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Supermax Prison Case Study

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With supermax prison, many feel that they need in order to help with prison overcrowding and maintaining control over inmates that are a threat to the security as well as staff and other inmates. “The Federal Bureau of Prisons returned to the idea of controlling the most violent and disruptive inmates in indefinite solitary confinement when it opened Alcatraz in 1934”(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Over the years it was “judged as an expensive failure, it symbolized a penal philosophy that was outdated in an era that espoused rehabilitation, not punishment, as a goal of incarceration”(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Following these issues, it was later closed. Although some felt that these behaviors came from the long-term segregation some argued …show more content…

Last but not least, in order for some inmates to earn their way out of supermax segregation, they were asked to participate in a study to determine if mental health issues were a problem for the confinement which only allowed inmates to come out of their cells for 1 hour a day. Also, once the inmates and staff of these type of prisons where back in society their where many of questions on whether or not the long hours and shifts inside of supermax prisons had a positive or negative effect on them. The type of inmates that are housed in supermax prisons are ones “who are dangerous or chronically violent, have escaped or attempt to escape from a high security correctional facility, have incited or tempted to incite disruption in correctional facility, or who have prayed on weaker inmates are removed from general population and housed in supermax prisons”(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Many of these types of prisons were “originally designed to house the most violent, hardened, and escape-prone criminals, Supermaxes are increasingly used for persistent rule-breakers, convicted leaders of criminal organizations and gangs, serial killers, and political criminals”(Ross, …show more content…

The officers tend to create what is known as a “we/they syndrome”(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). This relationship is mainly between the officers and the inmates. Also, it has been said that “when there is little interaction except in control situations, the adversarial nature of the relationship tends to be one of dominance and, in return, resistance is present on both sides”(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Last but not least, the officers tend to lose their capacity and become shocked by the things they see or witness in these type of prisons”(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). “Over time it destroys them psychologically and brings outrage and sadism and violence and brutality”(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). If my state was planning on opening up a supermax prison, I would present them with the ways inmates can earn their way out is by self-control, following the direction of the staff, and participate in work-study programs as well as educational programs. Although “supermax prisons subject inmates to extreme isolation and sensory deprivation for extended periods of time, the main goal and focus are to teach them how to obey the laws of the facility and have respect for the staff and other inmates”(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). In order to released from supermax inmates will have to go under monitoring to ensure that they have gain control of their behaviors

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Super Max facilities focus more on the punishment side of incarceration than rehabilitation, generally. Some regard Super Max prisons as torture which is forbidden by the Eighth Amendment, because of the harsh conditions of solitary confinement, the forceful and aggressive means by which the guards and prison staff must conduct their time with inmates, and the mental stress that comes with the hopelessness of being confined in a small cell with no communication and one hour per day of exercise (Tapley, 2010). There is little to no means of a release of the tension or anxiety that is built up within the inmates of a Super Max prison. When these individuals are released they are expected to integrate back into society, yet they have been institutionalized by the severity of their confinement. It is an easy an easy avenue for

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The U.S. prison systems has evolved greatly in the pasts centuries in many ways, but the most critical part where it greatly improved was the security of the facilities, the inmate treatment, and the construction of the building of how stable it is. The first and most important is the security. A prison system has to have a strict security system because without it prisoners can do whatever they want. So, they developed a security system where there are five levels: the higher the level is the stronger it is. Not all prisons do the same security because different buildings mean different levels.

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A supermax prison is a prison facility that represents the most secure level of custody in the prisons system. This prison is intended for inmates who are unmanageable in the general population or inmates who are classified as high security risks. Examples of inmates in these prisons include Sulaiman Abu Ghaith who was convicted for providing material support to terrorists, Naser Jason Abdo who was convicted of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and Eric Rudolph who was convicted of carrying out bombings. All these inmates are housed at ADX Florence. These prisoners should be in supermax because they pose a high security risk.

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Major Ethical Issues of Solitary Confinement Solitary confinement can affect a person’s physical and mental health simply because it deprives an individual of their need to interact with others on a daily basis. Solitary confinement, which is used to restrain violent and volatile inmates from the general prison population, is done in increments ranging from several months to years. In an article retrieved from the American Psychological Association, ‘Alone, in ‘the Hole’’, the author states that, “for most of the 20th century, prisoners' stays in solitary confinement were relatively short.” This was the standing rule, in which inmates visited what is known as ‘the hole’, for several weeks to months. As time went by, the average length of stay

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As a result of these privileges given to the inmates upon their arrival, the prisoner have no real incentive to follow the rules and regulations therefore prison officials must bribe and coerced them. A way to fix the defects of total power, prison officials should change or eliminate the reward system. Instead of providing inmates with rewards upon their arrivals at the prison, guards should use a positive reinforcement system where inmates get to enjoy certain privileges if and only if they follow the rules and regulations of the prison. Another structural defects are the inadequacies of the prison staff. Almost half of all the guards at the New Jersey State prison were temporary employees.

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In 1971, 1 out of 12 Americans were incarcerated. Since that time, the prisoner ratio has exponentially increased; today, that ratio is 1 out of 51. With that number continuing to rise, many problems result out of it. Prison overcrowding is a growing problem in the United States. The number of people being taken in has regressive effects on the purpose behind imprisonment.

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First you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That 's institutionalized.’ A prison should aim at retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. I am very well convinced that prison has served its first three purposes by depriving offenders’ freedom, but the

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Alcatraz was an amazing prison, it held the most dangerous people in America. Then it began to fall apart. In 1963 it closed its doors for good. Now, you can feel what it’s like to be in a super prison. That is the story of Alcatraz from beginning to

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Some might argue that solitary confinement is actually effective and has its benefits, however this is not the case since this punishment only seems to make criminals much more dangerous when they leave prison than they were before and research shows that inmates who left solitary confinement experience increased anger and end up committing the kind of criminality that society is looking to prevent by using this method of punishment. Thus, solitary confinement ultimately fails as a rehabilitative measure, and as a way to "settle down" problematic

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In order to do this they need to make new centers to help prisoners inside better themselves. In Alabama prisons may soon shut down 14 of its prisons for overcrowding, neglect, and violence in the state’s correction systems. In the prison St. Clair Holman in Alabama the prison system makes prisoners act different. There is no safety, security or supervision. “We have people being killed, sexually assaulted, raped, stabbed on daily basis at St. Clair, Holman, and multiple facilities; it’s a systemwide problem,” said Charlotte Morrison, a senior attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), which represents Alabama prisoner.”

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