NCJ Number
112321
Journal
Social Justice Volume: 15 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1988) Pages: 8-19
Date Published
1988
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This assessment of the women's high security unit at the Federal correctional institution in Lexington, Ky., by the National Prison Project team identifies factors in the psychophysical well-being of the inmates in the unit, notes the psychological consequences of being in the unit's regime, discusses the inmates' perspective, and notes the response of the treatment staff.
Abstract
Factors bearing on the psychophysical well-being of the inmates are the tendency of the regime to depersonalize and deny individuality; the denial of personal initiative, tending toward enforced dependency and infantilization; sexual abuse and humiliation; and hopelessness arising from the Bureau of Prisons' refusal to specify the behavioral criteria for transfer out of the unit. The psychological consequences of the unit are claustrophobia, chronic suppressed rage, mild to severe depression, hallucinatory symptoms, and defensive psychological withdrawal. Psychosomatic symptoms under the unit's regime are appetite loss, weight loss, exacerbation of pre-existing medical problems, general physical malaise, visual disturbances, dizziness, and heart palpitations. Inmates view the unit regime as a deliberate attempt to undermine their mental and physical health. Treatment staff view their role as that of dealing with individual symptoms rather than regime contributions to inmate poor health. The regime is basically incompatible with citizen protections guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. 1 reference.