I am drawing on a book I have – Corrections by Edward Seiter. He works for Saint Louis University and released the edition I have in 2008 so some information may be outdated.
![[Image: images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS9pjr1y_k5Ba96HIwhyi4...H-JZIw3VQA]](https://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS9pjr1y_k5Ba96HIwhyi4IzRl32kG17vhCmaiDBkGTH-JZIw3VQA)
Why do we have a prison system? The main reason is because of male misbehavior. While these actions are often caused by fatherlessness, there still is a contingent of men who become criminals. A case study was undertaken right after WW2 where some sociologists followed a cohort of young boys through adulthood. The researchers were surprised over 60% of the crimes were committed by less than 5% of boys. There were three groups: those who were never arrested, arrested only once and those with long arrest records.
The penal system in America has roots in puritanical society. Understand how sick some of these people were. Pillories and stocks were often used as ways of social shaming and people would throw rocks and rotten vegetables at them. Capital punishment was popular for serious offenses – they would be town events for the hanging or torture. The first reformer of American prisons actually was an English fellow by the name of John Howard. He campaigned hard for reform of backwards English prisons. He coined the term “penitentiary,” and shifted the focus of imprisonment from punishment to repentance.
![[Image: images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRtGuoS_RdWGaqUlTazxq9...kGQ9v6NXc5]](https://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRtGuoS_RdWGaqUlTazxq9I9iZd3e0aF6n1qFuAt5kGQ9v6NXc5)
Let’s not belabor this point, so let’s just talk about Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia created by Dr. Benjamin Rush. Inmates were provided adequate rations, water and free lodging. They had individual cells with Bibles. They were told to be silent as they wanted to the prisoners to focus on themselves and not contaminant each other. They would put masks on prisoners so they would not recognize one another. It became popular and started a few different approaches to imprisonment.
Further progress and approaches has been fueled by courts in the past century. The 1960’s radically changed what rights and privileges prisoners would have to be afforded. Today, prisons have come a long way but there is much room to grow. Understand that any theory of imprisonment has a foundation in as they why criminals commit crime.
I will ignore the conviction process, but let’s talk about sentencing. Understand that sentencing happens after the conviction is entered in the legal system. Probation officers begin to compile pre-sentencing investigation reports for the judge, who follows the recommendations around 85% of the time. The report includes employment history, mental health overview and an analysis of their social network – i.e. if the judge orders probation over incarceration will the probationer have a good social network to rely on? Will they be able to get gainfully employed?
Once the judge orders incarceration, there usually is a sentencing scheme that gives the judge a range of options for the length of sentence. Let’s ignore jails, probation and state approaches to keep this writeup brief. Let’s focus on federal approaches to imprisonment.
First off, note that the federal system is much, much better run and funded by the feds. If you have an option of imprisonment at the state or federal level, always pick the federal level. Also, check out a career as a guard at a prison. You can retire after just 20 years and pull down serious benefits for life – I believe your pension is 80% of your salary. Fucking nice because they often retire at 60K a year. I knew a guy who started young, retired at 45 and started working as a detective for the local police.
There are several types of federal prisons: minimum, low, and high risks prisons. There are also administrative prisons are usually screening prisons where prisoners get examined by doctors and shrinks. Any prisoners with long-term medial issues, serious mental issues and elderly prisoners who need special care by nurses are held in these prisons. While the aforementioned prisons are easy to figure out what they are like, let’s talk about the maximum-security prison in Colorado as it is the most interesting prison.
![[Image: images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJc8HAeGjOxfEArX24zhP...UcSUoI3Yfy]](https://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJc8HAeGjOxfEArX24zhPGVREG0heCbJSyp7f1rLUcSUoI3Yfy)
The federal Supermax is in Florence, Colorado. It houses the most dangerous of prisoners and has just under 500 inmates. It houses some notorious criminals, like the “Shoe Bomber,” Ted Kaczynski and some Islamic terrorists. Human rights organization have criticized the prison, but understand that to get ported to this prison, you have to do something like blow up a building and kill hundreds, have murdered other inmates or corrections officers. Some are just Mafia people who are serious escape risks. The prisoners are under lockdown for 23 hours a day and given just one hour of physical exercise. They work out alone. The rooms are spartan. The rooms are made of concrete and have minimal amounts of metal equipment. A sink, bed, a fixed stool and shower on a timer. The bed is a made of poured concrete. A small black-and-white TV shows only a few stations and religious services. They are under surveillance by guards all day and night. They literally only have a four-inch window that only allows them to see the sky.
Brutal. There was a documentary on Netflix how this prison drives people absolutely crazy. There have been four suicides. However, let’s move through a couple more issues of interest – female offenders, management of a prison and access to services in a prison.
![[Image: images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQNs-pcMFLXRhuvoV_HT1x...v9fhq39hOf]](https://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQNs-pcMFLXRhuvoV_HT1xluabyuCDKoYolLm8csIv9fhq39hOf)
Female prisoners make up 7% of the prison population. As expected, female privilege kicks in and the author stresses that over 60% of women in prison have claimed to have abused sexually and physically. The author does little to explain male misbehavior, but is apologetic about female criminal activity. Also, consider over 80% of women in prison are mothers. Note the class issue here. Also, note the author laments that women in prison get less attention from family and children. He steps around the fact that men get visits from wives and girlfriends because criminals are attractive to some women. He ignores the fact imprisoned women don’t have significant others and the father is often times a prisoner, too. He stresses the fact women’s prisons need female staff so they can identify with their guards and lean on them as friends and mentors. He also stresses that female staff prevents rape. Note women get access to FAR more resources than men and have so much more autonomy than men. The author closes with the tired argument that imprisonment might entirely be for men. Kill your husband? You need therapy. You kill your wife? You are a misogynist who deserves to rot away in prison.
Let’s talk quickly about pseudofamilies. Women will often form cliques based on acting out familial roles. A father (butch), a mother (femme) and children (immature women). Upwards of 60% of women are in gay relationships. The emphasis is on emotional support and expressions of sexuality is usually limited to kissing, cuddling and light petting.
Understand female prisoners are of huge concern for feminists. When a male warden was appointed to helm the female prison in Ohio, a huge tantrum was thrown by women in the state, even the wife of the governor threw a fit. Women’s groups wanted to make sure that every decision he made was made with consultation with women. Which transitions nicely in prison management. Male prisons are very autocratic, with a top-down approach to management. The warden is the alpha male of the prison and has a clear chain of command that encourages accountability and adherence to protocol. Prisons take on different tones depending on personality and mindset of the warden. Female prisons are often decentralized, giving guards more autonomy and power.
Black people, in particular, have risen into leadership roles because the prisoners are disproportionately black. Part of this is the legacy of slavery and the War on Drugs. They profiled Jesse Warden, a black man, who runs a prison in Ohio. He observed his job is often as complex as a CEO. He has to keep the prison in the black, manage personality conflicts, ensure the population is content and develop new policies to help prisoners reform themselves. As for correctional officers, they have a serious grind daily. When checking into work, they have to review the log of the previous shift to be mindful of goings-on. The screening process to become a guard is intensive. You need to be relaxed and psychologically firm because of the violent nature of the job, the stress and the prisoner’s bizarre behavior. Good officers develop a good rapport with prisoners to ensure their job goes off without a hitch. Often times, officers have a few favorite prisoners they take a personal interest and help them get the resources they need, especially if it is a short sentence.
![[Image: images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRT69qoQ2FpYaUCANmgkqV...eiIhiojXMg]](https://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRT69qoQ2FpYaUCANmgkqVv-xIbuxOPJg0C9kMNxJXfeiIhiojXMg)
As far as prisoner advancement is concerned, there are several programs for offenders. They are offered free programs for getting a GED. Sometimes free courses are offered by community colleges. They are allowed to spend wages on getting a college education. Over 70% of the population has a drug/alcohol addiction. They offer programs for rehab, but one-on-one counseling is very tough to get and is limited to the most needy. Psychologists often rue having to do work at a prison, but some blessed souls have spent a life working at prisons. Vocational programs are popular and are great at preventing reoffenders. They allow them to get training in fields like landscaping and autobody repair. Mental health services are there but tough to get. Often times, prisoners are just given drugs because that is easier and cheaper than real therapy. Finally, older offenders with terminal cancer or other terminal diseases are transferred to administrative prisons where they can die in hospice care.
Alright that’s a wrap! While the prison system needs reforms, please comment on what you think needs to be changed about the prison system in America!
Why do we have a prison system? The main reason is because of male misbehavior. While these actions are often caused by fatherlessness, there still is a contingent of men who become criminals. A case study was undertaken right after WW2 where some sociologists followed a cohort of young boys through adulthood. The researchers were surprised over 60% of the crimes were committed by less than 5% of boys. There were three groups: those who were never arrested, arrested only once and those with long arrest records.
The penal system in America has roots in puritanical society. Understand how sick some of these people were. Pillories and stocks were often used as ways of social shaming and people would throw rocks and rotten vegetables at them. Capital punishment was popular for serious offenses – they would be town events for the hanging or torture. The first reformer of American prisons actually was an English fellow by the name of John Howard. He campaigned hard for reform of backwards English prisons. He coined the term “penitentiary,” and shifted the focus of imprisonment from punishment to repentance.
Let’s not belabor this point, so let’s just talk about Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia created by Dr. Benjamin Rush. Inmates were provided adequate rations, water and free lodging. They had individual cells with Bibles. They were told to be silent as they wanted to the prisoners to focus on themselves and not contaminant each other. They would put masks on prisoners so they would not recognize one another. It became popular and started a few different approaches to imprisonment.
Further progress and approaches has been fueled by courts in the past century. The 1960’s radically changed what rights and privileges prisoners would have to be afforded. Today, prisons have come a long way but there is much room to grow. Understand that any theory of imprisonment has a foundation in as they why criminals commit crime.
I will ignore the conviction process, but let’s talk about sentencing. Understand that sentencing happens after the conviction is entered in the legal system. Probation officers begin to compile pre-sentencing investigation reports for the judge, who follows the recommendations around 85% of the time. The report includes employment history, mental health overview and an analysis of their social network – i.e. if the judge orders probation over incarceration will the probationer have a good social network to rely on? Will they be able to get gainfully employed?
Once the judge orders incarceration, there usually is a sentencing scheme that gives the judge a range of options for the length of sentence. Let’s ignore jails, probation and state approaches to keep this writeup brief. Let’s focus on federal approaches to imprisonment.
First off, note that the federal system is much, much better run and funded by the feds. If you have an option of imprisonment at the state or federal level, always pick the federal level. Also, check out a career as a guard at a prison. You can retire after just 20 years and pull down serious benefits for life – I believe your pension is 80% of your salary. Fucking nice because they often retire at 60K a year. I knew a guy who started young, retired at 45 and started working as a detective for the local police.
There are several types of federal prisons: minimum, low, and high risks prisons. There are also administrative prisons are usually screening prisons where prisoners get examined by doctors and shrinks. Any prisoners with long-term medial issues, serious mental issues and elderly prisoners who need special care by nurses are held in these prisons. While the aforementioned prisons are easy to figure out what they are like, let’s talk about the maximum-security prison in Colorado as it is the most interesting prison.
The federal Supermax is in Florence, Colorado. It houses the most dangerous of prisoners and has just under 500 inmates. It houses some notorious criminals, like the “Shoe Bomber,” Ted Kaczynski and some Islamic terrorists. Human rights organization have criticized the prison, but understand that to get ported to this prison, you have to do something like blow up a building and kill hundreds, have murdered other inmates or corrections officers. Some are just Mafia people who are serious escape risks. The prisoners are under lockdown for 23 hours a day and given just one hour of physical exercise. They work out alone. The rooms are spartan. The rooms are made of concrete and have minimal amounts of metal equipment. A sink, bed, a fixed stool and shower on a timer. The bed is a made of poured concrete. A small black-and-white TV shows only a few stations and religious services. They are under surveillance by guards all day and night. They literally only have a four-inch window that only allows them to see the sky.
Brutal. There was a documentary on Netflix how this prison drives people absolutely crazy. There have been four suicides. However, let’s move through a couple more issues of interest – female offenders, management of a prison and access to services in a prison.
Female prisoners make up 7% of the prison population. As expected, female privilege kicks in and the author stresses that over 60% of women in prison have claimed to have abused sexually and physically. The author does little to explain male misbehavior, but is apologetic about female criminal activity. Also, consider over 80% of women in prison are mothers. Note the class issue here. Also, note the author laments that women in prison get less attention from family and children. He steps around the fact that men get visits from wives and girlfriends because criminals are attractive to some women. He ignores the fact imprisoned women don’t have significant others and the father is often times a prisoner, too. He stresses the fact women’s prisons need female staff so they can identify with their guards and lean on them as friends and mentors. He also stresses that female staff prevents rape. Note women get access to FAR more resources than men and have so much more autonomy than men. The author closes with the tired argument that imprisonment might entirely be for men. Kill your husband? You need therapy. You kill your wife? You are a misogynist who deserves to rot away in prison.
Let’s talk quickly about pseudofamilies. Women will often form cliques based on acting out familial roles. A father (butch), a mother (femme) and children (immature women). Upwards of 60% of women are in gay relationships. The emphasis is on emotional support and expressions of sexuality is usually limited to kissing, cuddling and light petting.
Understand female prisoners are of huge concern for feminists. When a male warden was appointed to helm the female prison in Ohio, a huge tantrum was thrown by women in the state, even the wife of the governor threw a fit. Women’s groups wanted to make sure that every decision he made was made with consultation with women. Which transitions nicely in prison management. Male prisons are very autocratic, with a top-down approach to management. The warden is the alpha male of the prison and has a clear chain of command that encourages accountability and adherence to protocol. Prisons take on different tones depending on personality and mindset of the warden. Female prisons are often decentralized, giving guards more autonomy and power.
Black people, in particular, have risen into leadership roles because the prisoners are disproportionately black. Part of this is the legacy of slavery and the War on Drugs. They profiled Jesse Warden, a black man, who runs a prison in Ohio. He observed his job is often as complex as a CEO. He has to keep the prison in the black, manage personality conflicts, ensure the population is content and develop new policies to help prisoners reform themselves. As for correctional officers, they have a serious grind daily. When checking into work, they have to review the log of the previous shift to be mindful of goings-on. The screening process to become a guard is intensive. You need to be relaxed and psychologically firm because of the violent nature of the job, the stress and the prisoner’s bizarre behavior. Good officers develop a good rapport with prisoners to ensure their job goes off without a hitch. Often times, officers have a few favorite prisoners they take a personal interest and help them get the resources they need, especially if it is a short sentence.
As far as prisoner advancement is concerned, there are several programs for offenders. They are offered free programs for getting a GED. Sometimes free courses are offered by community colleges. They are allowed to spend wages on getting a college education. Over 70% of the population has a drug/alcohol addiction. They offer programs for rehab, but one-on-one counseling is very tough to get and is limited to the most needy. Psychologists often rue having to do work at a prison, but some blessed souls have spent a life working at prisons. Vocational programs are popular and are great at preventing reoffenders. They allow them to get training in fields like landscaping and autobody repair. Mental health services are there but tough to get. Often times, prisoners are just given drugs because that is easier and cheaper than real therapy. Finally, older offenders with terminal cancer or other terminal diseases are transferred to administrative prisons where they can die in hospice care.
Alright that’s a wrap! While the prison system needs reforms, please comment on what you think needs to be changed about the prison system in America!
![[Image: banana.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/new/banana.gif)
