Treatment of Prison Inmates

[Greenday]

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ad.php?t=99310

The thread I linked is what sparked this post. I read it once, was going to post about how messed up I think her response was to the prisoners, then remembered that doing so isn't proper CS etiquette so I let it go. Five pages later, it's people all congratulating her and suggesting ways to torture (On a lesser level than physical torture) the prisoners. I typed out a response but decided it was wiser to post here.

The whole thing comes off as, "I don't want to watch basketball and even though I'm not going to watch the TV at all, go fuck yourselves." It seems like the whole purpose of not putting basketball on was to fuck with the prisoners. Now, I don't think prison should be a joyride, but unlike multiple members on CS, I don't believe prison is for punishment. Using prison as a punishment just creates another class of people who will never be able to rise above their current status and just leaves them only one option in life: to commit more crimes when they get out. Prison needs to be about rehabilitation. Help these people realize that it's possible to live a life without crime. And part of that is treating them with some respect. Treat them like trash and that's all they'll ever be.

What exactly is accomplished by messing with them and cutting off what they wanted to watch on TV? A sense of empowerment? Feeling all high and mighty? Pissing off the prisoners who are either going to take it out on the guards/other prisoners or even worse, store it up and use it against society when they get out?

I fail to see even one single positive thing in the entire story and quite frankly, it disgusts me.

[fireheart17]

The whole thing comes off as, "I don't want to watch basketball and even though I'm not going to watch the TV at all, go fuck yourselves." It seems like the whole purpose of not putting basketball on was to fuck with the prisoners.

There was also talk about the lack of basketball preventing inmates from gambling. because the inmates would bet on the games and the results of said bets would result in anything from loss of an item through to being used as someone's sex slave, the idea of not having basketball on reduces that.

If you're wanting to talk about prison being a rehab, then yes, that rehab also includes not gambling heavily.

[Greenday]

There was also talk about the lack of basketball preventing inmates from gambling. because the inmates would bet on the games and the results of said bets would result in anything from loss of an item through to being used as someone's sex slave, the idea of not having basketball on reduces that.

If you're wanting to talk about prison being a rehab, then yes, that rehab also includes not gambling heavily.

And yet, the gambling issue clearly had nothing to do with the decision. It wasn't even mentioned until page 3. It certainly wasn't mentioned as an issue in the OP.

IM: Hey Miss Bosslady, can you put it on ESPN so we can watch the game?
ME: No.
IM: What do you mean, no? Why not?
ME: Because I said no. I'm tired of basketball, that's all you guys watch.

IM: Hey, can we watch the game?
ME: No.
IM: What do you mean, no?
ME: I mean no. It's fine where it is. I'm sick of basketball, that's all you guys watch.

It just seems like the whole reason the OP decided not to let them watch basketball was because she didn't feel like watching basketball. She even admitted she was getting petty and the prisoners' suffering was enjoying to her. Social experiments have shown time and again what kind of long term behavior is created from people who do this job. That behavior definitely isn't helping things in prisoner rehabilitation.

[Hyena Dandy]

The justifications given were

The officer has control of the TV, and normally I didn't care what they watched. But after a week of them being glued to basketball, I decided to put it on a movie channel instead.

I'm starting to think my lack of giving a damn what they watch has been misconstrued as some kind of... spoiling the bastards. This simply won't do.

This was getting so petty, but it was also highly entertaining to me. Obviously, I need to to tighten my iron-fisted grip on this house from here on out.

If the prisoners were betting on basketball, the OP certainly never mentioned it. And "Well, they can use it to bet on" just seems more like an excuse than an actual reason. If the OP had said "I wouldn't let them because I knew they were gambling" in the first post, rather than "I decided to put on a movie because they watched so much sports."

Not letting them watch sports because you heard about them gambling on sex with each-other, hey, that'd be a problem. That'd be something where I'd say you're behaving admirably. That's not the reason given, not mentioned at all on the first page, by OP or anyone else...

Not letting them watch sports because you don't like sports is just being a petty jerk. Which the OP totally ADMITS to being, saying

This was getting so petty, but it was also highly entertaining to me.

Yeah, I'm really not buying the "They're gambling" shit on this one. Even if they were, if the only reason you decided to do that was because you have fun tormenting them... Regardless of if the effect is good, you're still an asshole.

Prisoners are treated like non-entities in prison. And, then, they get out of prison... And we wonder why they end up back in there. Might be because if you spend a year being told non-stop that you're worthless and don't deserve to be free, you might think you're worthless and don't deserve to be free. It's a dehumanizing environment. No-one should be treated as less than human.

I think if prisoners are treated like people, instead of toys for the guards to amuse themselves with, then we might see some sort of improvement.

[gremcint]

I'm sorry but I don't have a lot of pity for the criminals not being able to watch their favourite program.

[telecom_goddess]

I'm sorry but I don't have a lot of pity for the criminals not being able to watch their favourite program.

I have to agree. Prison is about punishment, and losing your freedom, and your right to choose even basic things like what to watch on tv. If you don't want to be in that situation then don't do the crime that put you there.

[smileyeagle1021]

If you don't want to be in that situation then don't do the crime that put you there.

Thank you. As grandma used to say, it's your bed, you made it, now sleep in it.
Yes, prisoners should be treated with a basic level of respect, many of them are still human despite their inability to act like it. That said, if the rules say that the guard gets to choose what is on the TV, well guess what, watching what you want, when you want is a privilege of those who haven't committed a crime, so deal with what the guard wants to watch or don't watch it at all.
Let's face it, if prison truly was about rehabilitation, there wouldn't be TV at all, the entire day would be spent either in classrooms learning new skills, or internships learning new skills, working in work programs to teach work ethic, and doing community service. And hey, what do you know, a lot of prisons do offer those services that prisoners can sign up for... most of them don't. People have to want to change, and for those who don't want to change, punishment is the next best thing.

[HYHYBT]

...and yet, being petty is still being petty, no matter who it's towards, and *enjoying* irritating people in petty ways just for the sake of doing it isn't at all a good sign.

[Kheldarson]

But she indicated that response after being asked several times. If you had a group of customers asking you to go around a policy over and over in different ways, wouldn't you start getting some amusement out of telling them no, even if it's petty? If only because how stubborn they're being in the face of a wall?

[Gravekeeper]

I'm a little bit torn on this one. While I believe in rehab over punishment; it's true prison shouldn't be a cakewalk. However, there's something about Kara's unprofessional behaviour that rubs me the wrong way as well.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

I'm a little bit torn on this one. While I believe in rehab over punishment; it's true prison shouldn't be a cakewalk. However, there's something about Kara's unprofessional behaviour that rubs me the wrong way as well.

As am I.

Most of her stories involved in the past, prisoners who were trying to buck the system in some way or another. Either by doing something totally illegal, or by doing something that's merely frowned upon by the prison and its rules.

Under those situations, I have no problem with someone taking pleasure from denying them whatever it is that they're trying like all hell to get away with.

However while TV is prison is a privilege that can be taken away for the slightest infraction, these prisoners were doing nothing more than wanting to enjoy a simple basketball game. Denying them that for no obviously apparent reason and deriving pleasure from that falls more under the realm of being mean for the sake of being mean.

And as one friend who works in the corrections system once said, that's the sort of thing that the prisoners remember and if a riot breaks out...they remember those slights and retaliate.

And consider that many are incarcerated in "no death penalty" states and are serving life without the chance for parole...ever, then killing a guard who has pissed them off is nothing to them.

Basically it means that their "dying of natural causes is the only way I'll ever get out of here" sentence gets extended to "dying of natural causes is the only way I'll ever get out of here". And they get the extra bonus of the "cred" of having offed a prison guard which raises them in the prisoner hierarchy.

So not only was it petty for petty's sake, it could be dangerous.

[draco664]

If you don't want to be in that situation then don't do the crime that put you there.

Last time someone said that to me, I replied, "You're only working as a dishwasher in a pub? You should have studied harder at school."

For some reason, he didn't like that at all. Can't imagine why. Oh wait, it's because it's fatuous, lazy thinking, that's why. He just hated that he recognised was doing it and blamed me for pointing it out.

And anyway, what of the innocent people in prison?

Consider this - nearly 1300 people have been executed in the US since 1976.

Yet 130 have been released from death row due to evidence of their innocence being uncovered.

And that's DEATH ROW - people who've been found guilty and sentenced to death after all the necessary legal appeals.

Now, what proportion of the prison population do you suppose are in there and are innocent? What about the ones who did something minor but were railroaded into pleading out rather than risk decades behind bars because they couldn't afford a good lawyer?

The US has one quarter of the world's entire prisoner population, yet only has less than 5% of the world's total population. America tops the list for incarceration rate (with the possible exception of North Korea - but who knows?) So either Americans are 5 times more likely to be criminals, or there are a lot of innocent people behind bars. But fuckem, they don't matter, eh?

[Ginger Tea]

and there is the wide brush strokes, some people you wonder why they are in jail and not 200 hours community or something getting treated the same, by the outside world, as murderers thugs and rapists.
And the endless variations of "someone's getting sausage tonight" that anyone who spends even one night behind bars no matter the charge is fair game for gang rapes with no outside pity.

[Rageaholic]

The whole thing comes off as, "I don't want to watch basketball and even though I'm not going to watch the TV at all, go fuck yourselves." It seems like the whole purpose of not putting basketball on was to fuck with the prisoners. Now, I don't think prison should be a joyride, but unlike multiple members on CS, I don't believe prison is for punishment. Using prison as a punishment just creates another class of people who will never be able to rise above their current status and just leaves them only one option in life: to commit more crimes when they get out. Prison needs to be about rehabilitation. Help these people realize that it's possible to live a life without crime. And part of that is treating them with some respect. Treat them like trash and that's all they'll ever be.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, sometimes you wonder who the real bad guys are. Especially when so many people are in jail for victimless crimes (like drug charges). Not everyone's there for rape and murder.

EDIT: As for the basketball game, the only reason I can think of for changing it is because you want to watch something else. But since there was no indication that the OP wanted to watch anything, why not just let them watch?

[Amanita]

Yeah, why not let the inmates have that one bit of fun? Now, I understand gambling is a real issue, but if that's the case, then disallowing sports all the time would make more sense.

But denying the inmates just because you can comes across as power trippy and mean- and as Mongo said, it could come back to bite somebody later.