NCJ Number
191583
Journal
CTM-Corrections Technology & Management Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 2001 Pages: 34-36
Date Published
2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article details the life of an inmate and the tendency to create the “career inmate.”
Abstract
Inmates have said how the endless sameness of the days affects them over time. Without a life of variety and challenge the inmate’s personality is grounded down until nothing remains but despair and hatred. Being incarcerated tends to expose the inmate to who he really is and provides a real eye-opener to who his friends really are. Inmates have found that reality is a common misconception in a correctional facility. No one wants to believe that this subculture is real. Inmates are deemed society’s worst, all living and existing together, all from different backgrounds that have led them to the same place. They are distinct only by their personalities and character. Inmates live, eat, and breath incarceration and it is easy for them to lose sight of their priorities. Being incarcerated forces inmates to go to their most reliable source of comfort – themselves. Inmates want to be thought of as normal. Normal to them is someone who just wants to be left alone. They view the corrections professional as officers using tactics that are intended to inflict pain and restore compliance. The most frequently voiced complaint from inmates regarding correctional officers is unprofessional conduct, followed by physical abuse, and inadequate or improper medical care. Some inmates agree that getting tough with them is fine. They will learn to deal with it. But abusing them will help create a monster no one wants. If inmates are robbed of what little dignity and hope they have left, then those inmates could be even more dangerous when they get out.