Sending people to prison today has nothing to do with rehabilitation. The idea of rehabbing prisoners left the building long ago. Today, we have a new kind of prisoner. Most will resist being rehabbed. Most want to do nothing, except to lay in his cage and think of what horrible thing he can do next to a guard. Most prisoners have a job, except in super max prisons, where it's best to keep the animals in their cages and locked. How would you like to be a member of an extraction team in a prison and have to remove a prisoner from his cell?
I have seen extractions. They can get really nasty at times if the prisoner resists and the bigger he is, the worse it can be. I have seen prisoners spit at and on guards, throw their feces and urine on guards and also inside their cell on the walls, mattress, etc. I have seen prisoners stick their finger down their throat so they can throw up on a guard and even stand next to a guard and pee on them.
It's also what prisoners do to each other that makes some of these prisoners come to be called animals. We have all heard about the rapes that go on and that's not a fairy tale. Some rapes are very brutal. Here in Pennsylvania, at the one prison I attended for training, we have a cell block for juvenile offenders. During my training there, we had a fellow that was 15 when he was incarcerated for killing his Mom. I happened to be there when just after he turned 18 and was transferred to the adult wing. It was only about 3 or 4 days later when this kid showed up for morning role call all bloody, hair pulled out, burn marks on his face and arms, clothes torn and no shoes or socks. He must have went through hell at some point during the night. He was put in a cell with another lifer, only he was in his 40's and a much bigger man. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was the person that dished out the punishment. Sure, we pull him out of his cell and put him in solitary confinement, but so what? He's in for life. What else are we going to do to him?
Almost every prisoner carries some kind of shank on him or in a handy hiding place where he can get his hands on it when and if necessary. Everyday, yes, everyday, fights break out, either in the yard or inside the common areas. Prisoners today are mean, viscous and brutal. Most of the young ones up until about 50 or so years of age belong to a gang. Being in a gang affords them protection, or so they think. Gang fights or gang wars as they like to call them, also happen frequently.
Being in prison is like having no life and having to watch your back 24/7. There is always someone pissed off at you and even if there isn't, there are times when one prisoner just wants to stick another one to make him feel good. A prisoner can never trust what's in his food, especially if he has enemies working in the kitchen. It's Hell at its worse.
And last, do not mistake prison for your local county jail. It's like comparing kindergarten to high school.
