John Doe Research Paper

This article is about a 17 year old prisoner known as John Doe 1 who was raped repeatedly while servicing time in a correctional facility in Ionia, Michigan. John Doe’s story is heartbreaking read as he discussed his years of experience being raped, the lack of protection from the correctional system, within prisons, and the Prison Rape Elimination Act (“PREA”), which failed to be properly enforced. Before John’s life in prison, he had a rough childhood. His mother tried to kill him at the age of four (4) by leaving him in their apartment then setting the building on fire. John’s mother was sent to prison and he was forced to go live with his grandparents. His grandmother did not want him but took care of John because that was her daughter’s

Then tragedy struck the family, John’s grandfather died and John felt so alone that he tried to commit suicide. Throughout John’s childhood and teenage years, he struggled with having a normal life. John’s even reconnected with his mother after her release from prison but her drug addiction and being prostitute lead John into trouble. John’s mother started having him shoplift for her to support them financially. John even started stealing from his high school classmates and he was eventually sent to an alternative school. John life continued to spiral downhill and later he was arrested for breaking into a house after police found his fingerprints on a stolen gun. As a juvenile, John was sent a juvenile facility. He served his time but John became a repeat offender for home evasions and judge finally got tired and sent him to a prison. The adult prison life would change 17 year old John

The childhood of John was one of the most disturbing parts of this story. It’s devastating for a child to know that his or her parent attempted to kill them. This experience alone was enough drive John into mental depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”). As far as John’s life in prison, I have several different outlooks and/or views. The first view is the events that lead John to prison. John had a record as a juvenile for shoplifting, burglary, theft of personal property while in high school. He was sent to a juvenile facility for previous crimes as a minor. However, John’s criminal activities increases and he committed several home evasions. By now, John is repeat offender and his crimes are more serious. The crime justified punishment which landed John in the correctional system and/or the adult prison. So, I agree with John being held accountable for his actions and being sent to prison. However, I do not agree with the correctional system mixing non-violent juveniles and youth in adult prisons with adult prisoners. Adult male prisoners often prey on the young, inexperience and weak prisoners because they are easy targets. Young prisoners are constantly subject to being beaten raped and forced to perform oral sex. When these types of sexual assaults take place behind prison walls, the correctional system does very little to prevent acts. There have been cases where young prisoners have requested to be placed in