America, land of the free and home of the brave…well sort of. Isn’t it ironic that a country founded on freedom has one of the largest prisoner populations in the world? The United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other country in the world, imprisons more black men than were enslaved in 1850, and houses the parents of nearly three million American children (Pacholke). Mass incarceration, paired with extreme brutality, has corrupted the United States prison system. As a correctional facility, prison authorities are responsible for helping the inmate recognize his or her wrongdoings and reconditioning them to become more productive members of society. Upon release, the criminal is deemed no further threat to society, however recent statistics are showing alarmingly high reoffender rates. The inhumane prison conditions, caused by continuous abuse and punishment, have negatively affected the ability for the United States prison system to rehabilitate criminal offenders.

White cinder block walls, cold stone floors, and thick metal bars. The walls close in. The screams grow louder. Time stands still. Psychoanalyst and forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Theodore Dorpat, explains that jails are merely “factories of crime” that neglect the basic emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs of the inmates. Over the course of the sentence, he elaborates, there are four major psychological processes. Prisonization kicks off the cycle as inmates adapt to the culture around them. This socialization process allows inmates to internalize a set of norms, values, and customs that they consider to be inmate culture. Inmates begin to bond over their common enemies, prison authorities and society. Feelings of abandonment quickly turn to frustration, which then becomes pure hatred for the society that put them into this cell. Next, criminalization occurs as prisoners interact and form a brotherhood. New members of the brotherhood are trained by older and more advanced inmates. They are quickly taught to manipulate and scheme in order to make their sentence more tolerable. As Andy Dufresne confessed to Red in The Shawshank Redemption, “You know, the funny this is on the outside I was an honest man. Straight as an arrow. I had to come to prison to be a crook.” Criminalization leads to the formation of a negative identity. The personality, values and mindset of the free individual they once were are completely obliterated from their mind. Deprived of social hierarchy, they create a negative identity that will help them interact with the gangs present in the prison setting. Thus, the brotherhood takes on a negative group identity. Mark Mason, a former inmate, reveals, “The prisoner is taught, by the guards, administration and other inmates, how a criminal walks, talks, breathes, looks, and reacts. Prison strips a personal sense of self and conditions one to act like a criminal in order to fit into a group. Consequently, as high as 80% of released convicts return to prison…Having been alienated from their true selves, they can live nowhere else than in this hellish circle of the damned who have nothing left but a collective negative identity” (Dorpat). Prisons should be acting as correctional facilities in order to rehabilitate criminal offenders, but instead they are neglecting basic human needs and thus encouraging prisoners to form a negative identity. 

Inmates spend a significant amount of time worrying about being beaten and manipulated by other inmates. Sexual, verbal and physical abuse are practiced on a day to day basis. Surprising to many, one of their biggest concerns actually revolves around being attacked by authority figures. Clinton Correctional Facility, notorious for its barbaric disciplinary action since 1845, is the largest maximum-security prison in the state of New York. “Little Siberia”, as it is referred to by the surrounding community, currently holds 3,000 male inmates aged sixteen and older (Guynup). On October 3, 2010, there was one less inmate behind bars. Leonard Strickland, a forty-four-year-old schizophrenic, found himself in an altercation with the prison guards. While the authority figures involved deny viciously beating Strickland, security videos suggest otherwise. The guards testify that they were explicitly acting in self-defense, but the video shows a nearly unconscious inmate, handcuffed and weak. The guards continue to holler, “Stop resisting!” as they drag the limp body across the floor face-down (“Watch: The Full Leonard Strickland Video”). Nurses and other authority figures are shown standing near, yet they do nothing to assist the dying inmate. Covered head to toe in nasty cuts and bruises with blood pouring out of his ears, Strickland was pronounced dead. Despite the substantial evidence, not a single prison authority figure at Clinton Correctional Facility was punished. Powerless and vulnerable, the inmates have no choice but to endure the constant abuse. 

Research continues to show that suicide is the leading cause of death among the incarcerated. Prison authorities, ranging from guards to the medical staff, deal with self-harm situations on a daily basis. In a research experiment conducted by eleven medical professionals, it was determined that the most significant variables that lead to self-harm include being sentenced to solitary confinement, having a pre-existing mental illness and enduring a lengthy sentence. While self-harm is a major issue, it is a very complicated topic to study as it is almost impossible to determine the true motive behind the action. As previously mentioned, inmates are taught to find ways to manipulate the situations they encounter. Whether or not the act was carried out as a manipulation tool or whether it actually was caused by a severe mental illness, it is too complicated for a medical professional to differentiate. “Bing Beaters”, as they are referred to by prison guards, are goal oriented and volitional. They do not act out of psychosis, mania, or any form of mental illness. Instead, they act out in order to change the situation they are in. After talking to various inmates who have spent time in solitary confinement, the majority admit that were willing to and will continue to do anything in their power to escape solitary confinement. While professionals have attempted to categorize the act as either low lethality and high lethality, it is still not a simple task. In the free world, the level of lethality is determined by investigating the method in which the suicide was attempted. Depending on the severity of the action and the likelihood of success, professionals can classify the suicide by level of lethality. In prison however, there are very limited ways that the inmate can harm themselves. Authority figures try their best to discard anything tools that can be used to self-harm. But, let it be noted that inmates are some of the smartest and most innovative people on the planet. They discover ways to self-harm by methods including laceration, ligature, swallowing a foreign body, overdosing, intense head banging, setting themselves or their cell on fire, or sometimes even a mix of methods (Kaba). Though this may be extremely disturbing, the ongoing cycle of self-harm in confinement proves that the inmates are not being rehabilitated. An inmate is reported confessing, “If I didn’t like the particular situation or thought there was something unjust, I used my body as a hostage” (Lohner). The First Amendment right in the United States Constitution allows freedom of speech, but clearly this law does not ensure freedom for the inmates. Guards are trained to speak only in informal and aggressive tones. They are instructed not to communicate with inmates or compromise with them under any circumstance. No matter how frustrated the prisoner may feel about an unjust situation, they are ultimately powerless. The only way that the inmate gets any attention from authority is by physically harming themselves. While these actions may temporarily remove them from the setting, they are quickly sent back with a longer sentence and even some additional charges depending on the situation. Incidents of self-harm often go unreported, and the psychological state of the inmate continues to decline.

In contrast to these terrifying facts, some states are beginning to initiate programs to help inmates develop success skills that will help them readjust to life upon their release. In Louisiana, young inmates can qualify to learn a trade. They are encouraged to choose from a variety of trades including plumbing, welding, carpentry and more. Additionally, the inmates take classes on anger management and communication. Washington state has become an active participant in enacting prison success programs as well. Pioneer Human Services provides treatment for substance abuse, job and interview training, and even helps some inmates to regain their driver’s licenses and voting rights. Additionally, they help walk the inmate through the process of finding housing upon release. One other state has actively taken initiative to help the incarcerated develop success skills. Through the University Prison Project, California inmates are offered college-level education during their sentence. This project not only helps the prisoner, but helps to create a more stable jail community because if an inmate is busy focusing on their academics, they are significantly more likely to avoid developing the negative prison identity. California takes their programs one step further by helping ex-inmates at their most vulnerable state, their release date. Through the Ride Home Program, ex-prisoners pick up the newly released criminal offender and help reintroduce him to culture outside of the barbed wire fencing. Re-entry is a very difficult and overwhelming task. Even after being freed from their sentence, the former inmate is still branded as wrong and subject to lower earnings, denial of jobs and work licenses, inability to vote, and they are ineligible to live in public housing. In talking to someone who was once in the same shoes, the newly freed individual is more likely to be open to their advice. In addition to giving verbal advice, the ex-prisoner takes the newly released prisoner to get their hair cut, buy food and clothes, and reconnect with family and friends. It is very hard for the newly released to realize that the world continued to spin without them and it is overwhelming trying to catch up on so many aspects of everyday life. Though these programs positively impact the lives of the prisoners, the most important asset in these programs is a supportive staff. Instead of the heartless prison authorities described above, prison guards need to be less accusative and more encouraging. Sheriff Mike Cazes of West Baton Rouge is the perfect example. He shares, “If I can save one person and have them go back in society, sleep at home, and raise a family, we’ve done our job” (Ferner). Transforming the toxic prison setting into a supportive and encouraging community will not only have a positive influence on the mental state of the inmate, but it will foster success when they are immersed back into society.

The America prison system needs to undergo a serious reformation in order to enhance its ability to make a positive impact on the lives of criminal offenders. The primary focus of today’s prisons is to confine, control, and punish criminal offenders. While punishment is said to subdue a dangerous inmate, it often does the exact opposite. Physical and verbal abuse, in addition to solitary confinement sentences, only heighten the problem. Instead of focusing on punishment, the prison system should change their angle to focus on rehabilitation. Correctional facilities can foster future success by providing educationally enriching programs.  In order to do so, the different branches of the criminal justice system must come together to address re-entry. Today, the separate branches of the criminal justice system are not in unison in terms of re-entry policies. Lacking a formal policy, each state has the freedom to address the situation in their own way. The American prison system needs to develop a policy that enforces programs in each and every prison across the United States. By giving inmates access to these programs, there will without a doubt be less criminalization and prisonization occurring. If prisoners are spending their time studying, learning a trade, or making a plan for the future, they will have less time to form their negative identity. Less negative individual identities means the negative group identity will be substantially weaker. While it is understood that not every individual behind bars will take the opportunity to better themselves, a dedicated staff and well-developed programs will benefit the vast majority of those incarcerated. Ultimately, this solution will benefit society as a whole because as the prison population declines, so do costs. Although costs will initially increase in order to establish these programs, the money will be recycled into the economy. Once freed, ex-inmates will be significantly less likely to reoffend and will be holding higher paying jobs. Therefore, by encouraging correctional facilities to initiate a success program, the prison setting will change from a toxic environment to a healthy and thriving community of driven individuals.
