This vivid image is one that might be found in a majority of the prisons and jails ridden amongst the United States of America. Although in different states, regions, and cities, the scenes are the same; faces locked in cages, stripped of humanity and identity, and thrown into a dreary, lifeless world of steel, sweat, and sameness. While all of these faces behind bars are alike in the sense that they are human beings like the population of the world, differences arise, setting them apart from the general citizenry of society. These faces, some blue-eyed, some dark skinned, some tattooed and pierced, are the facades of killers, rapists, thieves, embezzlers, and overall dregs of the country. As a result of the choices made to carry out crimes, their lives are then slammed behind bars as a form of discipline and consequence. This is prison, and this is the world of the human beings who violate the laws of this nation.
Examining these faces beyond their hard, callus exteriors, ideas and questions arise that pertain to the prison and justice system as a whole. While these men and women behind bars have landed here as a result of crimes against humanity in complete violation to the laws instilled amongst society, questions of effectiveness are conceived and born, bearing their weight on the justice system. Is the U.S. prison system truly effective? The dregs of society are locked up behind bars, serving sentences as the consequences of crimes, but looking past these faces and their respective crimes, there are buried identities. Can a person really be changed and disciplined by prison?
People land themselves behind bars for countless reasons, and these causal factors play a pertinent role in understanding the effectiveness of prison on an individual. Accordingly, the reasons and background information that drive a citizen into prison function simultaneously with the inner workings of the legal prison system itself. Through the in depth examination of the U.S. prison system and the study of how and by whom these jails are infested, ideas and arguments formulate of whether inmate change is possible, and as a whole, whether or not the United States prison system and its structure and function serves as a factor in said change.
Each and every day, while tuning in to the latest news broadcast or catching a glimpse of breaking headline on social media or the New York Times, we hear about the latest crimes. In fact, when it comes to the consumption of media, hearing about violence is almost virtually unavoidable. With that being said, while we witness these shocking, horrific headlines on a daily basis, how often are we thinking beyond the story about the bigger picture? In other words, how often does a person hear about a crime, take in the given info, and then think about the American justice system and all that it entails? A majority of people probably would have no idea that the total U.S. prison population as of September 2013 includes 1,574,700 inmates. (The Sentencing Project). With such a large number, it brings about even larger questions pertaining to the motives behind each and every individual number. While some have given up a life of freedom at the hand of a foul and twisted crime, there are others who find themselves in and out of jail there entire lives or are merely content with their sentences.
A general definition of the term prison, as disclosed by the Bureau of Justice, states that it is a longer-term facility owned by a state or by the Federal Government. “Prisons typically hold felons and persons with sentences of more than a year” and they are “run by private prison corporations whose services and beds are contracted out by state or federal governments” (Bureau of Justice Statistics). To summarize, although the government regulates these institutions, they provide inmates with food, clothing and shelter, which happen to be the basic needs of human beings. While this is not to say that prison is a luxury vacation in a tropical island, for many, the motive behind committing a crime is to get off the streets where there is struggle, conflict, and poverty, and into a secure shelter complete with health services, rehabilitation, and even educational opportunities (New Mexico Corrections Department). Rather than be banished to a life of turmoil and struggle, for many, committing crimes, as a leeway into prison is a brighter alternative. These inmates contribute to the overall population of the United States Prison System, and as a collective group, they are in no way benefiting and working towards integrating into society as a productive and positive member.
Examining a different aspect of the system, there are inmates amid the prison world who have not only made repeated escape attempts, but also have been rightfully released, only to be later re-incarcerated. Take, for example, the stories that emerged from the United States Penitentiary in Alcatraz, California back between the years of 1934-1963. This notorious high-security prison located on a little island in the bone-chilling Pacific Ocean housed some of the most lethal criminals of all time. “Over the 29 years that the Federal Prison operated, 36 men (including two who tried to escape twice) were involved in 14 separate escape attempts. Twenty-three were caught, six were shot and killed during their escape, and two drowned” (AlcatrazHistory.com). Throughout the years, these stories and headlines circulated and resonated within history, still prevailing in modern media, film, movies, and books. What was originally intended to be a punishment and an attempt to clean up society turned out to yield a storybook full of convicts almost outsmarting the system.
Drawing parallels to Alcatraz and its runaways, there are countless inmates who complete a sentence, are released back into society, and end up being locked up again. Dr. Stanton E. Samenow, a clinical psychologist and author of Inside the Criminal mind explains how “prisons are supposed to act as a deterrent to criminal activity. Being unpleasant, potential offenders should be so afraid of going to prison that they do not commit crime. But it doesn’t work that way” because they instead “focus on what they want” (Samenow). As Dr. Samenow states, prisons are neither desirable nor luxurious, and are designed to reform and punish. Yet despite the lengths in which the systems extends to, at the end of the day, the minds of many criminals think differently and change, in many instances, is just not plausible.
Ingrained in the tremendous population of inmates in America, next to the runners and rebels, are the convicts who are sick with deeper and darker issues. Mental illness has a taboo yet overwhelming presence in the nation as a whole, and the prison system is not excluded. In fact, “according to the American Psychiatric Association, on any given day, between 2.3 and 3.9 percent of inmates in state prisons are estimated to have schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders; between 13.1 and 18.6 percent have major depression; and between 2.1 and 4.3 suffer from bipolar disorder” (Aufderheide). While a blind eye certainly cannot be turned to the atrocious infractions committed, at the same time, massive portions of the prison population suffer from illnesses that impair judgment, personality, and behavior. Regardless of treatment, consequence, and punishment, how can a person with a deep-rooted psychological deformity be changed through a system of harsh uniformity? While there is some available treatment, “in many cases, [prison and jail officials] are unable to provide them with psychiatric medications” therefore “the use of other options, such as solitary confinement or restraining devices, is sometimes necessary and may produce a worsening of symptoms” (Treatment Advocacy Center). In the cases where an inmate has a severe mental illness, prisons cannot always accommodate and offer treatment. The main function of this rigid federal structure is to correct these criminals, and the hard truth of the matter is that in certain cases, this correction is inconceivable.
With these slippery, controversial paradoxes between the prison system and inmates, there are still questions that arise from the other side of the fence. One might contest, arguing that the federal justice system does all it can to better society and its perpetrators. If the prison system is ineffective, are we supposed to just eliminate it and stop making any efforts? If change in criminals is often impossible or ineffective, why does the government continue to utilize the same tactics? The answer to these budding skepticisms remains the same: the solution is not to eliminate prisons or the programs already in tact, but rather, to implement tactics outside of the correctional realm.
The world we live in today experiences a constant influx of crimes, both petty and gruesome. In the roots of every prison, wedged in the depths of blank walls, steel bars, and seas of matching uniforms are problems that began in the free world. Too often are school shootings appearing at the top of news headlines, and too often are lives cut short by the hand of a criminal. There needs to be a larger emphasis placed on correcting the problems in society before they transition to the justice system. “Every year, about 42.5 million American adults (or 18.2 percent of the total adult population in the United States) suffers from some mental illness, enduring conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia” (Newsweek). As a nation, it is dire that we begin pushing past the taboos placed on mental illness, and begin addressing them head on. If corporations, doctors, and organizations began mainstreaming psychiatric treatment, through creative advertising, not only could the prison numbers decrease, but also countless American lives could be resolved. We need to show the current generations and victims that it is okay to not be okay, and that seeking help could benefit life in the present and long run. In 2013, there were 45.3 million people in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau). There are too many children pursuing a youth full of struggle; missing out on education and opportunities for bright futures, and instead being thrown back into the same vicious cycle of poverty rut they were born into. As a nation, we need to target the younger generations in an effort to pull them out of their ghettos, and into progression, knowledge, and success. Through the implementations of more schools and positive programs within depressed, poverty-stricken areas, this generation can begin migrating away from the turbulent black holes of economic depression and crime, and focus on bettering the world.
A prison is a building full of blank walls, lifeless faces, and cold iron bars, but outside of the crippling walls is a world awaiting change. Many of these criminals are predestined to their lives in cages as a result of forces that were unchanged throughout their lives. Look past the lifeless face in the cage and you will see a life of poverty. Make eye contact with the yellowed wife-beater-wearing Cretan, and you will see a twisted mind, plagued with the chemical imbalances of mental illness. Look around the free world and down every cluttered alley in the projects, every classroom with a problematic child, every broken, dysfunctional family, there are windows and doors to an alternate universe of change, reform, and progress for the future.
References
About Poverty (2013 Statistics). United States Census Bureau, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.
"Alcatraz Escape Attempts." Welcome to Alcatraz. OceanView Publishing Company, 12 Mar. 2000. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
Aufderheide, Dean. "Mental Illness In America's Jails And Prisons: Toward A Public Safety/Public Health Model." Health Affairs Blog. Health Affairs, 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.
Bekiempis, Victoria. "Nearly 1 in 5 Americans Suffers From Mental Illness Each Year." Newsweek, 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.
"Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - Terms & Definitions: State and Federal Prisoners and Prison Facilities." Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - Terms & Definitions: State and Federal Prisoners and Prison Facilities. United States Department of Justice, 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
Gleissner, John D. "Some Reasons Why Incarceration Does Not Work Very Well." Some Reasons Why Incarceration Does Not Work Very Well. The Corrections Connection, 28 Feb. 2011. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
NMCD Programs and Services. New Mexico Corrections Department, 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.
"Prison Population Reductions Stalled in 2013." The Sentencing Project News. The Sentencing Project, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.
Torrey, M.D., E. F., Mary T. Zdanowicz, Esq., Sheriff Aaron D. Kennard (retired), M.P.A., Donald F. Eslinger, Michael C. Biasotti, and Doris A. Fuller. The Treatment of Persons with Mental Illness in Prisons and Jails: A State Survey. Rep. The Treatment Advocacy Center, 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.