focused on how to survive.” This quote shows us that treating young adults as if they were adults does help them understand and learn from their mistakes. Instead of rehabilitating themselves, thinking of what they have done and how to heal, they have to try to survive the harsh conditions of jail. They have to avoid being injured, raped, abused, and many other inconveniences of jail.

Assessing the consequences of our country’s soaring imprison rates has less to do with the question of guilt versus innocence than it does with the question of who among us truly deserves to go to prison and face the restrictive and sometimes brutally repressive conditions found there. We are adding more than one thousand prisoners to our prison and jail systems every single week. The number of women in prisons and jails has reached a sad new milestone. As women become entangled with the war on drugs, the number in prison has increased if not double the rate of incarceration for men. The impact of their incarceration devastates thousands of children, who lose their primary caregiver when Mom goes to prison.

Separation exists between society and the penal system, and due to this, there is a grave lack of knowledge of what is happening behind bars and how we can improve the situation we have currently in regards to the prison system. There are major flaws that exist within the penal system, and Angela Davis highlighted the main one of secrecy. We know based off of research that our prison population commonly consists of individuals who struggle academically (Petersilia, 2003, pg 32). Because of this lack of a strong education, they may not possess basic skills like reading, with about 20 % performing at an illiterate level within state facilities (Petersilia, 2003, pg 32), which prisons are not going around glorifying.

When the average person thinks of jails and prisons, they typically think of horrible criminals being locked up in order to protect the rest of society. They think justice has been served, and those who did the crime are now doing the time. But what goes on inside a prison, and inside the minds of the inmates? What about after those offenders have served their time, and are now being released back into the general public? People don’t really think about how prison affects a person’s mentality, or how incarceration impacts both relationships the inmate currently has, or ones that will develop in the future. Although it isn’t something most people think of first, incarceration is an experience that can have a negative psychological impact on a person for quite some time.