by Chancellor Young
Sbcc by design forces nonviolent prisoners to become hardened violent prisoners and violent prisoners to become even more violent due to lack of programs and lack of other opportunities, but there’s a flipside to every coin, where the administration lacks, the gang culture doesn’t, there’s a readily accessibility of gang proliferation which in turn breeds cultural confusion and chaos. Empty idle time causes us to face a hellish reality that can drive one to go insane.
I write this piece because there’s an untold side of the story that NEVER gets heard, this is bigger than me or any singular individual, this is about the “cause and effect” of a harmful administration, a culture which perpetually foments a culture of pain and hurt. So much so that younger prisoners freshly coming in adhere and perpetuate the violence by simply responding to culture created from policies of strict lockdown, institutional poverty and deprivation. Something so trivial as (trading the bars for a actual window) can give somebody hope.
Guys tell me all the time that they gravitate to gangs because it’s the closest thing to family, being that they’re so far away from their home and family, not to mention that they are aggressively sanctioned from phone, visits and unable to communicate with family. I don’t agree with it, but I can see how and why the gang culture has become so prolific.
I would think that the administrative powers that be are aware of how their compounded punishment pushes people to a place of despair and complete hopelessness, when being left with a feeling of having nothing to lose, EVERYBODY loses.
There is one particular unit (j-2) which is constantly out all day, that unit is without incident or interruption, not because guys in that block don’t have a propensity for violence, but because they are treated with dignity and respect to some degree.
It is a threat to society and communities if this prison continues to operate this way, it’s disadvantageous in many respects, the most important being reintegration and programming. When you inadequately prepare individuals to rehabilitate and reintegrate back into society, you’re only contributing to the never ending cycle of recidivism, but maybe that was administrational agenda all along, After all, if they properly prepare us and provide us with a marketable skill-set, we might not ever come back, and, therefore the people working within these walls might not be employed for too much longer.
Respect to those who empathize and support the plight of the incarcerated.
Respect to those looking to make a difference.
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