Three correction officers created a sadistic secret society on a Rikers Island cellblock, ordering prisoners to extort and beat other inmates. Officers Michael McKie, Khalid Nelson and Denise Albright called their fight club “The Program,” and the teens they recruited as enforcers were called “The Team” (Rayman, 2009). Team members were allowed to extort commissary money, clothing and phone privileges from other city jail inmates. Those who didn’t cooperate when they were asked “are you with it” were beaten and Mr. McKie and Mr. Nelson set the time, place and punishment (Rayman, 2009). I believe that the purpose of this program is for the correctional officers to extort money from other inmates for their own personal gains.
Do I believe that
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I believe it is organizational because the correctional officers created this program for their own personal gain to receive money. For exchange of their personal gain they awarded the inmates that were part of the “team” to have privileges such as phones, commissary money, and etc. (Rayman, 2009). This program only worked because it benefited to the inmates and they complied with the orders given by the three correctional officers in charge. Everything was organized because almost every beat down that happened is because if inmate refused to be “with it” then the correctional officers would plan when and how the non-complied inmate to be punished. If I was the new Warden at Rikers Island and this program was going then I would find a way to prevent it. Rayman (2009) stated that Chief of Department Carolyn Thomas and Chief of Facility Operations Patrick Walsh were briefed repeatedly about alarming series of fights, assaults, and serious injuries cause by the gang members. As a Warden, I would see this a warning sign that something is going on in the prison. That there could be a gang initiation taking place because some gangs require a potential member to beat or kill another inmate to be part of the gang. Or a gang war is happening because the attacks are caused by gang members. Both way this would be very alarming and I would order a lockdown to take place. As lockdown protocol the correctional officers will shakedown the inmate’s cell to find any contraband such as: weapons and gang related items. I would then put any inmates involved in causing the attacks to be placed in a separate unit and have the attacks investigated to see why this is
This article discusses how badly the corrections officers treat the inmates at Mid-State Correctional Facility in New York. The inmates are beaten and penetrated by foreign objects by the officers that are supposed protect them. Not only are they mistreating the inmates but they are getting away with it as well. There are many instances and examples of inmates from this specific facility, Mid-State Correctional Facility, getting beaten by guards. These allegations of brutality against the inmates are going more viral now than ever.
The prison-industrial complex is a corrupt political system that consists of overpowered politicians whose sole ambition is exploiting poor, uneducated, and under-privileged Americans to make money. Although, it wasn’t initially the purpose when Rockefeller started the war on drugs, but he started something bigger than he could’ve imagined at that time. The prison system has been proven to be ineffective, and costly waste of resources. However, it probably won’t be abolished due to the cash flow that it brings to some of the largest corporations in the
The U.S. prison systems has evolved greatly in the pasts centuries in many ways, but the most critical part where it greatly improved was the security of the facilities, the inmate treatment, and the construction of the building of how stable it is. The first and most important is the security. A prison system has to have a strict security system because without it prisoners can do whatever they want. So, they developed a security system where there are five levels: the higher the level is the stronger it is. Not all prisons do the same security because different buildings mean different levels.
In 1968 Robin Woods was convicted of two counts of felony breaking and entering. He was sentenced to 16 years at Maryland Correctional Institute, a maximum-security prison, for his nonviolent crimes. He recalls the atmosphere of MCI being both tense and racially charged. Amid reports of overcrowding and brutality from guards, a severe riot ensued adding an additional charge and 7 more years to Woods’ sentence. Our prison system neglects people’s mental and emotional needs, and treats them with contempt, yet expects respect and obedience in return.
The inner moral compulsion to obey is what drives most social organizations. Sykes (2007) described several structural defects that occurred in the New Jersey State prison. Sykes (2007) argues that power in prison is not based on authority therefore prison officials have to find other means to get prisoners to abide by the rules and regulations. The ability to use force to maintain order on a large scale in the prison is an illusion. According to Sykes (2007), Certain privileges such mailing and visiting, personal possessions, time-off for good behavior etc. are given to the inmate all at once upon his or her arrival to the prison.
Stance: Rikers should be closed Rikers Island is the main prison complex in New York City. It was established in the 1930s and remains to be functional to this day, holding approximately 10,000 inmates at a time (Lippman, J., & Mark-viverito, M. (2017, March 31)). Rikers Island has been source of controversy, where many believe that it creates more problems than it solves. From Rikers Island stories of mental and physical abuse arise, such as the story of Kalief Browder, an adolescent who took his own life after spending 3 years at the complex (Gonnerman, J. (2015, June 08)). Rikers Island must shut down for the sake of everyone who is related or involved with this prison complex.
In order to do this they need to make new centers to help prisoners inside better themselves. In Alabama prisons may soon shut down 14 of its prisons for overcrowding, neglect, and violence in the state’s correction systems. In the prison St. Clair Holman in Alabama the prison system makes prisoners act different. There is no safety, security or supervision. “We have people being killed, sexually assaulted, raped, stabbed on daily basis at St. Clair, Holman, and multiple facilities; it’s a systemwide problem,” said Charlotte Morrison, a senior attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), which represents Alabama prisoner.”
Gangs are long-term sellers, so they have an incentive not to drive customers away by abusing their power. ”(Skarbek). Most inmates who are recruited mostly for their protection are usually the ones who get out of prison in 1 year or less. Therefore the gangs use them once they are out or threaten them. The gangs in prison are very bad and that's why we need to fix the prison
The criminal justice system may be more corrupt than the people who fill our prisons. It is amazing to see the many ways that certain parts of society actually benefit from the current system we support. This book,The Rich Get Richer and The Poor Get Prison, by authors Jeffrey Reiman and Paul Leighton, has open my eyes to a very corrupt idealism. They are very precise in their supporting examples as well by walking the reader through each step and analogy.
Prison gangs thrive on crime within the facility. If not addressed their involvement in crime will continue to grow and pose a threat to other inmates, staff, and the institution. If procedures are not put into place then gang membership will only continue and remain a safety concern. Administration must ensure their staff members are adequately trained and know how to act and deal with the gangs. Because the prison community is so private more research needs to be done to understand the workings of prison gangs and get more current, detailed, data.
Gangs in Prison Prison gangs have become a big problem in the correctional facilities today. The gang has started to control the prisons and making the work life for correctional officers very difficult. They are able to run their criminal empire on the outside from the inside of the jail and also try and traffic drugs into the prisons and among many other things. Prison gangs are criminal organizations that are formed with the inmates within the correctional facility. The gangs are made up of a select group of inmates who have an organized hierarchy and they are governed to follow a certain code of conduct.
Corruption in these guards and the way that the prison is run has been identified by many as “The Program.” The prisoners who come to Riker’s Island can either agree to The Program or disagree with it. If they agree they must give up everything to these gangs which includes their phone time and commissary. If they don’t agree to The Program, the gangs beat them at any given time, until they are moved to a new housing unit where it starts all over again. Kalief didn’t agree to The Program; instead, he fought back
Inmate power was accommodated by the prison’s administration directly through programs and indirectly through tolerance of illegal activities. Prior to the riot, the programs enhanced chances of parole, which led to increased participation. They were also crucial to “self-policing” process within the inmate environment. However, the prison also faced high levels of illegal drug trafficking within the prison.
The thorough analysis of text leaves no doubt that a prison is a model of a whole society, containing its own relations of subjugation and leadership. As well as in real life, the leadership can be either formal or informal. Prison guards and wardens represent the first one. They have formal legal appointment and
This is another reason I believe violence would a occur. Inmates are not treated with respect and like how normal individuals are. They makes them act differently towards others during their incarceration. They have a fraud up because they are well aware of the lack of respect. There is human instinct to protect thyself and that comes out in this situation.