NCJ Number
91176
Date Published
1981
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This film presents interviews with prison inmates who describe their feelings and experiences of prisonization.
Abstract
Among the conditions and sentiments brought out is the initially frightening experience of arrest and intake, during which the arrestee is at the mercy of the system and does not really understand what is happening to him. Other aspects of prison life include the danger of victimization, to the point of death by hostile inmates; homosexual activity; loneliness and distrust of everyone in the immediate setting, and lack of contact with one's outside friends and family members. For youths, the prison becomes all they know of life and its routine does note require making daily decisions. Boredom and isolation result, precipitating a feeling among inmates that they no longer belong to and could not function in the outside world.