Effects On Prisons On Inmates Essay Example for Free

Effects On Prisons On Inmates EssayIn the premodern magazines, societies used to mutilate bodies and cut transfer the heads of their culprits as a way of punishing the wrongdoers. However through a series of imperceptible measures of purify and development, penalisation became less somatogenetic and less directed to the body of the offenders as people became more(prenominal) cultured and the prison houses replaced the gallows. They stopped locking up the insane in asylums and began forms of treatment in institutions which had features of two hospitals and prisons, (Alan Gary 4). In to the highest degree parts of the world, it is taken that a person convicted of serious crime should be sent to prison. Countries like the U.S, where cap punishment has non yet been abolished, a small but significant number of people ar sentenced to death for what is especially considered as grave crimes, (Angela 3).The condition of prisons in the past was a nightmare to two the country as well as the society as they were damp, dark, and noisy. Prison wardens were brutal, poor diet and humble portions of food were given to prisoners who were usually dressed in rags and suffered from umpteen diseases which were not treated in time passing to poor heath of the con games. All these inhuman acts were however viewed by the wardens as a way of punishment to prisoners and therefore the prisons lacked a sense of reformation and charity as brutal acts were directed to inmates. According to (Thomas 602), Inmates who entered prison capable of moral improvement went back in to the society as impure, hardened and irreclaimable persons as there was no separation of sexes, classification of age and character therefore the convicted felon corrupted the inexperienced and innocent prisoners.The unfortunate According to (Douglas Eric 2004), military officers in Iraq used dogs to intimidate prisoners. This was one of the several simulated military operation they adopted even wi thout approval from their seniors. They set strict limits on Red Cross access to prisoners and detain them and accused them of, unannounced visit to the cellblock where the worst abuses occurred. There were also unreported incidents in which Iraq prisoners died after being questioned by American interrogators.Initially, impounding was based on punishing wrongdoers by inflicting suffering of the body. However, nows imprisonment is not only an acute form of corporal punishment, but as a way of working on a persons mind and body through three areas which include punishment, bullying and rehabilitation. Prisons are in disposeed to allow the society remove criminals from them place them into an institution for reformation, persuade them to avoid activities which are not beneficial, and in time become productive and law abiding citizens. However this well imagination plan is not put in place due to the bad experiences in prisons hence the initial meaning of prisons is not realized by the society.The main objectives and responsibilities of prisons are to safeguard inmates and maintain and improve wellbeing of everyone in it. Safe guarding involves keeping inmates locked away and controlled patch having moments of recreation, education and counseling.However, it should be realized that psychological exemption depends on relations with others and that it is what the prisoners experience in this world, attain satisfaction and avoid its detrimental establishs and not the education or counseling that decide how, if ever, they will emerge hence emotional state imprisonment of an inmate does not add to his becoming upright. It should therefore be remembered that offenders are drawn from societies where possessions are related to face-to-face worth unlike in prison where they are reduced to a level of bare possessions. Lockups, isolation, curse and rejection dehumanize prisoners end pointing to psychological discomforts to prisoners.A Prisons aim is to cure and straighten the bad behaviors of criminals, however their record has not been encouraging and instead they are found to do more harm than nice as the melodic line of jail confinement affect all prisoners in different negative ways most of which extirpate a person instead of reforming his or her past bad behavior. The need to quickly adapt to prison bearing and withstand prison shock, exposure to a new culture and maintain outside colligate like keeping in contact with family and friends becomes frustrating to prisoners.The prisoners must therefore determine their way of momentary time which affects the great deal and this end up affecting them psychologically. (Tosh 43). All these question the practice of life imprisonment of people since instead of reforming them they end up becoming worse both in their behaviors and their psychological status. Prisons therefore should be opposed to the idea of locking up people for the rest of their lives to avoid more harm than good to them. (Alison 14-19), came up with several negative effects on prisoners as a result of imprisonment which therefore opposes the idea of life imprisonment.First is that imprisonment can be detrimental both to physical and mental health of prisoners particularly with regard to longsighted term and aged prisoners. Though many prisoners receive medical treatment in prison that would be unavailable to them outside, the health risk of imprisonment are high, uneven and specific to the condition of confinement. For instance, Scottish prisons puzzle reported amplifyd risk of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B and C transmission due to random sharing of injection equipment, tattooing and unprotected sexual intercourse. maven study estimates showed that 36% prisoners had injected themselves intravenously and 12% had anal intercourse at least once while in prison.Post- traumatic stress is second where its psychological effects apply to certain group of prisoners who have shown symptoms of PTSD in medico-legal assessments. Such symptoms can have debilitating effect and are associated with difficulties in restoring and maintaining relationships. higher(prenominal) level of anxiety, disturbed sleep, chronic de signion, withdrawal and persistent tinting of being different from others and from previous ego are described by clinicians working with former prisoners. There may also be physical symptoms like increased arousal, outbursts of anger, difficulties in concentration and hyper vigilance which are associated with increased alcohol and drug abuse. (Davis 322) in the third effect argued that inmates family and dependants suffer most. Despite considerable progress in understanding immediate and long term effects of separation trauma upon children, the impact of imprisonment upon the children of prisoners includes increased behavior disturbance and posterior delinquency, depression and feeling of low self esteem, behavioral disturbance and deterioration in school performance. impoundment and distance from crime is another effect which results to informal social control which suggests that social bonds like custom and marriage may inhibit offending. The imprisonment reduces opportunities to achieve relational and economic stability and therefore increase re-offending. Imprisonment also weakens the bonds and makes them difficult to re-establish hence suffering a significant source of legitimate or law abiding behavior and therefore imprisonment becomes part of the cycle of delinquency and crime.Another effect is on imprisonment and prison staff. Power especially overuse has dehumanizing effect as the culture of maleness characteristic of prison staff bring a range of emotions and new emotion management techniques. virtually of these techniques can lead to hardening, distancing and distrust. The process of adaptation could lead to enduring changes in their character and family life to set to respond to danger.Imprisonments also result to som e prisoners using sexual assaults and rape to make them feel powerful. some(prenominal) of them use this assault to make them feel powerful than others and also express their manhood. The victims as a result are affected psychologically by being stressed, having nightmares and resulting to criminal activities and some forms of self destructive behaviour.The main solution to all these problems is to avoid inmate staying for a very long time in prisons since they tend to be harder than before and that certainly does not cure inmates rather it makes them more aggressive. Others is by ensuring good hold and health conditions for the inmates, counsel them on how to handle people and relationships within and outside the prisons especially their families, provide good counseling facilities on the negative effects of using sex as a tool to feel good and demoralize other inmates.In conclusion prisons and punishments that are given to the prisoners do not inescapably bring a positive chang e of behaviour.In most cases they end up destroying the person as he or she becomes immune to the situations, therefore putting a person in prison for the rest of his/her life does not ensure behavior change and should therefore opposed.WORK CITEDAngela Yvonne Davis Are prisoners obsolete? Seven stories press ISBN 1583225811, 2003Alan Hunt and Gary Wickman Sociological jurisprudence Pluto press ISBN 0745308422, 1994Douglas Jehl and Eric Schmitt New York times 21st May 2004Joanne yap and Michael Bochenek punishment before trial Human rights watch org ISBN 1564322017, 1997Tosh John The pains of imprisonment apt publications California 1982