Cause And Effect in Prison
In rare moments, when my objectivity prevails over physical misery and mental anguish, I reasoned that if society had sought to impose savage, barbaric vengeance on someone then the prison system was the way to do it. And if the object of such punishment was to force a human being out of his humanity, and make of him an animal of lowest instinct, it would succeed far beyond the knowing of anyone who has endured the brutish purgatory of prison. What prison did not do and never would was make a man a better member of society than when he entered it. Because his entire environment is counter productive to reform. So prison will only worsen and degade him, increase his hatred of the system and reduce the possibility of his becoming ever, a productive law abiding citizen. And the longer the prison term, the less likelihood of any moral salvage. Most of all it is time which erodes and eventually destroys any potential for reform a prisoner might have upon arrival. If he clung to some shard of moral values, like a drowned swimmer to a life preserver it was because of the forces within himself, not because of the prison
but despite it. One is continually striving and struggling to retain some semblance of the best of what he had before and trying not to become totally brutal, entirely unfeeling, utterly despairing and savagely embittered. So if one is not constantly vigilant he could easily slip in all four states as most prisoners do. They are those who were either brutalized before they came here and made worse since or others whom time in prison had deteriorated. And the cold hearted inhumanity of a citizenry outside, indifferent to what injustices were perpetrated or decencies neglected all in societies name behind these walls and fences. Which could reasonably be the explanation for why the recividism rate is exceptionally high. So we are not only the leaders of the free world but we also lead the world per capita in its citizenry being incarcerated. Freedom, until curtailed is seldom valued and no one realizes how much their physical freedom meant, even opening a refrigerator or briefly outdoors until such choices were denied them altogether.
anonymous
In rare moments, when my objectivity prevails over physical misery and mental anguish, I reasoned that if society had sought to impose savage, barbaric vengeance on someone then the prison system was the way to do it. And if the object of such punishment was to force a human being out of his humanity, and make of him an animal of lowest instinct, it would succeed far beyond the knowing of anyone who has endured the brutish purgatory of prison. What prison did not do and never would was make a man a better member of society than when he entered it. Because his entire environment is counter productive to reform. So prison will only worsen and degade him, increase his hatred of the system and reduce the possibility of his becoming ever, a productive law abiding citizen. And the longer the prison term, the less likelihood of any moral salvage. Most of all it is time which erodes and eventually destroys any potential for reform a prisoner might have upon arrival. If he clung to some shard of moral values, like a drowned swimmer to a life preserver it was because of the forces within himself, not because of the prison
but despite it. One is continually striving and struggling to retain some semblance of the best of what he had before and trying not to become totally brutal, entirely unfeeling, utterly despairing and savagely embittered. So if one is not constantly vigilant he could easily slip in all four states as most prisoners do. They are those who were either brutalized before they came here and made worse since or others whom time in prison had deteriorated. And the cold hearted inhumanity of a citizenry outside, indifferent to what injustices were perpetrated or decencies neglected all in societies name behind these walls and fences. Which could reasonably be the explanation for why the recividism rate is exceptionally high. So we are not only the leaders of the free world but we also lead the world per capita in its citizenry being incarcerated. Freedom, until curtailed is seldom valued and no one realizes how much their physical freedom meant, even opening a refrigerator or briefly outdoors until such choices were denied them altogether.
anonymous
No comments:
Post a Comment