ght ship they have more control over the prisoners. The truth is that it makes the prisoners more hostile. The only thing found to be more damaging to an inmate's behavior is the use of control units. This is otherwise known as solitary confinement. A prisoner is locked in their cell all day long with no contact with other inmates or guards. New prisons in the south now have remote control doorways and video cameras to take the person from place to place. Thus making the job of the guards safer by not escorting prisoners, however, this means that a prisoner in a control unit now literally can go years without contact with another human being. The idea of less contact with prisoners has come from the increasing number of assaults on prison guards in the past 10 years. However, most of the assaults are coming from maximum-security prisons with control units. Control units which all started roughly ten years ago. It is clear to see the parallel in human behavior in this situation. The higher the level of 'security' or detainment, however you look at it, the more violent the inmates. A clear example of this theory is a prison in Indiana called 'Marion'. It was bumped up to the highest level security prison in the country in the late seventies. Shortly thereafter it became the most violent facility throughout the nation. (From Alcatraz to Marion, control unit prisons, 5) As the idea of detainment of prisoners for "security purposes" has swept the country the number of assaults on prison staff has risen from 175 in 1991 to 906 in 1993. (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2) Looking at my theory of human behavior in prisons, I find support for my opinion from a different point of view. In the early 1900's a jail/prison in Montpelier, Vermont had designed a program that had practically let inmates come and go as they please. They were not forced to wear a uniform. They are not supervised out in the town. They are free to spend the day do...
