Prison Essay, Research Paper

We all know that our prisons are the concluding frontier for the socially rejected felons and violent wrongdoers. We know that our prisons are so overcrowded that the Supreme Court of California issued a tribunal order to cut down the figure of inmates. We know that since there are more inmates in prison the opportunity of acquiring rehabilitated is really slender. And we besides know that the ratio of supervising of guard to inmate is highly high. But do we cognize what goes on in our prisons and gaols? We know we have prison packs, drugs, assaults, robberies, and even slayings in prison. But what happens when you mix an overcrowded prison or gaol with violent, drug utilizing, angry, opprobrious, gang related work forces with the mean individual who is in prison or gaol for the first clip. The consequence is an aggressive sexual act known as inmate colza. The battle against colza in our communities is doomed to failure and will go on so every bit long as it ignores the web of preparation evidences for rapers: our prisons, gaols and reform schools. For excessively long, we have turned away from the colza crisis in these establishments, which now hold 1.3 million work forces and male childs. In most of them, colza is an entrenched tradition considered by captives a legitimate manner to `prove their manhood & # 8217 ; and to fulfill sexual demands and the barbarous desire for power. The exact figure of sexually assaulted captives is unknown, but a conservative estimation, based on two decennaries of studies, is that “ more than 290,000 males are sexually assaulted behind bars every twelvemonth. By comparing, the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that there are 135,000 colzas of adult females a twelvemonth nationally, though many groups believe the figure is higher. “ ( Mezey and King, 1995 ) . Inmate colza is non a sexually motivated act but alternatively constitutes a sexual look of aggression. Once victimized, a captive is marked as a continual mark for sexual onslaught and is repeatedly subjected to gang colzas, or must merchandise entry to one or more work forces in exchange for protection from the remainder. Very few of these colzas are of all time reported to decision makers, much less prosecuted. “ If a captive is middle-class, non `street-wise, & # 8217 ; non affiliated with a pack, non portion of the racial or cultural group that dominates his establishment or held in a large metropolis gaol, he is likely to be a mark. “ ( Scacco, 1992 ) . The victims are normally straight persons who are forced into a inactive sexual function, though the comparatively few known homophiles are possibly three times every bit likely to be raped. The attackers are about ever heterosexual by penchant ; therefore the phrase `homosexual colza & # 8217 ; is highly deceptive. Bing a male inmate victim of colza is traumatising since he is devalued in respect to the two primary beginnings of his individuality: gender and aggression. “ Sexual maltreatment has a particular significance for the male victim. Their gender individuality and gender image is tarnished by the usage which another male had with their organic structure. ” ( Ben-David, 1993 ) . Though the job has non been adequately studied, sexual onslaught among female captives is thought to be much rarer ; adult females are, nevertheless, far more likely to be sexually abused by guards. The ruinous experience of sexual force normally extends beyond a individual incident, frequently going a day-to-day assault. “ Psychologists and colza counsellors believe that the repressed fury caused by these assaults can do victims, particularly if they don & # 8217 ; t have psychological intervention, to break out in force once they return to their communities. Some will go rapers, seeking to `regain their manhood & # 8217 ; through the same violent agencies by which they believe it was lost ” ( Nacci,1984 ) . In this manner, our prisons, gaols and detainment centres can put in gesture a genuinely barbarous rhythm, turning nonviolent detainees and minor wrongdoers into far more serious dangers to society? precisely the opposite map our `correctional establishments & # 8217 ; are supposed to function. Even an “ attempted sexual onslaught that is warded off & # 8212 ; a typical experience for a `fresh fish, & # 8217 ; or first-time captive & # 8212 ; can be badly traumatic, besides being a head caus

e of serious injury behind bars.”(Cotton, 1982). While prison officials privately concede the existence of this` pattern of abuse, prisoner victims are ignored in national rape statistics and estimates, and little has been done to stop the attacks. A primary reason is that “the rape of men has long been a taboo subject, frightening victims away from even acknowledging that they have been attacked and asking for help”(Starchild, 1990). While some prison system professionals want to address the problem, most prefer to ignore it; leading it to be a life-and-death issue in the age of AIDS. The public and the media, however, are finally becoming more sensitive to sexual abuse behind bars and more willing to break through these old taboos. The courts are also beginning to order wardens and sheriffs to protect the prisoners. In July [1993], for example, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld an injunction that required the Glades Correctional Institution in Belle Glade, Fla., to establish a training program to educate its staff about prisoner rape. The program is the first of its kind in the country. Following the recent unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision in Farmer v. Brennan, a historic case which has established the state of the law at the highest level, People Organized to Stop the Rape of Imprisoned Persons a Ft. Bragg based advocacy group, founded in 1979, believes that “legal action is one of the most hopeful means of achieving changes which would lessen the frequency of prisoner rape and improve conditions for those who have already been victimized but are still behind bars.”(P.O.S.R.I.P.,1998) The state of the law with regard to the legal obligations of confinement institutions to prevent sexual assault of prisoners is changing. State taxes will grow because civil litigation regarding institutional liability is increasing. Since 1979 prisoner victims have been winning some substantial money damages ($380,000 in one case) from institutions being sued for violation of prisoners’ federal civil rights under the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. These suits are based upon a “failure to protect” together with “deliberate indifference” on the part of institution officials. This standard was first upheld for sexual assaults by the U.S. Supreme Court in Smith v. Wade (1983) and was further elaborated in Farmer. Another approach to prisoner rape was launched when the Safer Society Press of the New York State Council of Churches published the Prisoner Rape Education Project, a manual and two audiotapes of practical advice for prisoners and staff on avoidance and survival of prisoner rape. One of the manual’s most important recommendations is “that condoms, now available in New York City jails but still contraband in the New York State system, be made available to victims of rape who have paired off with stronger prisoners for their own protection, as most of them do, so that these victims can avoid turning survival-driven sex from a degrading necessity into a possible death penalty.”(Barden, 1997). “It is argued that prison rapes will not decrease unless attempts are made to reduce the prison population, humanize the conditions of prison life, provide training on human sexuality to prison staff, and provide furloughs and treatment services to inmates to foster appropriate expressions of sexuality.”(Rothenberg 1993.) Rape, which no judge has ever declared a fit penalty for a crime, is inflicted daily on prisoners whose sole offense may have been their inability to make bail. When will the attacks end? Not until the public turns its eyes back to the walls that were built and are maintained at great expense by taxpayers to promote the public safety. Not until all staff members are trained more effectively to prevent rape and to respond sympathetically to victims. Not until all new prisoners are given practical advice on avoidance. And not until prisoners, with the support of administrators, organize themselves and take responsibility for ending this horror.