There are all types of people in prison. Scary people, funny people, loving people, weird people, sane and insane people. There are also a lot of men who in society are straight, but in prison they are opportunistic and gay for the stay.
This is true of the trans community here as well, one day a guy with a Mohawk wants to be called Trina and stuffs a training bra full of tissue. Two days later he is back to being a man again. If I'm confused, I know they are too.
But they aren't why prison sucks. They actually entertain us a little and believe it or not, I can help them find themselves through compassion and patience.
What makes prison sucky is aggression. I am talking about those people who are angry all the time. They walk angry, they brush their teeth and wash their hands angry. They eat angry, listen to angry music, hell, they even smile angry. They eyes are still angry, but the mouth forms a smile. These people you can usually just give them space and their misery stays away from you and any threat they pose.
Every once in a while one finds you and takes a liking to you. Then you are forced to deal with them, whether you like it or not. In a situation such as this, options are limited. You cannot go to your boss and complain, or even reason with the person. You could fight, take their abuse, continue to ignore them, be extra nice...
If I fight, anyone for any reason, it doesn't gain anything for me. I lose my programs and credibility and my visits with my Mom, which are the only community contact I get. The angry pisser is hardly worth any of that.
Prison isn't meant to be hard as so many believe. Its not meant to be this hyper aggressive place, not unless you never plan to interact with us again.
For this one super aggressive person who even pees angry (yeah, its possible) his dad used to beat him until he would no longer display emotion. This happened his whole life, the psychological damage that occured was immense. Beat a toddler until he/she no longer shows emotion...could you imagine the pain? Its horrible. Then as an adult you come here, doing exactly what you were taught, sociopathology.
Prison is meant to correct you. Instead, the aggressive guy is nurtured and his issues never really addressed. While others live in fear. You cannot fix your home while you are defending it.
So what's the solution? There needs to be separation. Those that react violently to the world around them need a different type of care. When they are surrounded by nonaggression, they become bullies.
People who are seeking change, who want to fix their home (themselves) need to be able to feel safe in order to do so effectively.
Its easy to say punish, punish, punish. But punishment only works if the behavior is addressed, a solution must be given, otherwise its just abuse. Lock a child away and tell them "I'm doing this because you did that" but then don't offer any type of corrective measure...
What's happening now is the weaker in strength are being predatorized by the strong and DOC is okay with that because the aggressive people are hard to deal with. So when they put them in medium and minimum custody they have prey and if they are preying on the weak, then they arent preying on them.
Even sadder is their real problem is not being addressed. The damage to them psychologically just increases, but at least the guards are safe...
You have a voice. You CAN use it. Many of us want to fix our lives.
With Love
Jeff Utnage
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