Prison Documentaries

[Abraham]

I came across a Netflix documentary regarding women in either jail or prison named "Lock Up".

While men are statistically more often criminals vs. women, they're are plenty of serious women criminals in existence whose crime range from murder, armed robbery, fraud and assault.

After watching 4/5 hour long episodes, I have yet to hear any discussion of: Their average educational level. Most are so poorly spoken. I believe they're dreadfully under educated. Or, perhaps they are sadly so mentally slow, that is they are in a category just above technical mental retardation with I.Q. levels in rather low double digits no amount of education would benefit them.

How many of them are not criminals in the classic sense (if you will) of a cunning, intelligent manner preying on the law abiding, but have such severe psychiatric problems that lead them to their aberrant behavior. This status doesn't allow them a get out of jail free card either as I think they should be locked up as they're a menace to society, but should also be recognized for their mental instability more than just being manipulative criminals.

Yes, of course, some are intelligent beings, who for lack of a better description as just plain evil, but more often than not, they're just plain mentally disturbed.

The overall thought I took away from watching these sad creatures is law enforcement and the judicial system is doing as good a job as possible as they're allowed to keep these harmful creatures separate from us law abiding.

The scary thing is these psychiatric criminal types often/eventually rejoin us to commit more dreadful acts...

Do you know any?

[The Wall]

I'm betting most of the ones you're talking about have background in drug usage. Fried their brains and they had to commit crimes to support habit. Now I'm sure lack of education played a part in them using drugs to start with. Many reasons why they weren't educated. Welfare and lack of jobs would be a couple of reasons. Breakdown of the family unit I believe to be a biggy.

[Jusme]

I'm betting most of the ones you're talking about have background in drug usage. Fried their brains and they had to commit crimes to support habit. Now I'm sure lack of education played a part in them using drugs to start with. Many reasons why they weren't educated. Welfare and lack of jobs would be a couple of reasons. Breakdown of the family unit I believe to be a biggy.

Criminal behavior, like any other is learned, no one is "born" a criminal, but if they are brought up where that is a way of life, their view of crime, is drastically different from non-criminals. There are many reasons, why someone becomes a criminal, but from my experience, it usually starts at home, where the parental units, either have engaged in criminal behavior, or left the child to their own devices, where they learned the behavior from others they associated with.
Drug usage plays a huge part in how people, men and women get involved in crime. At one time the statistics I read ( I don't have a source) said that 85% of all crime was a direct result of drugs. Either in the buying and selling, or the addiction that causes people to do anything to get them. On my wife's side of the family (fortunately none on my side that I know about) there are some female cousins who spent time in prison for either drug related offenses, or theft due to drug usage. According to my wife, the parents were mostly non-participatory in their lives, or were drug users themselves. The mothers, had been married and divorced several times during the formative years of these women, so they had no stability. I am not a psychologist, and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. So these are just my observations, and opinions.

[Abraham]

Jusme,

For the most part I agree female (as I'm sure male) criminality is a learned phenomenon, but some I think become that way as part of their being sociopaths, while a few are just bat guano insane and should be in mental institutions, with a tiny handful once released avoid criminality for ever more.

Sadly, the vast majority are life long criminals and need to be kept separate from society.

I didn't always think this, but watching these documentaries is very illuminating and gives me an even greater appreciation for law enforcement and the service they provide for a rather ill informed public who often and quite naively think law enforcement are bullies.

In my opinion Law Enforcement folks are truly noble and the job they do goes mostly unheralded.

[chasfm11]

In last year's election for county sheriff in Denton county, one of the candidates stated that the Denton county jail was the largest mental health facility in that area. Perhaps that was more than a bit of over dramatization but, according to him, many of the jail occupants had mental issues which may or may not have come from drugs. Given the success rate in our mental health care dealing with non-violent patients, it wouldn't surprise me that they were even less so with those with violent tendencies.

I observed in-patient treatment for mental patients (as a relative) and most of the programs use a drug abuse treatment format, even in cases where there was no such prior abuse. I suspect that there won't be much improvement until those who are incarcerated because of mental problems have those problems addressed in a better way. Drug use can be a symptom of a mental problem as well as a cause of it.