Creative Commons 0, "Criminal Arrest Crime Arms," Courtesy of Pixabay
Inhumane Searches
Copyrighted image used under fair use, "It's a Shakedown" Courtesy of Specialist S Willder- Flickr
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Inmates in prison face many forms of inhumane treatment, especially women in prison. Many have experienced some form of sexual or domestic abuse in their lives and many of the body and cell searches that are conducted in prison bring back the memories of their traumatic experiences. Prison guards violently tear apart prisoner’s cells which can be a trigger for women who were violently abused by their husbands, boyfriends, etc. Inmates are also required to do mandatory random drug tests in which they must pee in front of the prison guard, which can be traumatic for women who have been sexually abused [1].
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Solitary Confinement
Solitary confinement in prison is one of the very extreme forms of punishment that inmates face. When placed in solitary, prisoners are locked up for 23 hours a day in a cell alone [2]. Most commonly placed in solitary are prisoners with mental disorders like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or severe depression in which not being able to communicate with anyone else for days on end is extremely detrimental to their mental health. This is incredibly inhumane because their mental conditions affect their ability to function properly and may not understand that the way they are acting is wrong. Prisoners with mental disorders need to be given specialized treatment like in a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric ward within the prison [3].
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Creative Commons 2.0, "Prison of Rheineck" Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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Lack of Proper Rehabilitation Programs
Public Domain Image, “Woman teaching a classroom of male inmates in a US federal prison,” courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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United States prisons are incredibly unsuccessful, shown with shockingly high recidivism rates that represent prisoners that reoffend after they are released from prison. In a study done by the U.S. Department of Justice looking at 67,966 released offenders, they found that 5 out of 6 these prisoners in 30 states reoffended at least once in a 9 year period [4]. Rehabilitation programs are supposed to be in place to help lower the recidivism rates. These programs include education, hands on job training, drug rehab, drug counseling services, mental health counseling services, and career training [5]. Sadly, this has seen minimal success because, as the government cuts prison budgets, rehabilitation programs are deemed as “nonessential” and are one of the first things to be cut. The main programs that are cut are education, career training, and substance abuse support [6].
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Loss of Basic Rights
The inhuman treatment of prisoners continues long after they are released from prison because of the stigma society places on them. Ex-felons are denied many basic rights, even when they are released. These rights include voting, public housing, food stamps, access to take out loans in order to get an education in order to get a higher paying job. They also face discrimination in employment opportunities because they have to check the felon box on applications, are forced to pay many fees attributed to incarceration, and must follow extensive rules and regulations associated with parole [7]. Due to these rules put in place, nearly 6.1 million people are unable to vote because of a past felony conviction [8].
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Creative Commons 2.0, (Untitled), Courtesy of Kathryn Decker- Flikr
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Sources
1. George, Erin, et al. A Woman Doing Life: Notes from a Prison for Women. Oxford University Press, 2015.
2. Breslow, Jason M. “What Does Solitary Confinement Do To Your Mind?” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 22 Apr. 2014, www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/what-does-solitary-confinement-do-to-your-mind/.
3. Metzner, Jeffrey, and Jamie Fellner. “Chapter 21 Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness in U.S. Prisons: A Challenge for Medical Ethics.” Health and Human Rights in a Changing World, by Michael Grodin, Routledge, 2013, p. 315.
4. Alper, Mariel, et al. “2018 Update on Prisoner Recidivism: A 9-Year Follow-up Period (2005-2014) .” Bureau of Justice Statistics, May 2018.
5. Seiter , Richard, and Karen Kadela. “Prisoner Reentry: What Works, What Does Not, and What Is Promising.” The SAGE Encyclopedia of Online Education, vol. 49, no. 3, 1 July 2003, pp. 360–388., doi:10.4135/9781483318332.n129.
6. Wilhelm, Daniel, and Nicholas Turner. “Is the Budget Crisis Changing the Way We Look at Sentencing and Incarceration?” Jstor, Digital Library, Oct. 2002, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/fsr.2002.15.1.41?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
7. Alexander, M. (2012). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (Revised Paperback ed.). New York, NY: The New Press.
8. “Felony Disenfranchisement.” The Sentencing Project, The Sentencing Project, 2017, www.sentencingproject.org/issues/felony-disenfranchisement/.
2. Breslow, Jason M. “What Does Solitary Confinement Do To Your Mind?” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 22 Apr. 2014, www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/what-does-solitary-confinement-do-to-your-mind/.
3. Metzner, Jeffrey, and Jamie Fellner. “Chapter 21 Solitary Confinement and Mental Illness in U.S. Prisons: A Challenge for Medical Ethics.” Health and Human Rights in a Changing World, by Michael Grodin, Routledge, 2013, p. 315.
4. Alper, Mariel, et al. “2018 Update on Prisoner Recidivism: A 9-Year Follow-up Period (2005-2014) .” Bureau of Justice Statistics, May 2018.
5. Seiter , Richard, and Karen Kadela. “Prisoner Reentry: What Works, What Does Not, and What Is Promising.” The SAGE Encyclopedia of Online Education, vol. 49, no. 3, 1 July 2003, pp. 360–388., doi:10.4135/9781483318332.n129.
6. Wilhelm, Daniel, and Nicholas Turner. “Is the Budget Crisis Changing the Way We Look at Sentencing and Incarceration?” Jstor, Digital Library, Oct. 2002, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/fsr.2002.15.1.41?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.
7. Alexander, M. (2012). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (Revised Paperback ed.). New York, NY: The New Press.
8. “Felony Disenfranchisement.” The Sentencing Project, The Sentencing Project, 2017, www.sentencingproject.org/issues/felony-disenfranchisement/.