“What more can they do to me?”
July 1, 2015 1:08 PM Subscribe
Cruel and All-Too-Usual: A Terrifying Glimpse into Life in Prison—As A Kid A new HuffPo report on juveniles serving time in adult facilities (trigger warning for discussion of sexual assault, suicide), this piece features videos showing how juveniles are treated in facilities designed for adults (trigger warning for violence), several pieces of interpretive art based on those videos, and images of documents retrieved from inmates and prison records.
Let's see the robots take *these* jobs.
posted by effugas at 1:20 PM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by effugas at 1:20 PM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
As long as they're required to follow the First Law, they can have 'em.
posted by zombieflanders at 1:23 PM on July 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by zombieflanders at 1:23 PM on July 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
It's so interesting that the whole premise of the article is this kind of thing:
The juvenile justice system was founded on the idea that young people are capable of change, and so society has a responsibility to help them overcome early mistakes in life. More recent science has only confirmed this principle. Because adolescents’ brains are still developing, their patterns of behavior not yet fixed, they have a far better chance of being rehabilitated than adults.
As if it's fine to throw away adults, as if those animal pens and beatings are fine for anyone over 25 because they can't change. I understand that in this country, the only political traction anyone has is to say "think of the children" but it's still depressing.
The part in the article where the prison guard gets harassed out of running a help program for young inmates is particularly fucked up. Exactly as you'd expect, the people running prisons actually like making people suffer and don't want to stop.
It's so scary that the kid, Max, gets such major retaliation just as he predicted that he was going to, and of course there's really nothing anyone can do. I really, really hate people.
posted by Frowner at 1:37 PM on July 1, 2015 [14 favorites]
The juvenile justice system was founded on the idea that young people are capable of change, and so society has a responsibility to help them overcome early mistakes in life. More recent science has only confirmed this principle. Because adolescents’ brains are still developing, their patterns of behavior not yet fixed, they have a far better chance of being rehabilitated than adults.
As if it's fine to throw away adults, as if those animal pens and beatings are fine for anyone over 25 because they can't change. I understand that in this country, the only political traction anyone has is to say "think of the children" but it's still depressing.
The part in the article where the prison guard gets harassed out of running a help program for young inmates is particularly fucked up. Exactly as you'd expect, the people running prisons actually like making people suffer and don't want to stop.
It's so scary that the kid, Max, gets such major retaliation just as he predicted that he was going to, and of course there's really nothing anyone can do. I really, really hate people.
posted by Frowner at 1:37 PM on July 1, 2015 [14 favorites]
Not prison, but I did nine months in a state hospital for adults when I was 17 because I already had my GED and they didn't know what to do with an indigent minor who couldn't reasonably be sent to GED tutoring all day. I've never really talked about it to anyone, and I don't think I ever will, but I can say that I know very well how much it fucks you up to be forced to confront the degree to which misbegotten authority can be used to subjugate, humiliate, and dehumanize you before you're even old enough to buy a lottery ticket.
All my love goes out to Jamie, Kalief, Justin, Max, and everyone whose names we'll never know. The way we treat these kids is a black mark on the heart and soul of the entire nation. What a tragedy, what a travesty, what a goddamned shame.
posted by divined by radio at 2:00 PM on July 1, 2015 [18 favorites]
Compared to kids who do their time in juvenile detention, those in the adult system attempt suicide more often. One study, reviewed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tracked what happened to minors in custody for similar crimes. After they were released, those who had served in the adult system were 77 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent felony than those who were sent to juvenile institutions.Sounds about right. Even with full acknowledgment of the natural resilience of youth, it's an experience that breaks you down so completely that sometimes not all of you can find its way back. You come out different, into a different world. People expect you to be able to pick up where you left off but those first few weeks outside just make you feel like a ghost walking through a cemetery, terrified that you're going to be picked back up and pulled down under again.
All my love goes out to Jamie, Kalief, Justin, Max, and everyone whose names we'll never know. The way we treat these kids is a black mark on the heart and soul of the entire nation. What a tragedy, what a travesty, what a goddamned shame.
posted by divined by radio at 2:00 PM on July 1, 2015 [18 favorites]
There's nothing Americans love more than a good, vindictive punishment. And, by "good" I mean "sadistic".
posted by Thorzdad at 2:55 PM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 2:55 PM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
A new HuffPo report on juveniles serving time in adult facilities (trigger warning for discussion of sexual assault, suicide),
America!
posted by shenkerism at 3:13 PM on July 1, 2015
America!
posted by shenkerism at 3:13 PM on July 1, 2015
Never going to understand how people even do stuff like this. As their job.
posted by buzzman at 7:34 PM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by buzzman at 7:34 PM on July 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
The United States is a scary fucking place yo.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:53 AM on July 2, 2015
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:53 AM on July 2, 2015
Y'know; after a while; this stuff seems to pop up ever news cycle; and nobody cares. I'm going to go back to the 'people would be more concerned if kittens were being dumped into a garbage disposal' than if some unfortunate product of the 21st century is getting the crap beat out of them in a jail.
Kittens? OMG, mass media attention; OMG.
Some poor kids? Who cares; less than 20 comments and well; life is just that way. Next.
And for some reason; I expected the current administration to simply swoop in and mass fire employees and close the factories ( aren't these places just factories that make ruined lives? ) that participate in these types of activities. /ranty.
bleah.
posted by buzzman at 7:39 PM on July 2, 2015
Kittens? OMG, mass media attention; OMG.
Some poor kids? Who cares; less than 20 comments and well; life is just that way. Next.
And for some reason; I expected the current administration to simply swoop in and mass fire employees and close the factories ( aren't these places just factories that make ruined lives? ) that participate in these types of activities. /ranty.
bleah.
posted by buzzman at 7:39 PM on July 2, 2015
« Older Psychiatrists have been conspiring against us for... | "I am convinced now that 1954 is not just a year -... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
We pay people to kick the crap out of children.
There is no reason that prison reform shouldn't be 2016's biggest issue.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 1:14 PM on July 1, 2015 [6 favorites]