...When speaking about solitary confinement, it is called by many different names such as the hotbox, the hole, lockdown, SC and the SHU. The practice of solitary confinement is used when an inmate is considered dangerous to themselves or others. It is where prisoners spend 23 hours of a day alone in their cell in separation from anyone and have no contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. This is sometimes having been called as a form of punishment which is beyond incarceration for a prisoner and has been named as an additional measure of protection for the inmate. This form of punishment is also given to anyone that violations the prison regulations. It is also used as a form of protective custody and to prevent in...
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...On Solitary Confinement An Exploration Of An Age-Old Method of Punishment Solitary confinement is defined as the isolation of inmates and limiting their human contact in prison. From its birth in the late 1700s to its more widespread usage in recent history, solitary confinement has grown to be a considerable tool in the arsenal of the United States prison system’s methods of controlling its enormous prison population, shown by an increase in the construction of “Supermax” prisons, maximum-security prisons with units specifically designated to isolate inmates. With solitary confinement’s recent uptick in usage throughout the United States on both the federal and state level, questions have arisen about its implementation, its effects on the prison population, and its ethical implications. With it becoming apparent that solitary confinement will continue to play a large role in the United States correction system in the future, it is important to explore the answers to these questions. In this essay, we will explore these questions in order to understand solitary confinement more fully. History Defined fully as, “…confinement of a prisoner alone in a cell for all or nearly all of the day, with minimal environmental stimulation and minimal opportunity for social interaction,” (trauma of psychological torture 113) solitary confinement strives to eliminate the stimulus of senses such as sight, touch, and hearing, with the elimination of stimulus and social interaction...
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... In this paper I am going to go with the video for social structure theory when covering the following topics. I will introduce how the video supports a social structure theory, the primary subject and content, major principles of the sociology theory addressed and social issues discussed. I am going to discuss, in the last part of this paper, what are some possible consequences for a social policy change. The video that I have chosen to do this paper on will be the “Pelican Bay State Prison: War Zone” to best fit with my beliefs of social structure theory simply the top reason for criminality evolving. In the video that I have viewed, “Pelican Bay State Prison: War Zone,” there was a great deal of information in it that supported crime evolving from a social structure theory. The prisoners in Pelican Bay State Prison set a goal to get into this prison because it is more like a reward than a punishment. The motive for the a reward of these prisoners is that only the meanest most violent prisoners who are gang leaders out of prison. These gang leaders still run the gangs, although they are in prison and are fearless. These gang leaders come from the only family that they have ever known and would give their lives for the gang. Most prisoners, gang leaders are educated only in the streets and nowhere else. In the video it speaks of how Pelican Bay State Prison is known for the thousands upon thousands of gang leaders who set a goal to end there for more recognition...
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...legalized in all states, it is not. The death penalty is only legal in 32 states. There are many reasons to why such as justice being served especially to the families of someone who suffered, it costs the government less, and life in solitary confinement. There is many pros as to why the death penalty should be legal. We really may never know if the death penalty will stop a person from committing murder, but it is something that can be put to look at it. It is wrong to let someone sit in prison for life and still get the...
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...Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Volume 10, Issue 2, 2012 (ISSN1948-352X) Beyond Dehumanization: A Post-Humanist Critique of Solitary Confinement Lisa Guenther Abstract What does it mean to be treated like a nonhuman animal? In this paper, I analyze the discourse of “dehumanization” in Madrid v Gomez, a 1995 Eighth Amendment case concerning the treatment of prisoners at California’s Pelican Bay Supermax Penitentiary. I argue that the language of dehumanization fails to describe the harm of solitary confinement because it remains complicit with a hierarchical opposition between human and nonhuman animal that rebounds against prisoners, especially those who have been racialized and/or sexualized as less than human. Humanist discourse neglects the sense in which both human and nonhuman animals are affective, corporeal beings who rely upon the support of others for their own capacity to orient themselves within a mutually-perceived world. Drawing on the testimony of inmates in solitary confinement, and situating this testimony in relation to the political and scientific history of US incarceration practices, I develop a post-humanist critique of solitary confinement. Keywords: Solitary confinement, sensory deprivation, intercorporeal Malebranche would not have beaten a stone as he beat his dog, saying that the dog didn’t suffer. Merleau-Ponty, Nature, 166 Certain carceral practices are often condemned – both by prisoners and by their legal or political advocates –...
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...No matter how many times I am exposed to the experiment it will always blow my mind with the direction it took. The man behind the experiment primary wanted to test people’s reactions. He wanted to test whether putting good people in an evil place made a difference. He wanted to know does the environment influence behaviors or is it your moral beliefs and values that determine your behaviors. In the Stanford Prison experiment conducted in 1971 there were two parties: guards, and the inmates. Of course the authority was given to the guards. The experimenter wanted to create a sense of power over others to examine if this influenced people’s behaviors. In reality, inmates have to obey whatever it is that the guards tells them, so he wanted to see if this re-make would do the same as it does in reality. This case proved to do just what it does in real life. Initially the experiment was assumed to be a failure. The experiment had changed direction once the prisoners became rebellious. People of authority do not take kindly to being disrespected by people of no power. Although this was not real, and anyone could have left whenever they wanted to everyone stayed until things had to cease. One prisoner did express that he wanted to leave the experiment, but the other inmates begin to chant, “Prisoner 412 did a bad thing.” That prisoner had begun to cry, and felt compelled to stay there. The problem with this experiment was the use of power. The ordinary people...
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... Sept 22,2014 Corrections Imani Threalkill 1. How did the term corrections evolve from the earlier use of the term penology? Penology is the study of the use of punishment for criminal acts. Penology emphasized the principal function of implementing punishment in the handling of criminal offenders after their sentencing. Corrections are defined as the range of community and institutional sanctions, treatment programs, and service for managing criminal offenders. 2. What is the mission of corrections? To protect society accomplished through a combination of surveillance and control of offenders, rehabilitative services, and incapacitation during the services of a prison sentence. 3. Describe the operation of the Walnut Street Jail as the first American prison. Walnut Street Jail was one of hard labor, strict discipline, religious study, and solitary and silent confinement. 4. Describe the differences in the Pennsylvania and the Auburn systems. The Pennsylvania System known as the separate and silent enforces inmates not to see or talk with each other meaning less production from inmates, which was very expensive to operate. More staff was needed. Impossible to keep inmates from talking. Only 2 states decided to keep this system (New Jersey & Rhode Island.) Auburn system also knows for silent but was able to congregate, meaning criminals...
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...activity, inadequate health services, seclusion from family and friends, and the insecurity of what life holds after prison contribute to the inmate’s mental health. Inmates whose judgment is altered or impaired by depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other severe mental illnesses are impacted more severely by the tribulations of prison life. Inadequate mental health services is also something mentally ill inmates face, this absconds them undertreated or mistreated. Numerous prisoners do not receive proper psychotropic medication due to the lack of mental health services and care, further impairing their capability to function. The security mission of prisons tends to overlook mental health considerations. Prison rules and codes of demeanor teach staff about security, safety, supremacy, and power. Coordinating the needs of the mentally ill with prison regulations and goals is almost impractical. Factors of the sources and effects of the concern between prison and mental illness will be observed in this research proposal. Reforms will be provided to improve mental health requirements and defend the rights of the increasing population of mentally ill prisoners. An indication of the causes for the increase of mentally ill individuals in U.S. prisons as well as the tension between prison operations and inmates with mental illness will also be presented. The intention of this research is to take a Looking at the characteristics that address the pros and cons of...
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...All of these disorders impair normal functioning of the human brain and therefore it would be cruel to sentence them to harsh punishment in prison. For example, solitary confinement, as previously discussed, results in adverse psychological effects. Locking a mentally ill prisoner in a dark room for twenty hours a day will worsen their sanity and increase risks of suicide and recidivism if or when released. This is completely unnecessary and harmful when what many prisoners need is mental health treatment. When they do not receive it, their condition will worsen. When put in an inhumane environment, their mental health will deteriorate. It would be a more effective method of management to implement psychotherapy or behaviour modification as a form of treatment for these offenders to target the root cause of their crime, which will minimize the likelihood of them reoffending. This has been studied and discovered to be true, as Vanderbilt...
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...Howard found the jails to be a disgrace and found that the living conditions were inhumane to the criminals because of its filth. This is when John Howard and the English House of Commons created the Act of 1779 which was four requirements needed to be met and they are, (1) secure and sanitary structures, (2) systematic inspections, (3) abolition of fees charged to inmates, and (4) a reformatory regime in which inmates were confined in solitary cells but worked in common rooms during the day.” (Corrections an introduction) The U.S. soon began to follow the Act of 1779 known as the English model. In 1790 the first prison was established and it was called the Walnut Street Jail located in Philadelphia. This is where the concept of confinement and rehabilitation was created (Corrections an introduction) The Quakers who were the ones that changed the Walnut Street jail because the Quakers believe that it was inhumane of how the prisoners were being treated. The whole point of this era was to rehabilitate and try and deter by having the Separate and silent system and by making an offender pay by serving time. However, how this system...
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...Problems within the Criminal Justice System In the United States Abstract: This research paper explores some problems faced within the criminal system justice in the United States. Larry J. Siegel’s book “Criminology” gives us a history of the criminal justice system, how it operates, and some of the problems we experience with this system. Some of the problems detailed in this paper include the right to equal justice; which he explained the different kind of judgment that people receive based on their race, gender and class, the criminal justice system spends more money on criminals instead of improving technology for the police apprehending them, the criminal justice system lacks of sentencing disparity, reliance on eyewitness and modern technology can lead to conviction of innocent citizen, and finally the rehabilitation model which is set up to educate criminals and eventually let them free because of the belief that they are changed people and have been rehabilitated. According to the definition from the text “Criminology”, the term criminal justice system refers to “the components of government charged with enforcing law, adjudicating criminals, and correcting criminal conduct” (Siegel, 2009, p. 558). According to Siegel, the criminal justice system is essentially “an instrument of social control: society considers some behaviors so dangerous and destructive that it either strictly controls their occurrence...
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...issues are negative and does affect the prison. On the issue of prison violence, over the years, prison violence has been on the rise. This has causes major changes within the prions system, such as implementing strategies to control the prisoners and their criminal behaviors. Prison rape also has continues to rise. This issue has been will probably continue to exist. This is because the prison officials have yet to be able to control this kind of activity. Another issue that has been affects the prison system is the sentencing that are being handed out for drug charges. This has cause the prisons to be overcrowded. Prison Violence on the Rise Prison violence is on the rise, many prison conditions are a recipe for violence, by being overcrowded, understaffed, insufficient staff training, excessive solitary confinement, insecure facilities, mistreatment of mentally ill inmates, policies that weaken family ties, a culture of disrespect between staff and prisoners, and little accountability for wardens. These facilities are causing concern not only for inmates but, for those employed to supervise the convicted offenders. Inmate population continue to grow, staffing levels in most facilities either have stopped or decreased. Violence has increased in the prisons that carry these conditions. Inmates experience rape by other prisoners and staff, gang rape, gang violence, and excessive force from officers often with no reliable procedure to report violence. Inmates are mistreated by...
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...“The Top 10 Most Startling Facts About People of Color and Criminal Justice in the United States.” Center for American Progress, Americanprogress, 29 May 2015, www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2012/03/13/11351/the-top-10-most-startling-facts-about-people-of-color-and-criminal-justice-in-the-united-states/. Liem, Marieke, and Maarten Kunst. “Is There a Recognizable Post-Incarceration Syndrome among Released ‘Lifers’?” International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, Pergamon, 30 Apr. 2013, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160252713000344. Loevy, Debra. “How Does US Justice Stack Up? An International Comparison.” Loevy & Loevy, 21 Dec. 2015, www.loevy.com/blog/how-does-us-justice-stack-up-an-international-comparison/. Morris, Terence. “The Criminal Area.” Google Books, 1957, books.google.com/books?id=mb6AAAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor%3A%22Professor%2BTerence%2BMorris%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjuyJjhtazaAhUD7qwKHUADCl4Q6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. Petersilia, Joan. “Beyond the Prison Bubble.” The Wilson Quarterly, 7 Jan. 2015,...
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...probation; or on parole. Of the total, 2.2 million were in jail or in prison. According to the International Center for Prison Studies at King’s College in London, the United States has more people behind bars than any other county. The U.S. incarceration rate is 737 per 100,000 people (Vicini, 2012). Why so many incarcerated? It is my belief that it is due to recidivism. What is recidivism? Recidivism is a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior, especially relapsing into criminal behavior. In the prison system, recidivism refers to released inmates who are re-convicted and re-incarcerated. The rates of recidivism have been known to be as high as fifty-percent (50%) (Reducing Recidivism Through Education, 2012). Those who contribute to recidivism have something in common. Most are male prisoners at 89.6%. The ages of 89.6% male prisoners are from 18-34 (Characteristics of Inmates, 2002). Thirty-nine (39%) of prisoners come from single-family homes (The Fatherless Generation, 2012). But, what is most troubling is this: Of the 89.2% incarcerated, 32.7% have...
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...Operant Conditioning in the Criminal Justice System Christine Morton Psychology of Criminal Behavior CCJS 461 Instructor: David Bierie June 02, 2015 There are many theories of behaviorism that started in the year of 1920 and continued through the 1950’s. Behaviorism is a scientific study of behaviors when in the midst of thinking or feeling where explanations of behaviors are the focus. The main focus is to observe behaviors with a common denominator of stimulus-response for individuals to learn. John B. Watson is remembered for his views and theories of behaviorism. The focus for his study was on the behaviors alone and not combining the mind, body, or consciousness. John B Watson had theories that were referred to as “learning through stimulus substitution.” The theory of John B Watson was to use substitution of one stimuli for another stimuli. John B Watson believed that behaviors can be trained, measured, and changed regardless of personality or traits. He was the Father of psychology. Behavioral theories are behavior observations that are brought upon by conditioning which happens through human interactions with the environment. The most famous research study done by John B Watson was the study of enabling a child to fear the white rat. This was a conditioned experiment where a loud clanging noise would emit whenever the white rat was brought into notice. Edward Thorndike is famous for his study in psychology of learning that was...
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