0n Nevember 19th last,
a group of Senior Psychology students from U.P.E.I. had‘ the experience of visiting the regional maximum secur— ity penitentiary at Dorches— ter, New Brunswick. Initial interest in this visit was triggered by a number of problems, insights and ques— tions emerging from a _Spgg_ 131 Studies course in psych- ology, in which three of
the above-mentioned students had been pursuing an invest: mation into the psychologi- wl dimensions of crime, wnishment and rehabilitat- mn. The visit included a pneral tour of the physical Mcilities of the institution mcounters with a number
d prison officials, and a mngthy discuSsion with four mndomly-chosen inmates.
The awedinspiring iron- dad doors opened to expose w to the physical and psy- wological realities of ‘ fliSOn life. All of us had amoment of doubt, heSitat- mn - callxit fear. Not ‘ Ming accustomed to having- wards.lock and Unlock every
her one had to pass through, we immediately began to
experience some of that un- wsiness, helplessneSs and bss of freedom that we" ‘ fiequentlysasSogiatel"in,\ meory" with life behind bars. We, however, were flmre for a purpose, a mmpose singularly different fiom that for which an inma- m is admitted and "process- a"; on this we could rely; Mcause of this, we could Mill breathe without the mumping of our hearts being Imard above the Voice of our nude. For us, there was
m change of clothing, no finger prints required, no Mtture—taking, no frisking, hm simply the identificat- mn of each visiting member M the group, a security flmck for weapons and a cau— fion to be exerciSed-throu- lwut the visit. After this hitial check, one noted nunusual deep silence ettle over everyone while ewaited to pass through second no less impressive et of thick iron bars, into 1m prison proper on our‘
3Y to the board room. For h? next two hours, the ‘ hlef and only practising
“r 8Uide and introduced
3 t0 the Canadian Penal ystem as a whole, to Dorch— Ster Penitentiary in parti- . to his departmental esPonSibilities, to the rious programs offered,
1C t0 the day—tarday mecha- n8:101? life in such an
4 tution; It was during
° briefing nerigdgthat
C H OJ H
.5391 a.
Dorchdsm Penitentiui
‘orted a large metal—cage‘
we discovered that this pri— son is equipped with ten or so classification officers (counselors) who, on the average, have a case load
'of about 35 inmates each,
a load which hardly allows for adequate time duringrthe course of a week for each inmate. Thisshortageof manpower, it would seem,has always been and continues
to be a serious impediment to that type of personal help which the inmates so desperately need in Dorches— ter as in other similar institutions.
' We were then taken on a
. general tour of the instit-
ution, a tour which brought us to "the yard", the work shops, the library, the vis-
vitOrs' lounge, the gym, etc.
We were appalled to learn that 200 men had to aésemble
rein whéLMaPPeared to be a f
very small, inadequete area for recreation purposes.
.9 ' Each corner of the gym supp-7;
dflS/SN1 3IP913
which kept the guards secure from and yet within range of the inmate population... one of the experiences _ which deeply touched all of us was a tour of an average cell block. Though certainly adequate for overnight acco- mmodations it was our impre- ssion that over an extended period of time, such cells could certainly drive their occupants to dispair, The sparse furnishings included a foam mattress bed, a toi- let (at the foot of the bed) wash basin, a small table.
’Personal articles such as
pictures, photographs, cards- etc. decorated the otherwise naked walls. Space was obvi- ously at a perium; even "pacing the floor" within one's cell couldn't be cont— emplated. At certain times during the day, howver, the inmates could freely congre— gate in a corridor adjacent
‘to the: _ allrblgckaand, _ . , . . . 3901§§¥z3.
y-m Where] "Gun
thereby‘indulge in some' form of exercise or dialogue.
It later became our_underst— anding (from the inmates) that the cell block which we were exposed to was not typical of all cell—blocks in the prison. The high—li— ght of the day was undoubte— dly an indepth conversation with four inmates. Upon their_own admission, they introduced themselves to us (with numbers and other intereSting nick names) as
’two convicted murderers,
one convicted attempted murder, and one armed—robber escapee. The dialogue,to
our amazement,was very easy; though superficial at first it soon reached an intensity rarely seen under such circ- umstances. We communicated on what seemed to be a pers—
ional level. The topics
covered included the concept
1of rehabilitation, prison
life, officals, problems of adjustment, societys'
attitudes towards rehabili— tation, trust, etc, etc. ‘
The following iconstitutes a cross section'of the typical reactions, members of our group have had to
the comments and Observations
made by the inmates during the course of-our discussion as well as to the visit as
a whole.
1. Before this visit we tho— ught we had a fair knowledge of life behind bars; since our visit, we realize that We have much more to learn.
2. The group, as a whole, experienced a sense of hope- lessness and resentment towards sodiety and the "system" on the part of the inmates. It is our unerstan— ding from them, and certain ’prison officials that the institution does not regard rehabilitation of its inma- tes as its prime goal, rath‘ er it is that of protecting
salami 11' u
The Cadre, Feb. 25, 1975, page 13
rd Is A Screw
3. We feel that the realism and the logic used by the inmates in assessing the "system" should be questio— ned.
4. The concept of rghabilif Eatigg aroused such deep
and strong reactions from. the inmates, that fundamen— tal changes in its substance from and application would seem warranted if it is to serve a useful purpose in this type of setting. The inmates did feel that any form of rehabilitation was nonexistant.
5. The physical facilities did not impress us as being anywhere near adequate. The metallic gray contrasted with the uninspiring steril- ized corridors, left little \for the imagination and creativity of their occupan— ts. .
6. The automated strategy
of herding the inmates to the food shoot was followed by the consumatory response of the inmates in their own cells.
7. It was our impression that the inmates, upon completing their sentences had little or nothing to look forward to regarding job opportunities, family life, social security other than naked "freedom". Progr- ams such as the Seventh Step Program,devised by Bill Sands; might be of some
help in facilitating the transition from prison life to an effective social rein— tegration. . n 8. To the inmate, the guard is a screw, one who by nature and role can be tempermental abusive, and intolerant.
Our contacts with the guards were limited and could not deny or substantiate the afore said allagations.
9. It is our strong feeling that more deliberate attemp- ts should be made by outsid- ers like us to discover and understand what is going
on behind the walls: such' self contained worlds are
all too often taken for
granted and dismissed from our ordinary calendar-of-
events: to the extent that they are protecting us and isolating us from a segmentv of the population which society deems unacceptable we usually forget that they exist.
10. Despite the activites available to the inmates, the general atmosphere was one of boredom, and frustr— ation, which usually aroused tension among the inmate population.
Representatives from the group. Rachael Roy ~Idike Connolly