Hypothesis: New prisoners will be intimidated by the prison induction process.
Paper instructions:
Topic: Prisons, Reactions, Emotions
Hypothesis: New prisoners will be intimidated by the prison induction process.
Intro paragraph:
Prisons are a scary place. This is what we tell our children, and each-other. Prisons are where we send all the criminals, the murderers, the rapists, and the drug kingpins. Most prisoners have not done these crimes, but the reputation of prisons persuades the populace at large to see them that way. Criminals are also citizens, and while many criminals do not see themselves as “criminals,” they know that if they are caught they will be sent to prison. As we try to scare people strait with the idea of prison, it is no wonder that new prisoners will be frightened. As they go through the dehumanizing and rather mechanical prisoner orientation, designed to keep the prisoners in line by making sure they believe they cannot escape and that the guards can and will enforce the rules, prisoners are put into the prison population. Different prisoners react differently to this alien world, where they are all but stripped of their rights and identity. They do not know what is safe or dangerous. In addition, they don’t know who wants to kill them and who they might be able to trust. Prison is a harsh world, and established ecology is wary of newcomers, taking time to allow them to show their stripes before moving to prey on them, or to induct them into the pack. In such a world, we predict new prisoners will be intimidated by the prison induction process.