Man vs. Man

The physiological effects of working solitary confinement inside one of those SuperMax facilities requires special conditioning and special preparation for those hard core staffers who often volunteer for such an assignment within a maximum custody prison. Counter-acting and attacking the psychological effects of those inmates housed in solitary confinement, already documented in many different books and mental health articles as horrific, draconic, inefficient and extremely costly, this perspective is from the officer’s ears and eyes where not many have dared to tread due to the extremely dangerous element they work in. It is only whispered during a cold brew or a casual talk. In reality, this approach may be considered a straight out of the box Maslow’s theory and not without controversy, an insight on why officers assigned to the max custody units behave the way they do. How they rationalize their behavior or conduct as well as the justification to act in such a manner. Through the eyes of those who share their perils, you may understand their undertaking. You might say this is the face in the mirror of solitary confinement, only instead of wearing an orange jumpsuit; it wears a uniform that is consistent with law and order.

The matter of fact also remains that these same factors drive the opposition to its goal to dominate each other through competition, misunderstandings and fear. The difference in this competition is the ability for the staff member to leave and normalize their activities and enjoy their freedom. This temporary absence from the place is very significant in their ability to survive the conflict as it gives them a mental re-charge that avoid the negatives impacts made by solitaire, desolation and no human contact. Purely from a strategic point of view, this makes the inmate more vulnerable to suicides, self mutilations and disruptive conduct. Make no mistake; their minds are restless and filled with sleepless nights by thoughts of what occurred that day on their tour of duty inside one of the most ghastly places one could possibly stay alive. The various acts that occur within this phenomenon called prison are horrendous and non-gratifying to all that work there. Working in an environment of intimidation, they can’t afford to relax one moment.

Depending on the physical space and the design of such a underground colossal unit, staff prepare themselves daily by learning how to endure eight to sixteen hours of hostile territory impacted by a combination of chaos, phobias, disorder and many times, physical altercations that can test a person’s endurance and stamina to the limit. Sharing commonalities already documented to be valid elements of a hierarchy established for control, these officers focus on many specific ideals to remain effective at their work and minimize the risks associated with doing the job. Their hearts beat faster upon entry of the walls and their minds race at neck breaking speed to process their duties. In addition to control these officers require safety, self-esteem, motivation, acceptance as well as many other growth needs that lead to their self fulfillment and reaching their full potential.

It is complete job satisfaction when there is a feeling of "complete actualization" and dominance takes place that resembles adrenalin high as their spirits soar freely with a slight euphoric sensation associated with their power and control of the milieu. In return for such a conquering advance, the officers must also attain those physical condition that allows them to feel physically supreme and in control of the situation when presented to them spontaneously inside the joint. Stacking the challenges, officers recognize there are many obstacles to their conquest. For example, their interconnection with the daily events created by a natural occurrence of repetitive and habitual motions that require meticulous execution to make no mistakes. Frequently imposed by regulations, they are mechanically performed to satisfy the minimum conditions of confinement. Thus the introduction of complacency adds to the doldrums of the environment.

Just like the inmate, their psychological state deteriorates over time and the heart and mind becomes insensitive or even dull to some extent. Robotic in their actions they deliver the inmate’s food, mail, clothing, toilet paper, etc. in a simple but yet cautious manner as they know that every time they enter the cell block, they are likely to be victimized by an assaultive inmate who has grabbed something to throw at the officer upon entry or worse yet, sharpened a piece of steel to make a shank capable of killing a man if placed in the right place on the torso. This false sense of performing their tasks without added concern allows the inmate an opportunity to catch the officer by surprise. The more vehement the inmate acts, the more of a conflict is created. Many staffers, not looking for a fight, will try to avoid confrontations and dispatch a supervisor to defuse the situation whenever possible.

Such intensity breeds more resistance and the clashes grow to no end. Treatment and medication offered to the inmate would incapacitate their ability to fight the opponent and thus they cheek it and flush it down the drain to maintain the upper hand of his ploy to maim someone, capture a hostage or escape from the confines of his cell. Psychosis and all, inmates housed in maximum custody cope very well in the gladiator environment and claim to condition themselves daily for the encounter with the combatant of their choice or opportunity. exiting their cells for recreation, they workout their stress and anxiety through rigorous physical exercise within the confines of the exercise enclosure and under the watchful eyes of the officers.

Mental health professionals and penal experts have suffered for decades on how to break this vicious cycle of violence and mistrust inside the joints. They have offered chemical restraints, therapeutic communities as well as establishing behavioral units to control both the sociopath and the mentally ill. Many staffers do not distinguish a difference between these types of inmates and impose the same level of understanding or expectation on either of their classes housed together inside these concrete walls. Thus disciplinary serves no purpose for either the lifer or the mentally ill as neither care of know of its consequences yet staffers continue to write tickets regardless of their mental status. Again, training of the proper approach would enhance order and understanding

Compounded by ill prepared non-evidence based programs, poor funding and poor training, staff have endured the task at hand with little or no success in diminishing the mayhem inside the joint. Two sub-cultures, at war with each other prepare for the battle daily and taking "no prisoners" in the frequent engagements of cell extractions and forced movement. Doctors and nurses, working hard to maintain the level of treatment required for such conditions strife over the uncooperativeness of their “patients" as security has to bring them to the infirmary as it is too dangerous to enter the cell wings. Fearing their own licensure and responsibilities they are cautious in the delivery of service and limit their potential to exceed the expected number of patients to be seen on any day.

So how does this stalemate come together and be successful in treatment and operations you must ask by now. The only way you can break on through to the other side is to break the cultures that control the environment. Staff must learn to "trust” each other and communicate openly without the code of silence; they must follow ethics first and allow their loyalties to come in second in the workplace. Contrary to their belief, this will solidify teams, not weaken them. They must be re-trained in de-escalation methods and crisis intervention. Their learning must include critical intervention methods and audibly and visually be able to pick up the symptomatic responses of each illness or disorders. The perception that mentally ill inmates are "malingering psychopaths" should be dispelled with proper identification of the various disorders inmates may have inside the joint. Again, training and more training.

Inmates must follow rules and regulations and submit to the idea that this conflict is not productive and a time wasting effort. The sociopaths should be separated from the mentally ill and not allow their destructive energy to dominate the psychotic population. Separated by both body and sound, their behaviors must be managed accordingly. The sociopaths, demonstrating their gladiator skills to other inmates may elevate their social status but increases their conflicts with staffers that are prepared to deal with such a bizarre and violent behavior. The mentally ill, weaker [in mind] than the others, must be allowed to grow in confidence and allow staff to foster them into a sense of trust so they can be treated without the use of chemical or mechanical restraints.

Doctors and psychiatrists must persist on sound and timely treatment both medically and mental health oriented. Administrators must endure these variations of tradition and customs and allow a variance in operational protocol to exist without conflict or controversy. Legislators must fund the treatment elements and the public must understand that if prisons are to ever reduce their population and reduce the costs of incarceration, they must sacrifice their tax dollars to ensure the implementation and operations of such treatment programs within such a strange but explainable setting. A secondary advantage of such treatment programs are reduced recidivism rates that can free up resources to handle other problematic areas of the prison systems and a reduction in expensive psychotropic medication that is a mandatory requirement for stabilization in the process.

This setting is not exclusive of maximum custody and must be addressed at all custody levels. Overcrowding, poor classification systems, reduced rehabilitation programs and incentives creating idleness, poor training and poor management skills are all ingredients of a clash that can’t be avoided if they are not addressed in the immediate future. The focus of the need has been allocated for the maximum custody inmate as they cost the states more money to keep than any other inmate.

Source:

http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/regsys/maslow.html
http://solitarywatch.com/2010/09/23/how-to-create-madness-in-prison/