One woman is described as, “clinging to or beating upon the bars of her caged apartment... unwashed [body] invested with fragments of unclean garments... irritation of body produced by utter filth an exposure incited her to t he horrid process of tearing off her skin by inches,”(Dix 5). Dix also describes how cages were a commonplace within almshouses by stating, “Hardly a town but can refer to some not distant period of using [cages],”(Dix 4). In this manner, Dix is imploring the Massachusetts Legislature to take immediate action. By describing these wretched conditions, Dix gives evidence and reason for reformation. The indecent livelihood of the mentally ill brought to the surface by Dix brings to question the effectiveness of the current prison system in Massachusetts.
On January 20, 2017 the documentary They Call Us Monsters was released. They Call Us Monsters was directed by Ben Lear and goes behind the walls of the Los Angeles County Jail, which houses some of the most violent juvenile criminals. The documentary focuses on three inmates they are all teenagers with one being in prison since age fourteen. The documentary surrounds itself with the lives of Juan, Jared, and Antonio who are taking a screenwriting class from the producer Gabe Conway. Juan who was arrested at age sixteen faces 90-to-life for first-degree murder; Jared who was also arrested at sixteen faces 200-years on four attempted murders; Antonio who was arrested at age fourteen and faces 90-to-life for two attempted murders.
Nicole Williams Ms. DeLong Juvenile Justice System Essay February 1st, 2018 Cyntoia Brown: Juvenile in Prison Cyntoia Brown was born in 1988 to her biological mother Georgina Mitchell. Her mother had given her up for adoption by the time she was two years old to a woman named Ellenette Brown.
The theme is that the job of the Released and Restored is intimidating, but rewarding. The assistant talked about how her job was to teach the inmates about job interviews, money, and anger management, and she enjoys the men classes. However, the assistant was overwhelmed and still is when she has to walk into the prison. She is nervous and advices that you be aware of your surroundings. She is only 22 years old and the people she teaches are much older than her, which makes it hard for her.
Summary: The prison reform movement was a generally successful movement led by Dorothea Dix in the mid-1800’s. This movement sought to reform the poor conditions of prisons and establish separate hospitals for the mentally insane. In this article written by Dorothea Dix, directly addresses the general assembly of North Carolina, she explains the lack of care for the mentally insane and the necessary care for them. In the section regarding the jails, she talks about how the insane are locked up because they pose of a threat to the public’s safety not confined somewhere. Also, they are stationed in small cells chained up which is torturing them, and only the rich can afford to be sent to hospitals where they take much better care of.
Social justice is the belief that every person deserves equal opportunity in economics, politics, and civil rights. For a country that values social justice as a foundational principle, the United States has a Penal system filled with social injustice. Four decades ago, there were 300,000 people in jails and prisons. Today, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world with 2.3 million prisoners. Atul Gawande, a professor of medicine and public health at Harvard University, examines the Penal System and the detrimental effects regarding solitary confinement in prisons.
In this article, the writer talked about Willie Bosket Jr. The person who was in the Woodbourne Correctional Facility Prison. He said that the legislators of New York were thinking to give Bosket a death plenty for him and for other criminals like him. He described Bosket as a monster.
The prisoners had seen and experienced so much brutality, endured repeated beatings, and humiliated beyond imagination, so one more death did not affect them. Their emotions hardened to the point of being non-existent… or so they thought. Although the prisoners seemed hardened and unaffected by death, a different hanging did deeply affect them.
Isaiah 59:8 illustrates, "The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths. " Clearly, Scripture recognizes the existence of flaws of the behavior in man. Injustice comes in many forms. Racism, prejudice, false judgment, and stereotyping are all skewed perceptions. These distortions spill over into behaviors and human interactions, often resulting in the suffering of the innocent.
However, the sad reality is that in most cases is too late and an individual will not get treatment for a mental health diagnosis while in prison. In this case I feel that Leon is a victim of environmental, his mother’s mental health issues, social support, and finical poverty that caused him to become who he is today. Early interventions could by educators, and mental health professionals could have helped Leon at an eelier stage in his life.
Respect for persons was not adhered to at all. This first principle incorporates two principles, “first, that individuals should be treated as autonomous agents, and second, that persons with diminished autonomy are entitled to protection.” The prisoners were not treated as independent people and the people that could not be independent were not protected. I think they fell into the mob mentality with this piece. The next area is beneficence; the participants were not treated in an ethical manner nor was their well-being secured.
During this week, we have covered numerous topics, none more prominent than the oppression of women. Everyone had different opinions, allowing me to take into account different views on the issue. In one of the texts we examined, “Oppression”, Marilyn Frye, a philosopher, debates the subjugation of women. She states the cultural customs that causes oppression of women. I do agree with her view that women are oppressed, but I do not agree that it is just women.
Victims can’t get names removed is an article written by Marty Sharpe for Stuff.co.nz on 21 May 2014. It is about two girls who were abused and harassed for many years by Christopher Hill. Hill has gone to prison for seven years but he has the names of his victims tattooed on his arms and the girls cannot get it removed. This article made me think about how in ways prisoners have more rights than people think. It also made me think about how people don’t always trust the right people.
The article I read was the last words of a prison inmate. He has written the letter to his mother., condoning her for his upbringing. How her actions help lead him to the life he had, and the actions he did. It was a great example of the right and wrong parents should teach their parents. As well as an outcry for education to strengthen, both the parent and the child alike.
Prejean summarizes what Patrick has to say about what it is like in the prison, saying “he’s already been sent to the “hole” because someone with a grievance had put contraband under his mattress. He had protested but to no avail. ‘You got no defense in this place’” (33). This shows how people in prison do not have many rights, and no one will stand up
