As a long-term prisoner, I find much more wisdom in the words of John Dewey, a legendary American educator. Although I don’t recall Dr. Dewey’s exact words, I recall reading he said the good man was the individual who, no matter how much bad he had done in the past, was the man who was striving to add value to society by doing good. The bad man, Dewey opined, was the individual who, regardless of how much good he had done in the past, was the man who ceased trying to make society better.

Those like ssteacherme who cling to ridiculous notions that offenders should not strive to redeem themselves ought not call themselves Americans. Ours is an enlightened country with a troubled system of corrections that currently breeds failure. Through effective prison reforms, new leadership can change this system. With those changes, more offenders would emerge from prison as contributing, law-abiding citizens. Only those who prefer vengeance can dispute that such reforms would lower recidivism rates, make society safer, and prove good for America.

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As a long-term prisoner, I have observed how prison administrators employ their own version of The Broken Glass Theory in managing their institutions. They are convinced that control and punishment represent society’s best response to shape human behavior.

At the United States Penitentiary in Atwater, for example, where a psychotic prisoner murdered a correctional officer earlier this year, high-level administrators responded with changes in prison management that promised more severe punishments. They drew plans to convert USP Lewisburg into a much more restrictive institution that would lock troublesome prisoners from across the country in more austere conditions. At USP Atwater, administrators brought in a new warden, the no-nonsense Hector Rios, to straighten things out.

According to media reports, Warden Rios came to the penitentiary with the intention of bringing more control. He ordered yellow lines painted on corridor floors and ordered guards to strictly enforce a code requiring prisoners to walk within the yellow lines. He ordered guards to frisk prisoners regularly and to rifle through their cells frequently in search of contraband. The new warden enforced the rules to the letter and threatened disciplinary action on anyone who didn’t comply.

In the Merced Sun-Star, Scott Jason reported on Warden Rios saying that “prison management comes down to control.” Like The Broken Glass Theory advocates, prison guards feel convinced that punishing trivial offenses like walking outside yellow lines with swiftness, certainty, and severity, they can lessen the possibilities for prisoners to commit more serious rule violations like murder.

I have been locked inside the Federal Bureau of Prisons since 1987. During those 21-plus years that I’ve served thus far, administrators have confined me inside prisons of every security level. I’ve been forced to share cells, tables, and shower space with many psychotic prisoners who thrive on mayhem. Certainly, order, control, and The Broken Glass Theory has a useful role in prison management.

Yet prisons fail society when promises of swift and certain punishments are the only factors in the equation. High recidivism rates show that oppressive institutions do not prepare offenders well to function upon release. I know the reasons behind these dismal results. Unfortunately, prison administrators ignore the need for incentives to motivate socially acceptable behavior.

Prison communities lock many hundreds of inmates inside close boundaries that extinguish hope. Prisons become societies of deprivation. They are brilliantly designed and constructed and operated to suppress the best aspects of humanity and to bring forth the worst. Despite the proliferating turmoil, some prisoners live lives of discipline. They commit to educating themselves, to building strong networks of support. They strive to generate resources that will help them transition into society as law-abiding citizens. In their lust to implement more controls, however, administrators show no interest in the individual striving to adjust positively.

Administrators express decisive views on the need for controls to discourage bad behavior. Ironically, however, the entire field of corrections resists the idea of meaningful incentives that would motivate more prisoners to prepare for productive lives upon release.

I know first hand how exposure to the degrading life of the penitentiary can paralyze an individual’s will to grow in productive ways. While serving time and struggling with patronizing rules that challenge a man’s dignity, men lose years or decades of their lives. Family members and loved ones desert them. They feel trapped, as if they are living a civil death.

Prisoners with weaker wills, or less vision for the future, sometimes succumb to the temptations of defiance. They lack the discipline or energy necessary to master English, math, or history. What’s the point? Prisons degenerate into primal societies where the most valuable currency flows to those who can instill fear in others, or to those who build coteries of recalcitrant followers who strive to disrupt the institution that holds them.

More controls can help keep the wicked in line. Yet for any “corrections” to take place, society needs prison reforms that will offer meaningful incentives to those who commit to work toward redemption and reconciling with society. I’ve been working to transcend the walls for many years, though I’m more hopeful now than ever.

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To reduce violence in prisons, administrators ought to consider modifying the infrastructure – the rules by which they are governed. Instead of simply threatening prisoners with additional sanctions and punishments, they ought to rely on incentives that motivate those in prison to embrace the principles of good citizenship, even in the community of the confined.

When I was confined in a medium-security prison known as FCI McKean, in Pennsylvania, the warden implemented progressive leadership techniques. Although prisoners were serving lengthy sentences, some without release dates, the warden was a firm believer in the use of incentives. Wardens do not have the authority to change release dates, yet they do set the policies by which prisoners live. At FCI McKean, Warden Dennis Luther offered numerous incentives that prisoners could work toward earning. For example, he allowed those prisoners who kept their disciplinary records clean to choose their housing unit so they could live with like-minded individuals. Those who preferred a quiet atmosphere could share the same space while those who passed time playing table games could live together. That was a big deal, enabling prisoners to have some control over their lives.

There were many other incentives Warden Luther used to inspire good behavior. Those incentives did not come at taxpayer expense. For example, he allowed prisoners to earn the right to purchase food from local restaurants on occasion; he allowed prisoners to earn the right to purchase athletic apparel from local stores rather than from the limited selection of prison commissaries; he allowed prisoners to earn the right to watch videos or listen to cassette recordings of music; he allowed prisoners to earn the right to additional visiting and telephone privileges.

As a consequence of Warden Luther’s progressive policies, prisoners with long histories of violence got along. Instead of challenging the system or causing disturbances, they worked to earn the additional freedoms and privileges that were available. His leadership led to success as measured by the prison system’s own metrics: lower incidents of violence, no suicides, no escape attempts.

Warden Luther retired in 1995. The new warden eliminated Warden Luther’s progressive management techniques and reverted to oppressive practices. Within six months of the administrative changes, a riot broke out that caused more than a million dollars in damages. I wrote about my experiences of confinement under Luther in articles available at www.criminal-indictment.com. They convince me that incentives are effective.

The post How To Reduce Violence in Prison appeared first on Prison News Blog.

In books I’ve written about prison, and articles published at www.criminal-indictment.com, I’ve described how a different set of values pervades higher security prisons. The values differ from law-abiding society, where people respect those who strive to educate themselves, contribute to society, and live in socially acceptable ways. In higher security prisons, individuals concern themselves more with developing power on a primal level inside the penitentiary. Those types of prisons are like failure factories that seethe with hostility.

As a consequence of my work, some have asked how it was that I earned respect from violent, predatory prisoners. After all, I do not have a history of violence, and the goals I pursued differed in significant ways from most of my fellow prisoners. The truth was, I was not so sure that other prisoners respected me. Frankly, I never showed much concern or sought approval from other prisoners.

I was courteous and respectful to everyone around me, yet I purposely sought to minimize my contact or interactions with all the chaos of the penitentiary. That may seem absurd to some, as I have lived in prisons for more than 21 years. Yet I always found it possible to avoid activities and interactions that could expose me to problems.

My strategy was to find employment or volunteer opportunities that kept me away from the violence. At the crack of dawn, or in the early morning when doors opened, I was on the weight pile exercising to keep in top physical shape. I worked as an administrative clerk for many years. That job kept me in an office with a typewriter that was far removed from the general population. While other prisoners were rioting over trivial issues, I was absorbed with schoolwork or writing projects. When the office closed for the evening, I packed up my books to report for volunteer duties as a suicide-watch companion; that job kept me in the infirmary for the evenings.  By the time I reported to my room, the doors were about to be locked for the evening.

By keeping busy working toward my goals, avoiding television rooms, table games, drinking, contraband, gangs, gambling, and anything else that interfered with my progress, I was able to reach the goals I set. After I had more seniority, I built relationships with other prisoners. As a consequence of my working toward prison reform, I found others who would share their experiences with me so that I could write about them. Still, I don’t know whether other prisoners have ever respected me.

The post Does Anyone In Prison Respect Nonviolent, Goal-oriented Prisoners? appeared first on Prison News Blog.

I spent the first 16 years of my sentence inside higher security prisons. When I was locked inside the walls of a United States Penitentiary, I understood the dangerous environment. With a lengthy sentence to serve, I knew that I would have to stand on my own. I could not expect prison staff members to protect me from all the chaos around. Survival meant that I had to develop strength in my spirit, in my fitness level, and in my mind. I had to choose my activities and my associates with calculation. Nothing about surviving prison is by chance, I knew. I had to make choices every day, and those choices determined how I would emerge.

For the first decade I focused exclusively on building a strong physique and working toward my education. That meant discipline. I worked daily with a brutal weight training routine and ensured that I kept in tip-top shape. A strong presence, I reasoned, would suggest to predators that there were easier marks in the penitentiary. Also, I avoided interactions with trouble makers. I did not engage in table games or play any organized sports. I stayed low key, focusing on my independent study projects and on exercise. Since I was respectful to every other prisoner and since I did not interfere with others in any way, I worked my way around the penitentiary without have any troubles.

After completing my education, I began to engage in projects that raised my profile. I started to develop more contacts outside of prison boundaries by writing. In time, I began to open opportunities to publish. Those efforts were part of my long-term plan to emerge from prison with a position of strength. I felt hopeful that I could walk out of prison with a career in place and a network of support that would assist my efforts to succeed.

A gang member once approached me with an extortion effort. He understood that I had a higher profile and he thought that he might score some points in his gang if he could pressure me. Yet when the young gang banger made his approach, I had more than 13 years of prison behind me; he was new to the prison and striving to lift his status. Although he thought my demeanor suggested that I would be an easy mark, the young extortionist learned that I was well liked and respected in the prison. Gangs are political organization, and I had good relationships with gang leaders. When I described the effort at extortion, the problem was quashed immediately.

People are extorted in prison when they are perceived as being weak. I prepared myself to project strength, and those efforts have served me well. Also, once I cultivated a reputation as a prison writer, other prisoners admired the efforts I made to initiate prison reforms.

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Many people in society have heard the stereotypical myths regarding prison life. Today’s reality television depicts chaotic environments where violence prevails. I lived for years in such environments. My imprisonment began more than 21 years ago, and during that time, I’ve learned a lot about living in prison.

My experience has been that prisons extinguish hope. Rather than governing through the promise of incentives, prison administrators rely exclusively on the threat of punishments. People who live inside prisons have no mechanism through which they can work toward redemption. Although numerous classification techniques exist to measure bad behavior and to raise a prisoner’s security level, there are no paths a prisoner can pursue to improve his classification. The only way to reduce his security classification is to avoid trouble while watching calendar pages turn. That is a problem in the system because it fails to motivate people. Rather than striving to reconcile with society and preparing to emerge as contributing citizens, many prisoners focus on enhancing their power structure while living in the abnormal world of prison.

Prison rapists do not consider themselves gay. They may refer to their prey as “bitches,” “punks,” or other pejorative names. Yet their primary motivation is to cultivate a reputation as being powerful and feared. They demean those whom they “turn out,” and in no way respect them as a man may respect a woman. The victim is referred to as a female, though gender is not so much a factor. The victim is really dehumanized and demoralized.

When a rapist develops his reputation, he may continue to engage in sexual relationships with other males, yet the rapist never considers himself gay. To him, being gay is equivalent to being a sissy. Prisoners who were strictly heterosexual in the real world may engage in sexual acts with other males in prison without raping them, yet many of them also deny that they are gay. All homosexual activity in prison is considered a weakness within the general population, as prisoners are notoriously intolerant.

Administrators could lessen the perils of prison atmospheres if they were to govern these institutions more like America, where people can advance their standing through merit and good deeds. As long as prisons extinguish hope, they will continue to breed failure and hostility.

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An Internet search on the subject would yield disturbing results. Around the same time that publishers were bringing Inside to market, a prison scandal at the federal prison in Tallahassee described a sex ring that officers were running. The male guards induced the female prisoners into sexual acts by offering them contraband like perfume, alcohol, and other items that were off limits for prisoners. When the female prisoners wanted to opt out of the sexual relationships, the guards threatened them with retaliation.

One of the female prisoners began cooperating with authorities. Agents from the FBI stormed the prison in an effort to arrest the federal corrections officers. A shoot out ensued. One of the guards and at least one federal officer was killed. Several of the other participating guards were taken into custody. The incident made front-page news in The New York Times.

During the more than 21 years that I have served, I have been confined in several institutions where female guards were arrested and prosecuted for having sexual relationships with male prisoners. Such behavior is not an every-day occurrence, though staff members discover such acts every few months. When prisoners are separated from society for years or decades at a time, they form their own societies inside prison boundaries. The staff members who are charged with the responsibility of overseeing them sometimes interact with the prisoners in ways that officials deem inappropriate. Those relationships can lead to corruption. Yet they seem to be a natural part of the prison experience, as I’ve seen and written about many such interactions such as my blog post Sexual Encounters with Prison Staff. That blog post focuses more on consensual and love based sexual relations between inmates and prison staff.

Those who want to learn more about the prison experience and steps they may take to avoid problems while serving time may find some value in the articles included in the topical report series titled Understanding Prison.

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One reader of the book wrote to ask how such a sexual orgy was possible in a high security prison. The reader felt as though someone should have been on patrol to help the weaker prisoners. She questioned how prisoners could get away with such behavior in a high-security prison.

High security prisons are dangerous places. They are dangerous because more than 1,000 prisoners are locked inside concrete and steel human warehouses, and administrative policies extinguish hope for the men inside. Administrators rely on surveillance cameras, metal detectors, locked gates and doors, as well as correctional officers to maintain security in the penitentiary. Yet the prisoners are locked inside the institutions for years, or even decades at a time. They know where the blind spots are. They know when the officers will make rounds and the prisoners develop a sense of who is weak and vulnerable. Like any predator, they can spot the easy prey.

Prison policy makers can post memorandums that encourage weak inmates to seek assistance from staff. Yet those platitudes miss the dynamics of penitentiary life. Prisoners who seek assistance from staff in high-security penitentiaries risk retaliation from those in the prison community who adhere to the tacit convict code. Once a prisoner is saddled with the snitch label, other prisoners will ride him for the duration of his sentence. Prisoners who are forced to serve their sentences in high security prisons should accept a viper pit, and use all of their creativity to persuade administrators that they are worthy candidates for reductions in their classification status.

I served longer than 16 years in higher security prisons before staff members transferred me to minimum-security camp. My disciplined adjustment enabled me to thrive through my prison term and avoid a single altercation with others. Whereas the two victims I described in my book engaged in activities that made them vulnerable, I recognized that the dangerous environment of prison required that I avoid interactions with those who courted trouble. Living a goal-centered adjustment enabled me to prepare for release while simultaneously avoiding problems in prison.

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