11-06-2011, 12:15 PM
James - thank you.
Your answer is worth way more than "two cents". :thumbsup:
You are of course correct that documentaries condense and heighten action for the "sizzle" factor. Or in TV grammar terms, to heighten the tension and sense of conflict.
There's one NatGeo "Hardest Prisons" programme where the prison SWAT team is stomping down corridors and the camera catches the lead prison officer in the corner of frame several times, sipping his huge mug of coffee despite the supposed emergency situation.
I can almost see the documentary director shouting: "Guys guys - back to your starting positions, we need to do that one more time. Really STOMP YOUR BOOTS AND BANG YOUR SHIELDS when you storm down the corridor!"
One clear consequence of the "America's Hardest Prisons" type programmes is that they scare the law-abiding population shitless. Particularly with respect to ethnic gangs - there are several films which focus almost entirely on hispanic gangs.
Equally it is abundantly clear - both from incidents in the documentaries such as prison officers and prisoners being slashed with home made shanks, and from your comments - that prisons are violent and dangerous places. Also that there are some individuals whose behaviour is so inherently violent - both to men and women - that they should not be walking the streets.
I'm sure this is true.
In England, many prison officers live in neighbourhoods near the prisons that they work in. They may even have gone to school with some of the inmates or their family. So it's relatively easy either to bribe or scare some officers to smuggle contrabrand in and messages out.
Plus, as you say, "most of the people that work in prisons are good, hardworking people who don't get paid nearly enough to deal with the daily stress in the average prison, much less a max security unit."
I can only imagine the stress involved in hearing those doors slam locked behind you as you enter the limbo, the purgatory, of a maximum security prison, knowing that many of the inmates will injure or even kill you given a chance, and prison economics mean that there may be half a dozen officers guarding a hundred or more potentially violent prisoners. Poor pay for an incredibly stressful job.
Equally, talking to a couple of friends who've filmed in English prisons, the management appeared to both incompetent and shambolic - reinforcing your comments above.
Absolutely.
My strong sense is that young minor offenders ("scallywags") learn their place in the criminal food chain in their first visit to prison. The weakest are broken. The next weakest become footsoldiers - doing the bidding of stronger criminals. These "footsoldiers" spend their lives in and out of prison because they're continually rearrested for street level criminality and, unless they become career police informers (in which case they usually avoid jail time), they won't give up the names of their bosses because they're physically scared of the consequences.
The stronger-minded young scallies are identified early in their prison time by the criminal fraternity and become hardened inside and groomed for progression in criminal organisations.
So, yes, I agree that the consequences of jailing young men (primarily) for relatively minor drug offences are catastrophic - both for their lives and for the wider community.
Your answer is worth way more than "two cents". :thumbsup:
You are of course correct that documentaries condense and heighten action for the "sizzle" factor. Or in TV grammar terms, to heighten the tension and sense of conflict.
There's one NatGeo "Hardest Prisons" programme where the prison SWAT team is stomping down corridors and the camera catches the lead prison officer in the corner of frame several times, sipping his huge mug of coffee despite the supposed emergency situation.
I can almost see the documentary director shouting: "Guys guys - back to your starting positions, we need to do that one more time. Really STOMP YOUR BOOTS AND BANG YOUR SHIELDS when you storm down the corridor!"
One clear consequence of the "America's Hardest Prisons" type programmes is that they scare the law-abiding population shitless. Particularly with respect to ethnic gangs - there are several films which focus almost entirely on hispanic gangs.
Equally it is abundantly clear - both from incidents in the documentaries such as prison officers and prisoners being slashed with home made shanks, and from your comments - that prisons are violent and dangerous places. Also that there are some individuals whose behaviour is so inherently violent - both to men and women - that they should not be walking the streets.
James Lewis Wrote:What they don't show is the staggering incompetence and corruption that takes place in most prisons. It doesn't show the:
Drug smuggling
Officers shacking up with inmates
Rampant incompetence among most high rank running prisons
I'm sure this is true.
In England, many prison officers live in neighbourhoods near the prisons that they work in. They may even have gone to school with some of the inmates or their family. So it's relatively easy either to bribe or scare some officers to smuggle contrabrand in and messages out.
Plus, as you say, "most of the people that work in prisons are good, hardworking people who don't get paid nearly enough to deal with the daily stress in the average prison, much less a max security unit."
I can only imagine the stress involved in hearing those doors slam locked behind you as you enter the limbo, the purgatory, of a maximum security prison, knowing that many of the inmates will injure or even kill you given a chance, and prison economics mean that there may be half a dozen officers guarding a hundred or more potentially violent prisoners. Poor pay for an incredibly stressful job.
Equally, talking to a couple of friends who've filmed in English prisons, the management appeared to both incompetent and shambolic - reinforcing your comments above.
James Lewis Wrote:The major problem I have with prisons, is that there are too many of them. For that, we have the War On Drugs (which should be called The War on Some Drugs and Certain Types of Users), which isn't going away anytime soon, unfortunately. As long as we keep locking up 17-, 18-, and 19 year old's up for piddly drug offenses, and turning them into hardened criminals by the time they get out, our problem with this situation is only going to get worse. Just my two cents
Absolutely.
My strong sense is that young minor offenders ("scallywags") learn their place in the criminal food chain in their first visit to prison. The weakest are broken. The next weakest become footsoldiers - doing the bidding of stronger criminals. These "footsoldiers" spend their lives in and out of prison because they're continually rearrested for street level criminality and, unless they become career police informers (in which case they usually avoid jail time), they won't give up the names of their bosses because they're physically scared of the consequences.
The stronger-minded young scallies are identified early in their prison time by the criminal fraternity and become hardened inside and groomed for progression in criminal organisations.
So, yes, I agree that the consequences of jailing young men (primarily) for relatively minor drug offences are catastrophic - both for their lives and for the wider community.
"It means this War was never political at all, the politics was all theatre, all just to keep the people distracted...."
"Proverbs for Paranoids 4: You hide, They seek."
"They are in Love. Fuck the War."
Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon
"Ccollanan Pachacamac ricuy auccacunac yahuarniy hichascancuta."
The last words of the last Inka, Tupac Amaru, led to the gallows by men of god & dogs of war
"Proverbs for Paranoids 4: You hide, They seek."
"They are in Love. Fuck the War."
Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon
"Ccollanan Pachacamac ricuy auccacunac yahuarniy hichascancuta."
The last words of the last Inka, Tupac Amaru, led to the gallows by men of god & dogs of war