A brief video on the Mitchell and Everly Debrief model for PTSD nightmares and bad dreams

Bad dreams and nightmares related to PTSD

The Genesis of Cruel & Unusual Punishment

 

A Continuum of “Deliberate Indifference”

By Carl ToersBijns

 

Solitary confinement has many warning signs. Unfortunately it often takes a scandal for change and develops the necessary actions to change corruptive practices. Therefore, administrators must have the courage to address the environment and have the integrity to conduct productive changes under their supervision and control. Keep in mind that administrators will be defensive and resentful of such accusations and will use their defensive tactics to respond or deny such conditions indeed exist under their command.

 

The main contributors are the hiring and selection process and lack of ethical training. Although they may claim sound hiring practices and topics on ethics, the truth is that many skip over these important requirements. Therefore a prisoner is left at the free-will of those that have their own brand of justice. This is where the genesis takes place as there are options with this oppressive force; compliance or non-compliance. There is a third force that impacts the prisoner being in the wrong place and time resulting them being placed in segregation.

 

Living with oppressive attitudes impacts the prisoner in many ways. They could be wrongfully targeted for different reasons:

Weak / strong individual personalities / bully personalities

Sexual harassment personalities/ Gay / Homosexual behaviors / Bi-sexual behaviors

Mentally ill / bizarre or unusual conduct

High-profile cases / nature of crime offenses

Gang membership or tattoos associating with gangs (street or prison)

Assaultive behaviors on staff / general offensive behaviors / nuisance conduct

 

The fact is many bad employees lack the moral turpitude to have such positions of authority. Hence there are similarities between prisoners and staff that create and escalate aggression.  Employees believe the prisoners are believed not to be held accountable for their crimes. Ironically unethical officers are also not held to be accountable for their own integrity. Both often demonstrate a high level of anger and frustration. Unethical officers resent these prisoners as they personalize and focus on punishing them as both engage with a code of silence and demonstrate loyalty to each other creating the “us versus them” barriers.

 

Under this progression, prisoners will experience significant increases in personal problems as well as loss of privileges causing pain, suffering or difficulties.  One can imagine the impact of these abuses as this process is detrimental to the seriously mentally ill not having the coping skills to withstand such provocation. Many unethical officers continue “poking the bear” until the prisoner demonstrates a desired behavior that “threatens the security of the institution” or creates “harm to self or others” justifying the means.  

 

This continuum showed how a prisoner makes this journey from lower custody to maximum custody as the administration developed a track record demonstrating the prisoner’s unwillingness to follow rules. Red flags on larger solitary confinement placements consist of excessive number of prisoner on prisoner assaults / prisoner on staff assaults; increased rate of suicide watches / security watches, uses of force and use of detention units. There is also an increased rate of discipline and grievances for both staff / prisoners. Finally there is an increase in homicides /suicides.

 

Management does not address or recognize this as a problem because weak administrators refuse to stop it as they just don’t have the courage to make change. This is the primary reason why misconduct is able to flourish or grow with confidence that they won’t get caught. The hypocrisy is the denial that such red flags exist within the penal settings.

 

 

AZ officers work hard to save inmate's life video

http://www.azcentral.com/video/#/AZ+inmate+Anthony+Brown+dies+while+prison+nurse+says+he%2019s+faking+his+pain/2280543424001

Film documentary on Gorilla Justice book

A personal note about Gorilla Justice - the book is doing well and I have been asked to assist a film documentary film producer to help establish the mental ill situation in Arizona. This film will be a documentary related to the lack of services pre-arrest - lack of services at pre-trial and the devious plea bargains that take place with the DA and public defenders with no interest whatsoever for the mentally ill person and - last but not least the lack of treatment and services in post trial albeit incarceration situations inside prisons.

When they interview me this week, I will bring up many concerns by family and parents of those incarcerated with seriously mentally ill diagnosis as many suffer from dual diagnosis that includes substance abuse as a result of self-medication and addiction from such self treatments.