tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184990032979540229.post248999082778454384..comments2023-10-25T09:49:43.089+01:00Comments on BEN'S PRISON BLOG - Lifer On The Loose: Answers 2prisonerbenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14923205052778958118noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184990032979540229.post-52923173556172642162012-12-10T16:30:27.948+00:002012-12-10T16:30:27.948+00:00Prisonisation is a new term to me. Should I be sub...Prisonisation is a new term to me. Should I be substituting it for what I've been terming institutionalisation? What I'm referring to is something I've heard described by a few people, such as someone who described himself as having been 'a career criminal', in and out of reform school then prison all his life. He said eventually he was more comfortable inside as he knew where to get what he needed (drugs), all his mates were in there, the screws all knew him, and his basic needs seemed to him to be met. He, and someone else who'd done a few years, also said they re-created their cell on the outside and followed the same routine as on the inside for some time. (One of them told me he could still hear the prison soundscape in his head, that being said he was a bit mentally unstable at the time.) And I'm also talking about people deliberately getting sent back inside once they are released. Daniélenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184990032979540229.post-25270295129290768312009-11-12T21:16:52.772+00:002009-11-12T21:16:52.772+00:00@doug. What you say is shocking at every level. Al...@doug. What you say is shocking at every level. All institutions have this urge to suck the life out of people, it is depressing.madalbertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184990032979540229.post-7358524369723047832009-11-12T18:35:06.323+00:002009-11-12T18:35:06.323+00:00Hi Ben
You say institutionalisation in prisoners ...Hi Ben<br /><br />You say institutionalisation in prisoners / ex prisoners is difficult to define and nobody's done a good job. I can imagine that but in the residential care sector I think I can give it a shot.<br /><br />I think you've hit the nail on the head when you talk about self-belief, or as I would put it, confidence. Residents, and to one extent or another coal-face staff, are conditioned into expecting low standards and having low expectations / aspirations about their quality of life.<br /><br />Some of the people in the home I live in have been here 50, 60, 70+ years. They've been in an institution all their lives. No attempt was made to teach them to read or write. One lady was spoken to in baby language throughout her childhood, teens and twenties and so she has never learned to comprehend or produce speech. <br /><br />To give another example: current funding arrangements for residential care mean that anybody who has any form of State assistance in paying their fees - which is the case for most working age people in residential care - are not able to keep any of their earnings, and indeed would be worse off than the state of penury we are kept in (the majority of our benefits are taken off us to pay for the home). We simply can't afford to work. The funding system is a legacy of the 1948 National Assistance Act, it's not changed in 60 years.<br /><br />Now, the organisation who runs the home I live in has 2,100 people of working age in their residential homes. It claims to enable disabled people to have aspirations, run a normal life and have the support etc. they need. But when I asked them about the rules about earning in residential care, they weren't even aware of them. That is, none of their residents have ever got as far as that rule - all the other factors (low expectations, "learned helplessness" (though I know you dislike that term) and so on) had stopped them getting that far.<br /><br />That's institutionalisation, in my view. And when they come across difficult customers (you and I have something in common in this regard), educated people who have a defined sense of right and wrong and their rights, people who hold them to account against their own stated policies and procedures, they firstly have a head in the sand approach, they can't cope, and ultimately they victimise them.<br /><br />The sad thing is, prisoners are expected to be challenging / unamangeable / to not like their situation / to attempt to escape / to experience punishment, whilst residents pay towards their incarceration and are expected to be grateful for their treatment! Perhaps even more sad is that many residents come to accept or even value this system as they just aren't aware of what their life could really be like "outside" or if their rights were truly respected and acted upon - or even if they are aware, just for a quiet life and to avoid retribution.<br /><br />Now that's institutionalisation for you. It exists and is rife in some sectors, even if it's not necessarily identifiable in the prison sector (for which I take your word)<br /><br />All the best to you as always<br /><br />DougDoug Paulleyhttp://www.kingqueen.org.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184990032979540229.post-40066339362301691522009-11-12T09:42:38.328+00:002009-11-12T09:42:38.328+00:00I find your blog both entertaining and highly info...I find your blog both entertaining and highly informative but my thoughts often come back to the fact that you've never lived on the outside as an adult.<br /><br />Specifically, when you say:<br /><br />"Six billion people bumble through daily life okay, how hard can it be? What do you think I may have problems with?"<br /><br />Of course you are right in a way, but humans are always learning and adapting and facing new problems - just as I can have no real idea of what prison life is like without experiencing it myself (although I many think I do) the reverse is also true.<br /><br />You equate prison to a foreign country at one point; I recently returned from living abroad for 3 years, and even though I had grown up in Britain for 24 years nothing could have prepared me for the shock I got on my return.<br /><br />Although, of course, being inside is harder than being on the outside (presumably that's partly the intention), and I don't mean to cause offence by this, but the sense of responsibility and helplessness that one feels having to break their back everyday to earn just enough to keep them and their family alive - knowing that there's no safety net and if they f*ck up they'll go hungry - is such a burden that i'm surprised 6 billion manage it.<br /><br />Of course this isn't everyone's experience, but having spent the last 3 years just about keeping my head above water (and having read your blog since the first post) I feel an honest concern for lifers who get out - that maybe once they've got over the initial excitement and settle down into the drudgery of life - with the true and honest realisation that food and board etc is now their sole responsibility - they might feel a little overwhelmed.<br /><br />Have you ever heard anything like this from any of your friends who are fresh out?<br /><br />...sorry if my post is a little pessimistic.tonkatsunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3184990032979540229.post-79460330362876504862009-11-12T08:56:08.294+00:002009-11-12T08:56:08.294+00:00I am partially with you wrt restorative justice an...I am partially with you wrt restorative justice and that it is under used. Back home in New Zealand stimulated by a Maori desire for their cultural norms the Justice dept did institute it and it can work. <br /><br />It is used for relatively minor things, but can be used for things like serious assault. However the sticker is always that the victims have to be willing to play ball. If you try and force them then they play hard ball and the whole thing falls apart. <br /><br />So I'll ask a supplementary question if I may:<br /><br />In a restorative justice system how do you handle victims of crime who are out for revenge at all costs? Everyone reacts to crime differently. <br /><br />This is after all the basis for taking criminal justice out of the direct hands of the community originally. Lynchings are never pretty.Peter in Dundeenoreply@blogger.com