In an official report of the events that occurred at Attica Correctional Facility, the McKay Commission, called it the “bloodiest one day encounter between Americans since the Civil War.” From September 9th, 1971 to September 13th, 1971 inmates took control of Attica in hopes of gaining leverage on the demands of obtaining the removal of state control over the prison, livable conditions, amnesty for crimes during the rebellion and diversity among correctional staff. For five days, inmates ceased control of this state operated prison by taking hold thirty-nine guards and employees as hostages. After four days of negotiations, state officials retook the prison by lethal force killing a total of thirty-nine unarmed citizens, ten of which were …show more content…
What the correction officers considered security and correction was the prevailing theme that created the environment of degradation and dehumanizing living conditions. Typical life for roughly 2,243 inmates consisted of fourteen to sixteen hours a day in overcrowded cells, minimal working wages of thirty cents a day with no further employment training, over regulated activities, censored reading and media materials, and the right to free choice was nonexistent. When it came to hygiene, inmates had no privacy when using toilet areas, commode needs where insufficient, and showers were permitted only once a week. Meals did not meet nutritional standards, clothing was poor and scanty, and medical services were offered in an uncaring manner. Visitation was extremely strict, family and friends were seen through mesh screen which were preceded and followed by strenuous strip searches of the inmates. As well, there was no significant programming to prepare inmates for society; Attica did not offer any career training, psychological and mental assistance, nor drug rehabilitation. Collectively all these conditions led to the unbearable environment that was made even more dehumanizing, due to institutional and social racism. The Attica prison population in 1971, was fifty-four percent Black, thirty-seven percent White, and approximately nine percent Latino with an all-White correctional staff. Racism was prevalent, it was customary self-segregation among inmates, job assignments were based of color, and discipline was unfair between prisoners and officers due to racial hostility. A common relationship between officers and inmates would include ill feelings of hostility, distrust, and prejudice. White officers from rural areas of New York, only had three weeks of training, and minimal contact with improvised Blacks and
For new inmate, the bus ride to prison, the processing at the prison reception center, and the belittling shouts from the inmates are all part of the early stage of what is known as prisonization (Clear, Cole, Petrosino, Reisig, 2015). It is the process whereby newly institutionalized individual are introduced to and come to accept prison lifestyles and criminal values; the learning of convict values, attitudes, roles, and even language (prison argot) (Schamelleger, 2001). The new inmates gradually learn the set of rules of conduct that reflect the
The Penitentiary Era 1790 to 1825 mass prison building era housed many prisoners with the goals of rehabilitation; deterrence and allowing the inmates to work during the day and when they returned were put into solitary confinement (Ortmeier 2006, 391). This new era was too focused on making prisoners think about their crimes and learn skills in workshops and general labor to reenter society as a productive member. Capital and corporal punishment were looked down upon by many and they did not actually fix the problems of rising crime. Often time’s prisoners were held in a large jail cells, men and women alike that resulted in rape and fighting among each other. The strengths of this era looked to keep prisoners safe and at times lessen
Most of his time at Sing Sing was consumed being in close contact with the inmates, in dining halls and housing galleries, doing strip searches, searching cells, writing disciplinary infraction reports, and confiscating inmate contraband. In addition, because they live in an enforced state of near powerlessness, answering to inmates who required support with a seemingly endless range of personal complications occupied much of Conover’s time. Conover’s account of the correctional officer’s role is consistent with those opinions offered by others who have firsthand experience of prison life. Virtually all serious, firsthand interpretations of correctional work define a gap between the training and the realism of the job, official policies and procedures that require routine avoidance, poor associations between line officers and administrators, and the undermining power of stress on professional conduct and personal life.
Accordingly, the inmates mostly just wanted better living conditions, and to be treated more like people and less like criminals. The inmates wanted religious freedom. They wanted to have basic needs met such as the toilet paper issue as well as the showering, and they
The Yuma Territorial Prison was opened July 1,1876. The first 7 prisoners admitted to the prison, had to build their own cells .THe prison was filled with a total of 3,069 prisoners including 29 women. The prison was opened for 33 years until it reached to the max and was transferred to Florence,AZ. It had been torn down and changed through the years. The prison also had been one of the first state penitentiary where it was built in the city of Yuma and surrounded by desert. During 1961 the Yuma Territorial Prison becomes the 3rd state park.In this research paper i will be elaborating a explanation of the yuma territorial prison, an assessment of the historical significance of the prison, an evaluation of primary
Prisoners began by taking control of south-side Dormitory E-2; within minutes the prisoners had taken four more officers in the dorm hostage, a fleeing officer left keys behind which gave the inmates complete access to the main control center, inmate cells, doors and weapons. By midafternoon violent offenders from solitary confinement had been released and the violence had gotten out of control. The prisoners had a particular area they could not access, the protective custody area, this area held the mentally ill and vulnerable inmates it included those inmates convicted of sex crimes and yes, those labeled snitches. Armed with blowtorches left by a construction crew, the inmates cut through the bars of the cells and in the early morning of February 3 began so did the brutal slaughter several inmates.
On February 9, 2015, the American corrections class and I went on a tour to the Georgia State Prison at Reidsville. Georgia State Prison at Reidsville is the fundamental greatest security office in the condition of Georgia. Found on Georgia Highway 147 in unincorporated Tattnall County, outside of Reidsville, It is a piece of the Georgia Department of Corrections. The current fantastic structural planning incorporated a strip by Julian Harris titled Rehabilitation portraying exchanges and occupations. Many redesigns were made. The mission of the prison was to “Ensure public safety by effectively operating a safe and secure facility while housing medium general population, mental health and problematic male adult offenders incarcerated in the Georgia prison system”.
Social process theories view deviant and criminal behaviors as evolving mechanisms learned through societal interaction. Social development theories view deviant and criminal behaviors as part of a maturational process. The process involves numerous perspectives including biological, psychological, and social, that all occur simultaneously as the individual progresses through life. In this paper the author will examine what different social process’s there are and how they support Pelican Bay State Prison: War Zone. The author will also provide different social issues associated with this prison system. In addition, the author will provide, if any, possible ramifications for social policy change?
After forty-two years, organizations are still actively attempting to shut Attica down. Attica’s maximum-security prison conditions have remained very poor extremely overcrowded to this day. Nationally, conditions in prisons have significantly improved, but Attica has showed little to no improvement over the
Inmates at Shawshank were often beat within an inch of their lives by the administration at Shawshank in order to instill a sense of obedience and to keep enforcing routine. Head Guard Captain Hadley would on occasion hurt the prisoners so much they would die of injury’s they sustained from him. “Black man, white man, red man, yellow man, it doesn’t matter because we’ve got our own brand of equality. In Prison every con’s a nigger and you have to get used to the idea if you intend to survive men like Hadley and Greg Stammas who really would kill you just as soon as look at you. When you’re in stir you belong to the state and if you forget it woe is you. I’ve known men who have lost eyes, men who have lost toes, Men who have lost fingers, I knew a man who lost the tip of his penis and counted himself lucky” (44) this shows the lack of moral judgment
A. Each prisoner received a copy of the Rules and Regulations for the Government… Correctional Institutions as well as a copy of the warden’s special rules that explained the daily routine of work and counts. The inmates were awakened at 6:30am to begin their day. They were required to clean up themselves and their cell and required to shave three times a week.
..no fences, no bars on the windows, no detention sash. Guards do not wear uniforms..the buildings look like a motel. Inmates may use telephones to call anyone anytime, they have keys to their own individual rooms, they have their own money, and they wear their own clothes. There are no restrictions on hours of watching television or visiting in the day rooms or
An example of what happens when prisons become overcrowded took place in Trenton, New Jersey in 1952. The small prison was made up of "sexual psychopaths, passive homosexuals, aggressive 'wolves' with long records of fights and stabbings, escape artists, agitators and incorrigibles of all ages" (Blackwell). While Trenton’s overcrowding was minimal compared to today’s standards, there was 1,312 inmates in a facility designed to hold 1,190. The cells were old and rundown, barely lit, and infested with rats that were fed better than the inmates (Blackwell). The prison began hiring tougher, more rugged correction officers to combat the rowdy inmates. The inhumane treatment of the inmates contributed to an unstable and volatile emotional state among the inmates. Around midnight on March 29, 1952, the inmates began to tear apart their cots, using the metal legs to pry open their cell doors. The inmates “chased their guards out of the wing, barricaded the entrance and wrecked everything they could lay their hands on. They smashed cell toilets, shredded beds, broke windows and set fires” (Blackwell). The guards broke the will of the inmates after 46 hours by using tear gas and water hoses. Two weeks later, a group
A. Each prisoner received a copy of the Rules and Regulations for the Government… Correctional Institutions as well as a copy of the warden’s special rules that explained the daily routine of work and counts. The inmates were awakened at 6:30am to begin their day. They were required to clean up themselves and their cell and required to shave three times a week.
As a result of mandatory minimum sentencing we now have overcrowding of our prisons system with minor criminals some of whom may be innocent. This in turn has made racial and ethnic bias perceptions due to the majority of offenders being incarcerated are of African American heritage or of Hispanic heritage. According to Sterngold, 2008 “Most of California’s prisons house more than 170,000 inmates, nearly twice the number it was designed to safely hold. Almost all of its facilities are bursting at the seams: More than 16,000 prisoners sleep on what are known as “ugly beds”—extra bucks stuffed into cells, gyms, dayrooms, and hallways. The effects of overcrowding—electrical