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Alcatraz Jail Reflection

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This was such a unique experience for me because I have never visited a jail before. I had misconceptions about what it would look like, I imagined it would be similar to the Alcatraz Jail with prisoners behind bars. I was scared that they would be able to reach out or be able to spit on me. When we first entered the jail we were separated by the walls and the glass, so we didn’t go inside to see each holding cell. It was not as dangerous as I thought because I was kind of nervous going into it. Another misconception about the jail was that I thought the inmates were going to be like “monsters” but in reality they looked like everyday citizens. There is no ‘look’ for an inmate, you obviously couldn 't tell who was charged with what. They looked like normal people. In the jail, it was interesting to see the two way mirrors, knowing somebody is looking at me and I can’t see them. I was surprised to find out that the officers didn’t carry around guns for safety reasons because if an inmate gets their hands on an officer 's gun they can use it for their advantage. This came to show the extent of the …show more content…

I thought it was great that they have these programs to help the inmates. I think programs are crucial so that the inmates can be rehabilitated into society and also these people don’t revert back to jail again. Jail activities are important so when they go out, they can be functioning members of society and learn to work with one another. Going into the whole situation I felt weird about touring the jail because I thought it will make the inmates feel uncomfortable. Also, it reminded me of inmates assuming the position of ‘zoo animals’ and I didn 't like that. But on the other hand, the inmates would have seen as coming from a juvenile detention center, people teaching us a lesson to not be bad kids or this is where we will end up. Taking a tour of the jail made me reflect on life. It showed the starkness of life and that we need to be careful of what decisions we

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