Tuesday, September 3, 2013

A view into a Supermax Prison Cell



“Maximum Security”, a place you might think that a prisoner will get sent to when his behavior is so out of control that it cannot be controlled in a regular setting of a local prison, where he/she never sees the light of day and gets fed only bread and water. Certainly some of us wish that it was like this, but with prisoners having more rights today than 25 years ago, things have changed. Whether you call it maximum security, supermax or special housing units, these places were built to populate inmates who have proven that they are unfit to even live among other prisoners. A research group in a 1997 report to the National Institute of Corrections explained the rationale for the supermax prison as follows: For the management and secure control of inmates who have been officially designated as exhibiting violent or serious and disruptive behavior while incarcerated. Banks, Cynthia Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory in Practice (p. 145).  
So how do you basically describe life in a supermax prison? The descriptions of Administrative Maximum (ADX) Florence in Colorado, also known as the Alcatraz of the Rockies, houses about 500 of the worst inmates in the prison system. Here inmates are kept in their cells, which are about the size of an average bathroom 23 hours a day and are only let out 5 hours a week to personal recreation time. Inside their cells are a bed made of concrete, a toilet and shower, and a black and white television that only transmits educational and religious programming.
Many say that this type of environment would make any sane person insane and perhaps it may be true, but with the severity of crimes rates rising every year perhaps this is the best last stop for these criminals.

References:
Banks, C.  (2013). Chapter 6: Ethics in Corrections, Maximum Security. Criminal Justice Ethics (3d Ed): Theory and Practice (pg. 135) London: Sage Publications

The World’s Most Secure Prison: ADX Florence (July 12, 2011). Retrieved from http://sometimes-interesting.com/2011/07/12/the-world’s-most-secure-prison-adx-florence/