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Saturday February 3 2024 

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Issue
  #10 

Dr. Paris H. Spencer 

Psychology of Confinement 

What are we  Missing? 

What is the “Psychology of Confinement? Dating back to the inception of    confinement–,incarcerating those charged with and/or convicted of a crime, along    with some officers, create conditions of confinement and this is consistent for medium and large facilities across the country. And even today, initiative after    initiative, things tend to stay the same or have gotten worse. Failing to understand, the set of conditions, that are necessary for some inmates and officers who have acted    against the agency, is also failing to understand that any attempt to remedy    it will be futile. Though a lot of time and effort has been put into establishing the current confinement culture, today and quite frankly, over the past 100 years, the efforts to circumvent  law, policy, and the agency has become quite easy and unapologetic.  The Psychology of Confinement presents a    set of conditions that are not only necessary, but are actually the only conditions  that provides what’s needed for bad actors to thrive. 

In order for officers and inmates to thrive, in a    confinement setting, especially when their intentions are to corrupt the  agency, they must have cooperation, organization and a pathway. And, because of the physical structure of  the setting, many things are witnessed, both by officers and inmates. The environment itself presents many impossibilities  for these inmates and officers to thrive, if it wasn’t for secrecy. Long ago in facilities, and even on the  streets, our school yards, law enforcement agencies, and the like, to  ‘snitch’ is to violate the core of this foundation, and even when the    information could save a life, or expose the individual who took a life, secrecy is the foundation. So even when a good officer witnesses something afoul, he/she is also held by that  expectation regardless of their agreement or participation. This is compounded when the agency does not pursue concerns and/or fails to protect the reporter.

A picture is worth a thousand words, except when it comes to  this one. There are conditions in  many facilities that are in drastic need of improvement. And, there are concerns about the safety of inmates and officers in many of the larger facilities across the  country. Not much has been done,    though some has, and as we attempt to improve the physical environments of    some facilities, the worst of it all, is rarely addressed.  It’s the people, yours and ours. There is more behind the picture, that 99%    of us can not see. There are conditions, in confinement, that make it merely impossible to rehabilitate an inmate. The Psychology of Confinement,  or each facility is very similar, but each facility is impacted differently    which is highly dependent on population type, census, quality and  availability of officers, and management control systems.  

Dr. Paris H. Spencer 

How ‘Bad Actors’ Survive

A Blueprint for    Corruptive Success 

In order for a criminal element to survive, there are a few things that must exist. First, there must be a foundation of agreement. While some may think that individuals may randomly bring contraband into the facility, it is not true. Cooperation is needed in order    to bring contraband into the facility and/or the protocols and practices of the agency allows for entry to be successful. Cooperation is needed to bring the    substances into the facility and is also needed for these items to circulate through the facility. So, of course  there are issues at the checkpoints, as well as practices to make this entry possible. What is key is, the    secrecy. Secrecy is counted on, even by those individuals who are not actively participating in the process. Besides, what is the benefit of reporting when nothing is done except for outing the reporter?  So some say.  The assumption is more people know about    actions and transactions than many believe or realize. We also have to assume, that some of these   Bad Actors’ have promoted or are friends or colleagues of good staff, so the reality of reporting is further diminished. 

Individuals who thrive on the injury to agency and mission, also need a customer base. So, whatever the commodity, someone has to want it or need it in order for the rewards to outweigh the risks. So chemical dependency plays a part as well as the other needs, wants, and desires of certain inmates and officers. 

When officers get to the point of understanding the conditions of the confinement, they can either turn a blind’s eye, report infractions, or participate in the undesired behavior. Before you know it, your officers have become a part of this culture. Where they fit in is key. Bad Actors know how to avoid trouble and/or those who would bring them trouble. So yes, there are times when inmates and  staff, behaving badly, must make adjustments to continue or further impact  their interest. 

Inmates and officers also rely on a lazy and often    permissive environment where there appears to be little control and    management of the facility. 

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What’s the Secret? 

There’s no Secret!

What is there to benefit? 

Plenty.  What does this Mean? 

The Impact of Psychological  Confinement

Paris Spencer

Jennifer Poole

Mark Pendergrass

There’s no real secret. Too many people know for it to be a secret. How is it possible? With the commitment to protecting agency    comes the opposite, exposing the agency. When you ask a detention officer, why is contraband being allowed to the enter the facility, the answer is usually something like, “you just can’t stop it” And as ironic as this sounds, it’s become the truth. Even something as egregious as sexual assault becomes less important than the adherence to secrecy. 

So, is that all it entails, secrecy? Honestly, it about sums it up. Ever had a secret that you   didn’t want anyone to know? What if   someone did know? Bad Actors depend on   good officers to make mistakes, accept this one gift, or turn a blinds eye just this once. This is how the grooming process begins. Some Bad Actors might actually appear to be ‘cool’ or ‘popular,’ and some are blatant with their infractions, operating without fear. How much can one be exposed to before they   quit or succumb to it? The conditions   of the confinement setting are more resilient than the efforts to stop it could possibly be. Officers and inmates tell on each other all the time, but rarely for crimes.

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Sometimes, being able to work in peace, is a benefit. Just staying out of the way, staying in   your lane, could benefit you tremendously. As long as you’re committed to this, you may be useful. Sometimes there is financial gain, and this could be a tremendous amount of money or a one-time thing to cover a big or item that would not otherwise be covered. 

Let us not leave out sexual gratification. In detention settings, sexual gratification and predatory behavior are problems in detention settings. We are sexual beings, and the need or desire doesn’t always end with incarceration. Though prohibited, sexual interactions exist in most every detention   facility. Along with this comes ‘same   sexual relations,’ much more exaggerated than in the community. Additionally, sexual harassment and sexual assault also occurs more frequently along with some officers crossing the line as well. According to inmates,  rationalization for being sexually deviant is purely rooted in the confinement, so certain behaviors, which may be contrary to societal norms, becomes the norms/accepted in confinement settings. 

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Because officers are incarcerated, with inmates, for most of their awake life, it’s no wonder that some of them, begin to develop    relationships with them. Not all    relationships are sexual, in fact, many are not. What’s important for inmates is that there is a set of officers who are and have been useful to them. And there are some officers that use the  inmates in the same manner. 

Because of the commitment to secrecy, uncovering and remedying these issues have proved to be impossible. We know who the players are, but there is not much we are going to do about it. Many who could possibly do something about it, are so far removed, and because it’s not a part of their daily hustle, it’s not on their priority list.

And, as agencies attempt to address retention and recruitment, mental health, contraband, training and the like, not many   changes will occur because many agencies are afraid to face the truth. And the truth is, it will take more than  buzz words’ to impact this culture. It will take a compete understanding of the Psychology of Confinement to understand how to change yourself, first!

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