a parallel to the behavior found in incarcerated humans. Jails cause the same psychological side effects as prisons, to a smaller degree, in the effects of being en-caged, however, the overall standard of living in jails is much higher. There is a decent relationship between the guards and the jailers. The jailers are allowed to interact with the same people on their 'block' between "lockdown" times. Lock-down is when the jailers are confined to their cells, usually at night and for a short while in the day, during a change of shift. This method allows inmates to play cards, watch TV together and at very least walk around something else besides their cell. The prison system, however, usually remains in lockdown all the time, although they can speak to each other, they usually can't see each other without a mirror. Observing these two methods, and what little problems there are in jails as opposed to prisons leads me to believe that if you treat a human being like a human being they will act like a human being. If you lock them in a cage all day they may as well act like an animal. (Prison Activist Resource Center, 1-3) People sometimes argue this case stating that the offenses committed by jailers are less serious than by prisoners and that prisons are more hostile because they house the more serious offenders. These people forget that jails hold people before they are sentenced to prison, and that a large percentage of jailers will eventually be imprisoned when their case is settled. To sum it up, most jailers are soon-to-be prisoners, so why is it that their behavior is so much more human in jail than prison? The answer is the way that they are treated in prisons. It is an informal policy that guards must be extremely authoritative to the inmates and can be removed from working at a facility even for making small talk with prisoners. This policy doesn't exist in jails. The idea upheld in prisons is that by running a ti...
