We had an opportunity to tour the facility where our fellow classmates are serving their sentence. Joseph Harp Correctional Center is a medium security facility that houses a total of about 1,400 offenders. It is the largest medium security facility in the state. This facility is full of diverse groups of individuals. It houses a variety of offenders like the mentally ill and youthful offenders. On our tour we visited the mental health units, juvenile unit, geriatric unit, and a general population unit. The first unit we visited was the mental health unit. This unit is broken into two different sections: Mental Health Unit I and Mental Health Unit II. Mental Health Unit I is the strictest level in the mental units. It is for those individuals
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Inmates spend 23 to 24 hours a day in their single, 60 X 80-sq.-foot, high security barren cells with minimal access to educational, religious, or other self-help programs (p.123). Inmates in administrative segregation do not know if they will be transferred back to general population or will remain locked down until they finish their entire sentence.
The Mental Health Unit II is more relaxed than unit I. It is considered a transition unit from mental unit to general population. It houses those that take their medication, stay out of trouble, and continue to make progress. They are house with a cellmate and are allowed to have things in their cell like books and a television. These inmates are allowed out of their cell, which allows them to have more access to programs.
Even for the most hardened criminals, prison can be a scary place. Assaults, fights, and other acts of violence are common in a prison setting. Those that cannot “make it” in general population because they are simply too weak to survive without protection are placed in protective custody (p.123). The protective custody unit is less punitive which allows them to have more freedom. Protective custody units are allowed out of their cells for recreation time, participating in self-help programs, and even holding paid work assignments. They are allowed to have reading materials, radios, and perhaps even television in their cells. In many units, these inmates will have cellmates rather than being single celled (p.
Inmates spend 23 to 24 hours a day in their single, 60 X 80-sq.-foot, high security barren cells with minimal access to educational, religious, or other self-help programs (p.123). Inmates in administrative segregation do not know if they will be transferred back to general population or will remain locked down until they finish their entire sentence.
The Mental Health Unit II is more relaxed than unit I. It is considered a transition unit from mental unit to general population. It houses those that take their medication, stay out of trouble, and continue to make progress. They are house with a cellmate and are allowed to have things in their cell like books and a television. These inmates are allowed out of their cell, which allows them to have more access to programs.
Even for the most hardened criminals, prison can be a scary place. Assaults, fights, and other acts of violence are common in a prison setting. Those that cannot “make it” in general population because they are simply too weak to survive without protection are placed in protective custody (p.123). The protective custody unit is less punitive which allows them to have more freedom. Protective custody units are allowed out of their cells for recreation time, participating in self-help programs, and even holding paid work assignments. They are allowed to have reading materials, radios, and perhaps even television in their cells. In many units, these inmates will have cellmates rather than being single celled (p.