Abuse In Prisons

“Most of those released from prison today have serious social and medical problems. They remain largely uneducated, unskilled, and usually without solid family supports....”( Petersilia 3). When people think of prisons and corrections, they automatically assume people are going to jail and staying there. However, most of those people go to prison where they have to face the harsh reality of not having family come visit them, they may not like the food, abuse from other inmates including officers, as well as the thought of being on your own. Leading to the main problem of those released from prison, mental illnesses.
When prisoners are released from prison, they go through prisoner reentry, which is the process by which the prisoners are released …show more content…
Gomez (1995). This case was a massive-class action suit, that was brought in on the behalf of 3,500 prisoners at Pelican Bay, where they encountered abuse from the officers. One of the cases that occurred while being contained was including an African-American prisoner with a mental illness had smeared feces on himself, was forced into a tub water that was dangerously hot causing 3rd degree burns on his body. Another example involved an inmate who refused to return his food tray, which caused him to be shot with a gas gun, pistol whipped, beaten, knocked unconscious twice, and dragged out of his cell face down. After the judge listened to this case, he ruled that the officers were being too cruel and wanted there to be an overhaul of policing practices as well as medical practices for Pelican Bay. The judge also appointed a federal monitor to make sure the changes were …show more content…
Rehabilitation became the main the focus of the corrections system. Which was simply the process of believing that inmates can be treated and return to a lifestyle that features no crime. However, as the time progressed, the rehabilitation system went from trying to help the inmates reduce recidivism to just being more manageable. Recidivism refers to a person that relapses into criminal behavior after previously being treated for another crime. The change in the rehabilitation system was due to the fact that once the programs in prisons started to grow, legislators believed that having work programs instead of an inmate's education would be further useful, as in a way to try to reform them. “It is the duty of prisons to govern fairly and well within their own walls. It is not their duty to reform, rehabilitate, or reintegrate offenders into society” (Logan