Lockdowns and Mental Health:
“If you wish to create opportunities to lock down prisoners for extended periods of time, well… just lock them down for extended periods of time.”
-Anonymous inmate.
Greetings, and my apologies for not posting a journal entry for some time. The reason is, well, that is what I am getting to now. Lockdowns were not a key feature of this facility when I got here in April of 2023. They are now a very regular occurrence, lasting no less than two weeks each time with the most recent one lasting over a month.
Lockdowns are horrible for the human psyche and cause permanent damage to one’s mental health. Personally, I “like” them now as it is the only time I can experience a quiet (for the most part) atmosphere during waking hours, and I get many hobby craft projects done. This is not, however, true for nearly all other inmates housed in the Bureau of Prisons, and I can noticeably observe and track the mental degradation of others. By the end of only one week most inmates “break”- Yelling and screaming, kicking doors out of frustration, refusing meals, trying to fight their cellmates, hurling insults at staff, and many other things. After the one week mark, Many begin to develop serious mental health issues signaled by the manifestation of compulsive habits such as habitual hand-washing, pacing, vocal and physical tics, and symptoms of paranoia and aggressive tendencies.
These mental health issues, of course, exacerbate the friction between staff and inmates, and between inmates of different allegiances, and this in turn creates an environment that is much more hostile than each previous lockdown. In effect it is a vicious cycle that once reaches a “tipping point,” cannot be undone.
I am certain that if the staff of this facility read and screen my e-mails, they would be delighted to see that their desired results are indeed occurring. The problem is, this is entirely contrary to any sensible idea of penological interest as the goal is to re-enter society rehabilitated as a lawful citizen who can form healthy interpersonal relationships and be productive.
Or is it?
If we did indeed properly take steps to eradicate crime, then prisons would no longer be truly necessary. Which in turn means the fleets of staff, including much of these toxic individuals that wish to purposely breed hostility, would be completely out of a job. Being a “custody officer” is often viewed as the only line of work that would allow egregious civil rights violations to routinely occur, most of these employees would not hold a job in any other field, as the cynical joke goes amongst inmates. Besides, who is against creating a little of their own job security by increasing recidivism?
As recently as the end of April of this year, my cellmate kept a stable job, went out to play sports and exercised regularly, taught himself to speak English, and went to church. Sounds like a productive citizen, right? Now he quit his job, sits in the cell or just outside the cell all day and re-reads the same legal paperwork over and over, and makes constant noises as he repetitively sucks his teeth for hours on end. The change occurred during this last lockdown that hasted for over a month, and the lockdown’s cause was the mere specter of contraband. What were the staff doing as we were forced to eat peanut butter sandwiches and were denied medical care? We saw a barbeque grill and coolers full of Gatorade on our recreation yard.
If you are anyone important in government and are reading our journals looking for true, thought-out advice on how to create progress and improve society, please take steps to end this barbaric practice that is frequently abused, or at the very least make it extremely difficult to approve its practice without some sort of strict approval from a non-BOP official. I implore you to create some sort of oversight committee staffed with psychologists and good-natured individuals that is geared toward a much more humane and properly rehabilitative environment based on trust and cooperation between inmates and staff. The number one unwritten rule for inmates in here is “the staff are our enemy, no exceptions.” Your goal should be to change this single rule. If you respect us, we will respect you. If you care for us, we will care for you. If you help us, we will help you. If you listen to us, we will listen to you.
-Chris
