Argumentative Essay On Prison Life

Prison life should be considered as a nightmare. Being incarcerated is not a life worth living. The fact of being put in a place that takes away one’s freedom as well as one’s family affection, subjected to follow what others say, either a guard or other prisoners, is quietly sufficient. Some people might argue that criminals live a life of leisure and do not deserve a better qualified life in prison, yet they still have their basic human rights, which protect them regardless of the crime. However, there are several factors that make life in prison even a more terrifying experience, such as: unsanitary living conditions, chronic medical conditions, gang’s association and violence, and rape.
The main component that does not make it easy for inmates to be in prison is the unsanitary living conditions. Since prisons started to operate at full capacity due to the overcrowding, the “double-celling” became a normal practice. That is, the

number of inmates in a cell were doubled. Therefore, the overcrowding leads prisoners to shave with used razors by others in the cell putting at risk their health. Moreover, the unsanitary living conditions also exist in how the inmates’ food is served. For example, Michigan and Ohio’s prison “have seen issues with maggots, mice turds, substandard food, and unsanitary conditions” (Katz 9). The author points out that inmates are served moldy and rotten food as their everyday meals. As a result, a relevant number of prisoners get illness due to the unhygienic management of food in most penitentiaries.
The chronical medical conditions make the prison life a nightmare.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “an estimated 40% of state and federal prisoners and jail inmates reported having a current chronic medical condition while about half reported ever having a chronic medical condition”. This percentage shows that almost half of the state and federal prisons population suffer a chronic medical condition. Such medical conditions consist of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failure, infection, stress, hepatitis, Alzheimer’s disease, neurological disorder, etc. The majority of these chronic medical conditions are developed by inmates during their time in jail. For example, inmates in solitary confinement, where the lights are always on and most inmates cannot sleep, get severally depressed. That was the case of Sam Mandez, a 14-year-old child who was wrongfully convicted for a murder and put in solitary confinement for 16 years. Mandez, eventually, got severally mentally ill due to such long periods in

solitary.
Violence and gang organizations are commonly found as part of any prison’s environment. A relevant number of people tend to believe that prison is not as miserable as it should be for criminals. However, the violence brought by gangs into the prison system is based on self-protection. As an example, “most of the inmates belong to one of California’s six main prison gangs: Nuestra Familia, the Mexican Mafia” (Wood). The author suggests the huge number of members of such gang obviously for self-protection, which is one of many. That is, if an inmate is not affiliated to a specific gang, the prisoner’s time in jail would be frightening. Such gangs smuggle knives and other items consider as contraband in prison. Moreover, brutality is not only performed by prisoner over other prisoner, also, punishment is used as a disciplinary technic by prison authorities. For example, there is a method named “strip statues” it consists of stripping “all of the inmate’s bedding, clothing, and personal possession, and then is expected to “earn” it back piece by piece with good behavior.” (Prison Conditions 10). It suggests that violence in Federal and States prisons is also performed by prison’s authorities who usually abuse their power over the inmates.