“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/
Marlin, I never realized what a maximum detention cell would look like until you provide these photos. Hard to imagine living in that small a space 24 x 7, however, if you act like an animal, you should be treated as such. When you look at it, the space isn't that bad. It sure beats a prison cell 5o years ago. They have a shower and bathroom in their unit, not to mention a TV. I would like to know what the food is like?
ReplyDeleteMarlon: You have written an informative blog. The photograph and artist's rendition of a maximum security cell enhanced your blog. Professor Taylor
ReplyDeleteThe debate on the effects that solitary confinement or segregation has on the human mind has grown in the last couple of years. Prisoners in segregation are confined to an 80-square-foot cell for 23 hours a day, seven days a week. They typically get one hour a day of recreation five times a week, during which they are confined to a 96-square-foot, fenced area that can be described only as a cage. They eat alone in their cells and, by design, have little, if any, interaction with others. Some argue that this type of treatment violate the 8th amendment against cruel and unusual punishment. The state of Virginia has two super max facilities where they have recently started a new program to allow inmates housed under these condition the opportunity to work their way out. I feel the state may be going away from indefinite segregation of it inmates and looking for other options.
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