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Psychological effects on people in prison
Psychological effects on people in prison
Psychological effects of prison
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A topic I would like to write about would be the treatment that women who are pregnant while in prison receive. Although they are in prison there is still proper care that they need to ensure that they and the baby are healthy. There were things like they would be chained to the beds during doctor visits, they are not given proper vitamins or food. They make them wear belly chains which are something that is chained to their wrist, around their stomach and then to their feet. I feel that people should take the time to learn about it and draw attention to the situation so people can do something to help.
When you are carrying a child it is your job to ensure that your child is going to be healthy, receive love, be surrounded by caring individuals,
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They are not allowed to have any type luxury or any self confidence in an environment that causes them to have nothing but trouble. According to But what about women who are pregnant while in prison, they are expected to live off of 1-2 doctor visits, no prenatal medication and lunch meat, trail mix and cheese in hope that their child will survive. Most women also developmental instability like PTSD , Terence T. Gorski states that Institutionalized Personality Traits are caused by living in an oppressive environment that demands: passive compliance to the demands of authority figures, passive acceptance of severely restricted acts of daily living, the repression of personal lifestyle preferences, the elimination of critical thinking and individual decision making, and internalized acceptance of severe restrictions on the honest self-expression thoughts and feelings. These women are put through so much and in the end many of the children do not make it alive in return some women would commit suicide or become majorly depressed that the main thing they do is blame themselves for the situation. Their mind is constantly bombarded with thoughts about their dead child, and how if they weren’t in prison the outcome could have been different. Even when nutrition and medical care are adequate, the restrictions and confinement inherent in prisons can make pregnancy and birthing
Subsequently, the author questions the level of care and produced anxiety that they received within the correctional facility in the late 1950s (Finance Committee, 2013). According to Farmer (2009), “[The child’s] sensitive developmental period (i.e. more sensitive to environmental input) is primarily in utero, and insults that occur during this third trimester of pregnancy can adversely affect brainstem functions (e.g., sleep, feeding, self-soothing)” (p. 89).
A reality where the prisoner is dehumanized and have their rights and mental health abused. “I have endured lockdowns in buildings with little or no heat; lockdowns during which authorities cut off the plumbing completely, so contraband couldn’t be flushed away; and lockdowns where we weren’t allowed out to shower for more than a month” (Hopkins 154). A prisoner currently must survive isolation with improper shelter in the form of heat. Issues compound with a lack of running water and bathing, a proven severe health danger, especially for someone lacking proper nutrients such as a prisoner in lockdown. These abuses of physical well being then manifest into damage of prisoners’ mental well being. “Perhaps I should acknowledge that the lockdown-and, indeed, all these years-have damaged more than I want to believe” (Hopkins 156). Even for the experienced prisoner the wrath of unethically long lockdowns still cause mental damage. Each and every isolation period becomes another psychological beating delivered as the justice system needlessly aims to damage the already harmed inmates. The damage is so profound inmates even recognize the harm done to them by their jailors. An armed and widely used psychological weapon, the elongated lockdown procedures decimate mental health each and every time
Pregnancy can be very socially challenging as one's previous life changes drastically with the arrival of the child. Most women wish to become a positive role model for the child and try to change their social and financial life
While most expectant mothers are planning for baby showers, shopping for maternity clothes and preparing the baby’s nursery, the incarcerated mother-to-be has to remain in a constant state of alertness and preparedness for situations that can put her and her unborn baby at risk, in an environment that is both intimidating and routinely violent. (Hutchinson et. al., 2008)
Spending time in an overcrowded cell really lowers your social stability throughout time. Many of the prisoners tend to turn anti-social because they do not want to put up with the conditions in which they live. According to Terence T. Gorski the prisoners tend to develop an illness known as Post Incarceration Syndrome which is something developed through extreme confinement and lack of opportunity. The inmates are more often than not given very little opportunities to rehabilitate themselves with everyday things such as working and receiving an education in the overcrowded prisons. These prisoners are not given enough opportunity to assemble with one another because time is very strict and limited inside the prison walls. Resources are often stretched out to accommodate to everyone’s needs.The inmates tend to get treated in a very inhuman way, resulting in negative consequences. Dealing with the overcrowdedness of the prisons leads to the build-up of stress. Like every human being the prisoners will eventually get very tired of dealing with these conditions and will reach their melting point. When something like this occurs the inmate will most likely receive negative consequences such as complete solidarity. On the contrary being in an isolated cell for about 23 hours a day allows for the prisoners to ponder upon the choices
Aside from children, women stand as a special population of interest for organizations engaged in social work because of their being identified as a vulnerable group. One particular subpopulation of this group, which are women who are in prison, can quire understandably raise concerns because they can be left overlooked accidentally or even purposefully because of the stigma associated with criminal liability. In relation to this, the following sections will be providing a discussion on the history and context of sexual abuse of women in prison as well as the background and outcomes of a chosen project. The concluding portion of the paper will be providing a summary of the significant points made in the initial sections of the paper along
The most common disorder reported after being in jail for an extended amount of time was Post Incarceration Syndrome (Gorski). Post Incarceration Syndrome can be defined as “a set of symptoms that are present in many currently incarcerated and recently released prisoners that are caused by being subjected to prolonged incarceration in environments of punishments” (Gorski). It causes the prisoner to have a difficult time connecting and coping with normal daily life. This can be due to the PTSD or antisocial personality traits that the prisoner gains with this disorder (Gorski). It can also cause the victim to become addicted to drugs and alcohol (Gorski). This disorder often causes people to struggle once they are released from prison, causing life on the outside to be a difficult one. This was illustrated in the case where one of the prisoners who suffers from this disorder said, “ It’s not to the point where you want to commit suicide,” he said, “but sometimes, I’m at the point that I’d be wanting to write the judge and say, ‘Just give me the death penalty. Just give me the death penalty, man” (Goode). To add to the problem 73% of prisoners reported chronic depression while 78% said that they felt “emotionally flat” (Goode). Depression is a huge problem in the correctional system because the prisoners often do not receive the care they need. This can also lead to jail suicide and self
integrated public health, education, and social service resource for pregnant inmates and prison mothers. Californian Journal of Health Promotion, 2, 34-48. Retrieved from
Not only is prison ineffective in preventing reoffending in women and is expensive, it can be extremely damaging to the female’s well-being and their families. The effect that a custodial sentence has on women is arguably far worse than for men. Women are often not prepared or equipped for their life following their prison sentence; due to the fact that women are more likely to be lone parents before prison (Social Exclusion Unit, 2002), are more likely to leave prison homeless and unemployed (Wedderburn, 2000), and are more likely to lose access of their children whilst serving their sentence (Corston, 2007). Statistics from 2010 showed that around 17,000 children become separated from their mother by imprisonment (Wilks-Wiffen, 2011). This can be absolutely devastating to not only the female offender, but to their innocent children too. Moreover, due to the small number of women’s prisons, the average distance that women are sent away from their homes is around 60 miles (Women in Prison, 2013). Therefore, even if the women are lucky enough to keep in contact with their children, it can be tremendously hard to organise visitation and uphold
Prisons serve the same reason for women and men, they are also tools of social control. The imprisonment of women in the U.S. has always been a different experience then what men go through. The proportion of women in prison has always differed from that of men by a large amount. Women have traditionally been sent to prison for different reasons, and once in prison they endure different conditions of incarceration. Women incarcerated tend to need different needs for physical and mental health issues. When a mother is incarcerated it tends to play an impact on the children also. Over time the prison system has created different gender responsive programs to help with the different needs of female offenders. After being released from prison
A neonatologist has many tasks and responsibilities before, during, and after the birth of an at-risk newborn. If there is reason to believe there are going to be complications with a birth that would cause negative side effects for the infant, a neonatologist will be brought in to help. In these high-risk situations, a team effort is required and the neonatologist takes the lead position. The neonatologist will be responsible for advising the parents on what to expect during and after labor. After the infant is born, the neonatologist has to find a method to properly care for the baby. Because most premature babies have a low birth-weight, their lungs need to be supported and they need to be kept warm. During this whole process, the neonatologist interacts with the parents to keep them updated on their baby’s condition (Weaver, 2009).
The responsibility of being pregnant is surely not as sever as actually having a baby but it is truly a preparation course. I feel almost scared when I go to the doctor. I keep close eyes on my food intake and eating habits, so that I can have enough supplements for both of us. I have to keep my baby safe because she can not do it on her own. I have to prepare myself for life with my baby; it is not only a mind set but also a physical one. I have to be prepared to make sacrifice and present stability in a child’s life even though I am still young. I have to face responsibility and understand it and achieve it. I have to face my fears, and run at them so that I may conquer life to the fullest. I must stand on my own feet and make my own decisions because this is my life; no this is our life.
There are many different areas to consider when preparing for and having a newborn. Whether the pregnancy was planned or unplanned or the couple is married or not, a newborn baby brings new responsibilities. Having a baby also forces people to make adjustments both financially and within the family. Parents also express concerns and expectations when having a newborn comma especially when it is their first; including what roles each parent and family member should play, how much confidence they have in their parenting skills, and how much financial strain would be placed on the family once the newborn has arrived. The newest issue in today’s society is the fact that many women are delaying childbirth and having more children in their later years of life.
In the UK, there are a small proportion of women within the prison which comprise of 5%. Due to the small amount of women within the prison population, in theory this should mean that women are well catered for (Walklate, 2004). However, women are disadvantaged as the specific needs of female prisoners are overlooked and dealt with inappropriately as they are imprisoned within a male dominated prison environment (Walklate, 2004).This leads to female prisoners being disadvantaged due to their numbers, as males make up 95% of the prison population. The small number of women in the prison means that the prison culture has been dominated by male’s needs rather than women’s (McIvor, 2004), this has resulted in “women’s prisons are inappropriately
The topic that I choose is mental health education for teenagers in school. Mental health is a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being. In schools we have classes focusing upon the physical and educational well-being of students but has ignored the mental well-being. The lack of mental health education results in people not knowing how to properly interact with mental illness both in others and with themselves. Not only is the knowledge of how to deal with mental illness an issue but the stigmatization that has derived from the lack of understanding creates a negative environment in confronting these illnesses.