Aug 6 2012: BIG Business, Correctional Services, especially in USA.
I went to California, quite a few years ago, and (somewhat reluctantly), called a few prisons by telephone. My prison manager, (Governor, in the old talk,) encouraged me to do this, and then it was a "study tour", of how prisons operated in America, and a lot of the expenses were tax deductable.
"What will I study ?" I asked him..." Who cares", was his reply. "just make something up."
So I decided to study "Suicide Prevention programs in Californian Prisons."
I then wrote a list of about 20 seemingly "intelligent" questions to ask.
When I rang California Mens Facilty, I asked to be put through to the Psychitric Unit, and spoke to the head psychiatrist. "Oh you work in XXXX prison in Victoria , Australia,"...Mr Keen , do you ?"...(Yes).
How many "clients" do you have in your psych. facility..(About 50).."Oh, that would be nice" she said.
I asked how many prison "clients" were in HER psych. facility.
"About 3,500" she said."
Oh my God I said...that is a BIG prison"
"Mr K ", she said ..."that is only HALF THE PRISON , CMF has 7,000 inmates ...The other 3,500, are just not crazy....We have 17 full time psychiatrists, 27 psychologists, as well as an untold numbers of welfare workers, social workers, medical staff and others . And that NOT include the uniform staff.!!
BIG BUSINESS..Bloody Oath..!!
In my "state of origin", the prison population, DOUBLED in the 10 years after I left,..( in 1996..) DOUBLED.from 2,000 to 4,000 !!."clients".. (i.e "crims", as we used to call them...)
With most of the prisons now being "privatised"..i.e ''run for profit" by Group 4 and Corrections Corporation of America, to name just 2....( THEY BUILD the "prison" AND staff them)..
The land is usually "donated" by the local council, for NOTHING!..( because of all the JOBS and MONEY created for the "local economy")
Corporatisation of prisons, and prisoners, FOR PROFIT...who would have thunk it...!!
Aug 6 2012: Thanks Steve.
Sounds like you are an up to date, and on the ball, prison officer, social worker, welfare worker, psych nurse, helper volounteer, tradesman civilian overseer, or someone in a similar capacity.
Did I hit it "right on the head", or not even close ?
The fact remains , that have seen DOZENS of good people , exactly like you, who have been, blackmailed, had their wives and children threatened, seduced into providing drugs, and even sex, for highly manipulative, career criminals, who just chew up and spit out wonderful, well intentioned people, who as well as doing their job, are GENUINELY interested in the welfare , and rehabilitation, of those inmates they work with.
After the implementation of the Equal opportunity Act in Australia, guess what, the stated goal of the Victorian (Australia) government, was 50 % of prison (uniform) staff would be FEMALE.(sexuality)
No matter how well ANY prison is run, somtimes, either for medical, or management reasons, a prisoner has to "locked up", due to an assault taking place..(quite common in prisons), or somtimes because a psychotic episode", has made a mentally ill person, extremely dagerous, to himself, staff, or other prisoners.
This may be resolved by "chemical restraint", i.e. higher than usual doses of anti-psyctic medication, prescribed by his supervising medical officer (usually a psychiatrist ), or mechanical restraint, if drugs are NOT medically authorised,i.e. Handcuffs, restraint jackets, body chains,batons, attack dogs, (in extreme situations), such as riot, deliberately lit fires, and injury of both civilian and or uniform staff.
This RARELY happens in modern Corrections, because prisoners are given LOTS, of "goodies", that can be "taken off" them, for disipliniary reasons. Canteen spends,( chocolates, hobby materials,) color T.V.'s Computers, access to the gym, pool, entertainment programs,( watch Johnny Cash in Fulsom Prison, for example.) Only the BEST behaved prisoners,got to that show !..
Jul 27 2012: I worked for 17 years in a maximum security prison in Australia, as an operational "on the ground" prison officer, and got to know a lot of prisoners well, on a personal level.
Mad, Bad, and Sad are 3 appropriate generalisations, which I would agree with.
You seem to overlooked one other important category, those criminals who have freely CHOSEN this lifestyle, with occasional incarceration seen as nothing more than an "occupational hazard".
Conjugal visits are now allowed in many facilities , to try to maintain the integrity of the prisoners family unit.
The hours are good, about 4-5 hour work per day,....If you CHOOSE to work ...and in the newer up to date facilties, a level of comfort such as air conditioning and heating, pool tables,.. colour cable TV's in each cell... are not available to many honest citizens.
Taxpayer funded ...
(i.e.free to the prisoner) medical, dental, dietry and psychological support.
Meals if required, to meet your religious beliefs,i.e Ramadan for Muslims.
Free gym, swimming pool, playing fields and general sporting equipment . Free cable television. Free educational programs, up to and including University level.
Support from lots of well meaning individuals and organisations to assist prisoners "rehabilitation"
(The root meaning of this word is to "restore to the previous level of functional capacity"..).
In 17 years, I could count the number of prisoners I knew, who turned their lives around , on the fingers of both hands.
The rest (about 70%) are recidivists, who come and go through the "revolving door" As late as 1980 prisons around the world , had generally pretty undesirable conditions for prisoner to live in.
Now for a lot of intellectually and socially challenged individuals, prison is the BEST LIFE THEY ARE LIKELY TO HAVE.
The sadness of this sitiuation is not lost on me, but the solution to incarcerating more and more dysfunctional, and often mentally ill people certainly is.
Aug 27 2011: Never...Schools are bureaucratic institutions, run on a corporate model, whether private or public.
View the dvd "The Corporation".
Challenge the "corporate viewpoint", and you will be slowly, but surely, "squeezed out", by the people who have a vested interest in controlling the corporation, and maintaining the existing power structure..
TEDCred score: +0.20 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.
A reply on Conversation: Does prison work?
I went to California, quite a few years ago, and (somewhat reluctantly), called a few prisons by telephone. My prison manager, (Governor, in the old talk,) encouraged me to do this, and then it was a "study tour", of how prisons operated in America, and a lot of the expenses were tax deductable.
"What will I study ?" I asked him..." Who cares", was his reply. "just make something up."
So I decided to study "Suicide Prevention programs in Californian Prisons."
I then wrote a list of about 20 seemingly "intelligent" questions to ask.
When I rang California Mens Facilty, I asked to be put through to the Psychitric Unit, and spoke to the head psychiatrist. "Oh you work in XXXX prison in Victoria , Australia,"...Mr Keen , do you ?"...(Yes).
How many "clients" do you have in your psych. facility..(About 50).."Oh, that would be nice" she said.
I asked how many prison "clients" were in HER psych. facility.
"About 3,500" she said."
Oh my God I said...that is a BIG prison"
"Mr K ", she said ..."that is only HALF THE PRISON , CMF has 7,000 inmates ...The other 3,500, are just not crazy....We have 17 full time psychiatrists, 27 psychologists, as well as an untold numbers of welfare workers, social workers, medical staff and others . And that NOT include the uniform staff.!!
BIG BUSINESS..Bloody Oath..!!
In my "state of origin", the prison population, DOUBLED in the 10 years after I left,..( in 1996..) DOUBLED.from 2,000 to 4,000 !!."clients".. (i.e "crims", as we used to call them...)
With most of the prisons now being "privatised"..i.e ''run for profit" by Group 4 and Corrections Corporation of America, to name just 2....( THEY BUILD the "prison" AND staff them)..
The land is usually "donated" by the local council, for NOTHING!..( because of all the JOBS and MONEY created for the "local economy")
Corporatisation of prisons, and prisoners, FOR PROFIT...who would have thunk it...!!
A comment on Conversation: Does prison work?
Sounds like you are an up to date, and on the ball, prison officer, social worker, welfare worker, psych nurse, helper volounteer, tradesman civilian overseer, or someone in a similar capacity.
Did I hit it "right on the head", or not even close ?
The fact remains , that have seen DOZENS of good people , exactly like you, who have been, blackmailed, had their wives and children threatened, seduced into providing drugs, and even sex, for highly manipulative, career criminals, who just chew up and spit out wonderful, well intentioned people, who as well as doing their job, are GENUINELY interested in the welfare , and rehabilitation, of those inmates they work with.
After the implementation of the Equal opportunity Act in Australia, guess what, the stated goal of the Victorian (Australia) government, was 50 % of prison (uniform) staff would be FEMALE.(sexuality)
No matter how well ANY prison is run, somtimes, either for medical, or management reasons, a prisoner has to "locked up", due to an assault taking place..(quite common in prisons), or somtimes because a psychotic episode", has made a mentally ill person, extremely dagerous, to himself, staff, or other prisoners.
This may be resolved by "chemical restraint", i.e. higher than usual doses of anti-psyctic medication, prescribed by his supervising medical officer (usually a psychiatrist ), or mechanical restraint, if drugs are NOT medically authorised,i.e. Handcuffs, restraint jackets, body chains,batons, attack dogs, (in extreme situations), such as riot, deliberately lit fires, and injury of both civilian and or uniform staff.
This RARELY happens in modern Corrections, because prisoners are given LOTS, of "goodies", that can be "taken off" them, for disipliniary reasons. Canteen spends,( chocolates, hobby materials,) color T.V.'s Computers, access to the gym, pool, entertainment programs,( watch Johnny Cash in Fulsom Prison, for example.) Only the BEST behaved prisoners,got to that show !..
A comment on Conversation: Does prison work?
Mad, Bad, and Sad are 3 appropriate generalisations, which I would agree with.
You seem to overlooked one other important category, those criminals who have freely CHOSEN this lifestyle, with occasional incarceration seen as nothing more than an "occupational hazard".
Conjugal visits are now allowed in many facilities , to try to maintain the integrity of the prisoners family unit.
The hours are good, about 4-5 hour work per day,....If you CHOOSE to work ...and in the newer up to date facilties, a level of comfort such as air conditioning and heating, pool tables,.. colour cable TV's in each cell... are not available to many honest citizens.
Taxpayer funded ...
(i.e.free to the prisoner) medical, dental, dietry and psychological support.
Meals if required, to meet your religious beliefs,i.e Ramadan for Muslims.
Free gym, swimming pool, playing fields and general sporting equipment . Free cable television. Free educational programs, up to and including University level.
Support from lots of well meaning individuals and organisations to assist prisoners "rehabilitation"
(The root meaning of this word is to "restore to the previous level of functional capacity"..).
In 17 years, I could count the number of prisoners I knew, who turned their lives around , on the fingers of both hands.
The rest (about 70%) are recidivists, who come and go through the "revolving door" As late as 1980 prisons around the world , had generally pretty undesirable conditions for prisoner to live in.
Now for a lot of intellectually and socially challenged individuals, prison is the BEST LIFE THEY ARE LIKELY TO HAVE.
The sadness of this sitiuation is not lost on me, but the solution to incarcerating more and more dysfunctional, and often mentally ill people certainly is.
Any ideas out there ?
A comment on Conversation: How are we going to get Conscious Listening into schools?
View the dvd "The Corporation".
Challenge the "corporate viewpoint", and you will be slowly, but surely, "squeezed out", by the people who have a vested interest in controlling the corporation, and maintaining the existing power structure..