Essay about Behind Convict's Eyes by Cerceral Prison

For over centuries, the only form of punishment and discouragement for humans is through the prison system. Because of this, these humans or inmates, are sentenced to spend a significant part of their life in a confined, small room. With that being said, the prison life can leave a remarkable toll on the inmates life in many different categories. The first and arguably most important comes in the form of mental health. Living in prison with have a great impact on the psychological part of your life. For example, The prison life is a very much different way of life than what us “normal” humans are accustomed to living in our society. Once that inmate takes their first step inside their new society, their whole mindset on how to live and communicate changes. The inmate’s psychological beliefs about what is right and wrong are in questioned as well as everything else they learned in the outside world. In a way, prison is a never ending mind game you are playing against yourself with no chance of wining. Other than the mental aspect of prison, family plays a very important role in an inmate’s sentence. Family can be the “make it or break it” deal for a lot of inmates. It is often said that “when a person gets sentenced to prison, the whole family serves the sentence.” Well, for many inmates that is the exact case. While that prisoner serves their time behind bars, their family is on the outside waiting in anticipation for their loved ones to be released. In a way, the families

Conover also covers all of this, describing the overwhelming confusion of a new officer’s first days in a crowded housing unit, illustrating the newjack’s reliance on the helpfulness of prisoners, portraying the obvious unfriendliness and unconcern of higher-ranking coworkers, and exhibiting the unavoidability of making critical and even life-threatening blunders in the tumultuous world of the prison. In doing that, Conover assists readers in getting beyond the stereotype of the ruthless guard to see correctional

The author of Descent into Madness discusses how systems of criminal justice that engage in high levels of disorganization become nothing short of a breeding ground for discontentment among prison inmates. The other main point is that prison staff psychologically are hungry for power. This manifests in the myriad of ways that they treat the inmates in an effort to feel powerful through by retribution through their

Ted Conover’s book, New Jack, is about the author's experiences as a rookie guard at Sing Sing prison, in New York, the most troubled maximum security prison. He comes to realize that being a correctional officer isn’t an easy task. This is shown from the beginning when he is required to attend a 7 week training program to become a correctional officer. He comes to realize what inmates have to endure on a daily basis. Throughout his experience into a harsh culture of prison and the exhausting and poor working conditions for officers, he begins to realize that the prison system brutalizes everyone connected to it. New Jack presents new ideas of prisons in the United States in the ways facilities, corrections officers, and inmates function with

Hassine begins his narrative as he is entering prison but this time as an inmate. Prior to his incarceration, Hassine was an attorney (Hassine, 2011). Even then as an attorney, the high walls of prison intimated Hassine (Hassine, 2011). As Hassine was being processed into the system, he expressed how he systematically became hopeless from the very prison structure itself as well as because of the intimidation he felt by uniforms. Prisons of the past actually had a goal to aid individuals through rehabilitation by instilling new values in order to correct the wrongs that one may have committed during their lifetime but today this is no longer true. . Hassine draws colorful depictions of how dim and unfamiliar a prison can be in which instills fear in an individual soon as he or she

How would you handle prison? Would you stay you, or would prison change you? Prison, its inmates, and its guards, have many harsh and unforgiving characteristics associated with them. The guards are cruel, and the inmates are frightening people who are often perceived as “crazy”. But why is this? In the summer of 1971, psychologist Philip Zimbardo, professor at Stanford University, set out to answer this question.

I personally know someone who is a correctional officer, and he told me about how stressful but rewarding his job is. My compeer told me that he has the chance to see people come into the facility with hardships and problems and then sees the same person leave with a whole new outlook, and their life turned around. To keep his code of ethics in tact, respect must be given to the inmates and he cannot utilize any form of discrimination. When people feel that respect is being given to them they tend to give it back, which would keep some piece in the Prison/Jail.

Equalizing the constitutional rights of prisoners and the functions of the jail or prison can create great strain on not only the correctional facilities’ staff but on the inmates as well. The treatment of prisoners is typically left completely to the prudence of prison administrators and other correctional officials. With that being said, this paper will discuss the differences between harmonizing those constitutional rights of prisoners and the functions of the facility. It will also explain the rights that prisoners are required to have, and how these rights are balanced within other aspects of the correctional institution.

Wozencraft is able to wrap up her essay and explain a tradition that has been set by those who are imprisoned and gives them a farewell gift. She also gives insight to the superstitious ending that discusses why one should never leave their prison shoes behind. Within the essay, the dominant rhetorical strategy that the author uses in the essay accomplishes her purpose. The dominant strategy that encompasses the essay is a clockwise tour and that really accomplishes the author’s purpose of showing readers the inside of a prison and how the taxpayers’ money is going down the drain due to the prison system.

This behavior continues after they are released from prison, and they distant themselves from their family and friends. Distrust can be formed due to isolating themselves from the other prisoners is the best way to keep them out of danger. By cutting themselves from others, they can be afflicted with depression. Distrust can also be formed due to the customs and culture of prison life. In prison, the strong prey upon the weak; therefore, prisoners find ways to show their toughness and strength. Prisoners desire to keep themselves from being tricked and manipulated by others. Another physiological effect of incarceration is the loss of self-worth. Prisoners have no privacy or options during their daily routines. They are constantly watched and forced under prison conditions. These and other degrading acts, over time, give prisoners the sense that their own identity is a prisoner and nothing else (Haney). After prisoners are released, they are struck with psychological problems. Some prisoners experience post-traumatic stress reactions after they leave prison; this is due to physiological lifestyle they experienced while being in prison. While prisoners can obtain mental problems in prison, they can also obtain mental problems after they are released from prison.

Correctional officers are given no information about prisoners. The thought is that knowing certain things would bias the keeper. Officers are also encouraged not to get to know or to interact with prisoners. Though correctional officers do carry the keys, they don’t always have the upper hand. Inmates have all kinds of tricks for making life miserable for those who are charged with making sure that the convicted pay for crimes committed. One guy in prison even

When we do research on daily prison life, we come across two typical but less than ideal situations: either social imaginaries cloud our judgment or information provided by the prisons themselves hide certain weak or bad aspects that they do not want to make public. We can also find information on TV, but most of the time it either exaggerates or minimizes the facts. In order to obtain more reliable information, we have to have access to people who are working or have worked in this institution, and such will be the sources of this essay. We will be describing and giving examples of prison violence according to three types of violence: sexual, physical and psychological violence.

In life there are choices to be made, some are positive and lead a person in one direction, some are negative and a person in trouble. The decisions that are made on a daily basis and the way that one reacts to the consequences of those choices affect the outcome of their life. The same holds true for people inside a prison cell. Adapting to life if prison is a process, and each individual prisoner choses a different path for that process. Some react with anger and violence, some develop mental health issues such as depression and some eventually chose to accept what is the reality of life in prison. This paper with briefly summarize findings about prisoner’s coping with solitary confinement and coping with wrongful conviction.

Firstly, prisoners possess a different state of mind because they have all of these unspoken rules and laws that they have to go by, and in prison you always have to watch your back. Prisoners believe in protecting each other, and they view the officers as enemies. They believe in minding your own business, and if you tell on other inmates you will probably end up with a target on your back. Many inmates have no sense of authority, and many lack a moral compass. Daniel Graves stated that many inmates approached him and told him that “If I wasn’t able to cheat I never would have passed that test” or “I’m glad she doesn’t know about the computer

Each corrections officer relies on his fellow officer to protect him in a violent environment. Likewise, the relationship an officer had with inmates place a role in maintaining peace within that environment. Respect plays an important role in for both officers and inmates. Peace is the end