Preview

The Importance Of Darkness In Prisons

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
116 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Importance Of Darkness In Prisons
The presence of darkness and fear can be overwhelming I experienced this first hand from ten years of working in the prison system before transferring to another state agency. Most prisons have chaplains and offer different religious programs. I have witnessed inmates during church come together, religion brings a sense of calm. Kairos Prison Ministry was one spiritual program the prison offered in terms most of the inmates would gather in a large area of the prison where they would pray, eat, and play live spiritual music. I watched some of the worse inmates, murderers, rapists, and mental health, rejoice and love each other even if it was for a day it was one worth watching.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Throughout the centuries, both the system and the concept of prison have undergone many radical changes that eventually led to the formation of the prison as we know it now. In the 16th and 17th centuries, prison tended to be a place where criminals were kept in it while awaiting their punishment. It was a place, where criminals were held, rather than a means of punishment. In fact, criminals, at that time, were publically punished, rather than imprisoned, in the most torturous ways such as whipping, and slaughtering. However, in the 18th century, people in charge decided to put an end to these cruel methods of punishing. They came up with new methods of punishing instead of using torture in punishing criminals. In fact, the incarceration with hard labor was the new method of punishing criminals. Thus, the prison itself became a tool of punishment.…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Crim131FOCUSPAPERS

    • 1490 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Inmates have medical, dental, and mental health services at their disposal 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The Jail Psychiatric Services has a crisis intervention service that is…

    • 1490 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jimmy Harcourt Case

    • 2588 Words
    • 11 Pages

    The Department of corrections want to ensure the safety of the inmates, the staff who is working in the prions and public safety. It’s important to understand there is a major risk because allowing an inmate to perform religious practices it might comprise prison security.…

    • 2588 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The use of religion in aiding those stuck in a life of crime is very effective, however there needs to be more attempts to develop more organizations that focus on rehabilitation for inmates. If we instill moral and ethical codes as treatment for the inmates a reduction in crime and violence can be seen. Once groups get passed their individual disagreement and focus on the real problem at hand is when the presence of deviant behavior can be eradicated. However, the steps currently being made gives hope to the future. It gives hope to the youth and inmates who are to be receiving this treatment to help them achieve a better life. The practice of more God in their daily life will result in less deviant behavior ridding of high crime…

    • 1788 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States prison system is notorious for the way it treats its inmates. There are so many theories, and facts to back up the claim that the prison system is not working the way it was intended to be, and it continues to be a growing issue that the government is not addressing. Further, within the already complicated prison system, there is another issue. Solitary confinement, which was originally supposed to be used as a short term punishment within prisons, or jails, has now become an integrated part of prison life (Edge, 2014). Solitary Nation, is 2014 documentary highlights the damages that solitary confinement is doing to people (Edge, 2014). Individuals whom have not shown any signs of degrading mental health come out of segregation, or as the inmates call it, “seg,” disturbed (Edge, 2014).…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the book, A place to Stand, by Jimmy Santiago Baca, Baca writes about prison and how being incarcerated can have impact on a person and their family. With the most beautiful, strong and poetic language, Baca tells us the story of all the people who faces difficult times in order to find their place in the world. Baca always felt like he had no place to stand in society because, all of his life he was put down by his family and friends. From the age of five Baca experienced his dad and uncles going in and out of jail from being addicted to alcohol. Baca knew he would eventually end up in jail sooner or later because that’s what he had experienced all of his life. Baca writes, “Whether I was approaching it or seeking escape from it, jail always defined in some way the measure of my life” (3). Baca felt that his life would always head in the wrong direction because of his family issues. Baca shows being in prison can cause a lot of emotional impact on a person’s life, as well as affect the community.…

    • 1505 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Should prisoners serving life sentences for first degree murder be eligible for a parole hearing after 15 years? They shouldn’t. Criminals who hold life sentences for murder, rape, and kidnapping should stay in a jail cell. Without even the slightest chance of getting out. To many factors fall into play and the subject can only run deeper and deeper. These convicts were brutal in the outside world, and after taking their first step in a penitentiary it only gets worse. Their mental state crumbles, eventually leaving them hard wired to live in a dangerous environment. Being prosecuted for such terrible crimes, doesn’t happen just once for these people, and American citizens do not want these fist degree murderers set free in their communities.…

    • 1152 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    called prison is very lonely, the only people that you see are Satans minions who…

    • 1435 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Private prisons scattered across the country house tens of thousands inmates. The companies behind some of the largest private prisons claim they are lifting the weight of taxpayer dollars funding federal prisons. In a billion dollar industry, many find it hard to believe that they’re not working for their own best interest. Humans rights organizations across the country have challenged the corporations behind the industry. These groups argue that this system doesn’t work to rehabilitate prisoners, but rather set their inmates up for failure; reaping in more profit for themselves.…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States has 50 states, “land of the free and home of the brave”, “makes up 5 percent of the world population and also 25% of the world’s prisoners” –President Obama. Our prison system is full of guilty, convicted people serving unnecessary sentences for minor crimes or accused of a crime. Because our system takes in more people for minors as marijuana, and bad checks, our prisons have become shelters for much of our population. We are look at from other nations as a mystery as to why is there so many in prisons, and why do we even have so many prison facilities. Being one of the best free nations, with a democracy system, what makes America different from other nations is that we have to put almost…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    African-American Prisons

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Thirteenth Amendment was designed to free slaves. However, the prison system appears to be a form of slavery itself with the high number of Africa-American incarcerated. Out of the whole prison population, about 80 percent or more are of African descent. After the Civil War, an enormous amount of African-American men were being sent to jail or prison for a long time because of petty crimes such as loitering. That was in the late 1800’s and it is still going on today. The tension between law enforcement officers and African-American is caused by the way police officers are portrayed to African-Americans and how African-American are portrayed to police officers.…

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Supermax Prisons

    • 1519 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Due to increasing crime rates and the extensive belief that rehabilitative programs for inmates do not work, a new and harsher method for prisons is being utilized. Instead of scattering the worst criminals, they are being consolidated into Supermax prisons. Supermax prisons are state of the art penitentiaries meant to hold only the worst of the worst criminals and inmates that cannot be trusted in regular prisons. There are strict regulations and policies to control inmates’ time for communication, recreation, visiting, religious practices, and education even more than regular prisons. More often than not, “inmates in supermax prisons spend 23 hours of every day locked in a small cell” (Hickey pg. 160). Supermax prisons work upon the premise that the most violent and disorderly inmates can be better controlled “by separation, restricted movement, and limited access to staff and other inmates” (Hickey pg. 167). While supermax prisons are believed to reduce crime and increase safety, there are questions of whether or not this is actually the case.…

    • 1519 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People are put in solitary confinement for a number of different reasons, but the most common ones are for those prisoners with mental illness. They are put in solitary confinement so that prison officials have an easier time dealing with their difficulties and dangers. This, however, is not the way to deal with mentally ill prisoners. The effects that solitary confinement has on a person reduces their quality of life down to absolutely nothing and they would be better off getting the electric chair. Solitary confinement is not an effective way of imprisoning humans because it does not accomplish the goal of prisons which is to reform prisoners to be a successful member of society.…

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life In Prison Essay

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Prison cells are far beyond just grimey, but often completely unsanitary: covered in urine, feces, and even vomit. Prison food often leads to nutrient deficiencies and is often described as utterly foul. Inmates on bad behavior are put on nutraloaf, a cruelly disgusting food used as punishment for days or months at a time. Prison life is also difficult because the guards are very rarely rebuked for being hostile to the inmates and incomprehensive to their needs or complaints. This negligence is made even more dangerous because of the threat of some potentially dangerous inmates. Prisons and jails, inevitably is a place where people have violent backgrounds and tendencies. In jail there are a spectrum of people there, from people who have done unforgivable actions to those who may have committed crimes out of necessity, to those who may have been incorrectly convicted. The negligence of guards coupled with this spectrum of people, in such unpleasant living conditions create a powerfully terrible and dangerous situation to be in. People have been stabbed, beaten, raped, and even learn how to become better crime, in a facility with the purpose of preventing people from evil actions. The United States has a recidivism rate of nearly 77%. The current dangerous and unwelcoming state of United States prisons have very evidently failed as correctional…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are plenty reasons that solitary confinement should be changed based on research, but there is also many obvious reasons for it to stay the same. Most people would feel bad for someone just sitting in a jail 23 hours a day but you shouldn't. The reason that they are sitting in a jail for 23 hours a day is because they hurt or did something horribly bad. The only reason they are in jail is because of themselves. For whatever they did this is what they get as a punishment. The most important part of our days is being safe. And to leave these prisoners with others horrid thing may happen.…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays