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SValx
from United Kingdom on 2007-01-09 17:30 [#02029295]
Points: 2586 Status: Regular
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I was reading The Independent and was shocked and disturbed by the figures that I saw in an article about mental health problems within prisons. I really feel that there need to be more mental health workers within jails, and that counselling is a huge necessity.
72% of men and 70% of women in prison suffer from 2 or more mental health disorders, compared with just 5% of men and 2% of women in the general population.
40% of male and 63% of female prisoners have neurotic or personality disorders, more than 3 times the national average.
20% of prisoners have 4 of 5 major mental health disorders; 7% of male and 14% of female prisoners have a psychotic disorder- thats 14 and 23 times as many as the rest of the population outside.
1 in 5 male prisoners were inpatients in a psychiatric hospital before they were jailed.
There were 17,294 incidents of self-harm, attempted suicides and suicides in 2003.
Nearly one third of women in prison injure themselve, on average five times each. Despite this, there were only 155 mental health workers inside prisons, as of March 2003. That's the equivalent of one professional for every 322 prisoners with mental health disorders.
Instead of recieving treatment, 28% of men with psychosis spend 23 or more hours a day in their cells.
The Chief Inspector of Prisons has estimated that 41% of those in jail should instead be in secure mental health care accommodation.
96% of menatally ill patients, many of them most serious offenders were put back into the community without supported housing, according to a study in 2002. More than 3/4 had been given no appointment with outside careers.
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marlowe
from Antarctica on 2007-01-09 17:31 [#02029297]
Points: 24588 Status: Lurker
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Shocking, yet I'm going to do nothing about it.
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oyvinto
on 2007-01-09 17:34 [#02029299]
Points: 8197 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag
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jail must suck. don't get caught!
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staz
on 2007-01-09 17:34 [#02029301]
Points: 9844 Status: Regular
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i know this, i've seen "Prisoner"
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SValx
from United Kingdom on 2007-01-09 17:34 [#02029302]
Points: 2586 Status: Regular | Followup to oyvinto: #02029299
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The point is, a huge number of them shouldn't be in there in the first place.
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oyvinto
on 2007-01-09 17:35 [#02029303]
Points: 8197 Status: Lurker | Followup to SValx: #02029295 | Show recordbag
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did you know that i have a t-shirt that says svalex?
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redrum
from the allman brothers band (Ireland) on 2007-01-09 17:39 [#02029310]
Points: 12878 Status: Addict | Followup to oyvinto: #02029303
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nice
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i_x_ten
from arsemuncher on 2007-01-09 17:39 [#02029311]
Points: 10031 Status: Regular
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thats actually quite disturbing. but the mental healthcare hopistals cannot physically cope with that volume of people.....
i read something about the failings of the mental health system a while back. can't find the article, but this essentially makes the same point.
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mylittlesister
from ...wherever (United Kingdom) on 2007-01-09 17:43 [#02029321]
Points: 8472 Status: Regular
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and this was only in the news on monday.
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marlowe
from Antarctica on 2007-01-09 17:45 [#02029322]
Points: 24588 Status: Lurker | Followup to mylittlesister: #02029321
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Someone give them Monoid's address, for the love of God. Get him off the streets and into a nice padded cell where he belongs.
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dog_belch
from Netherlands, The on 2007-01-09 17:45 [#02029323]
Points: 15098 Status: Addict | Show recordbag
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Who reads The Independent ?
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redrum
from the allman brothers band (Ireland) on 2007-01-09 17:53 [#02029325]
Points: 12878 Status: Addict | Followup to mylittlesister: #02029321
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jesus christ
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johnl
from Dublin (Ireland) on 2007-01-09 17:55 [#02029327]
Points: 172 Status: Lurker
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:(
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Brisk
from selling smack at the orphanage on 2007-01-09 17:57 [#02029328]
Points: 4667 Status: Lurker
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It is a real problem, yes. My brother was jailed about 8 years ago for 9 months. He served 4 1/2 months, but during that time his depression got to the point where he attempted suicide. The signs were fucking obvious but nobody noticed/cared. He was an idiot for getting sent down in the first place, but how can the government expect criminals to be corrected if the prison environment is clearly not suitable for this goal?
I don't have the answers for suitable alternatives, but changes definately need to be made.
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SValx
from United Kingdom on 2007-01-09 18:07 [#02029333]
Points: 2586 Status: Regular | Followup to Brisk: #02029328
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I just don't understand. If we can see a problem and the need for change, why can't the people who could make the changes?
Is it that they don't care? They don't have the funds to make the changes? Or is it perhaps an example of how people alter their attitudes to avoid cognitive dissonance? In order to prevent there being an inconsistency between their attitudes and their behaviour, they alter their attitudes. They tell themselves that they actually believe that there is no need for change and that the way things are is how they should be.
This knocks me sick.
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oyvinto
on 2007-01-09 18:10 [#02029336]
Points: 8197 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag
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first we have to take over the world. then we can start with all this "little" problems. it will be just like in paradise.
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Indeksical
from Phobiazero Damage Control (United Kingdom) on 2007-01-09 18:11 [#02029337]
Points: 10671 Status: Regular | Followup to SValx: #02029333 | Show recordbag
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"why can't the people who could make the changes?" a lot of the time its money, sometimes its not wanting to go against the grain. if 'they' make a drastic decision to change something their jobs depend on its success. and they like their jobs.
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Indeksical
from Phobiazero Damage Control (United Kingdom) on 2007-01-09 18:12 [#02029338]
Points: 10671 Status: Regular | Followup to Indeksical: #02029337 | Show recordbag
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plus im sure theres a million other reasons.
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OK
on 2007-01-09 18:13 [#02029339]
Points: 4791 Status: Lurker
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are prisons really needed in a society. one would think we could've come up with something better by now.
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tolstoyed
from the ocean on 2007-01-09 18:14 [#02029342]
Points: 50073 Status: Moderator
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they should all get guantanamo treatment.
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SValx
from United Kingdom on 2007-01-09 18:14 [#02029343]
Points: 2586 Status: Regular | Followup to Indeksical: #02029337
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Gah. I know you're right, but it shouldn't work like that! I'm just living in my own little idealistic world! :D
I wonder if they'll ever employ people who'll do what's actually necessary and for the best. I doubt it really.
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Indeksical
from Phobiazero Damage Control (United Kingdom) on 2007-01-09 18:15 [#02029345]
Points: 10671 Status: Regular | Followup to OK: #02029339 | Show recordbag
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lobotomies
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marlowe
from Antarctica on 2007-01-09 18:16 [#02029347]
Points: 24588 Status: Lurker | Followup to OK: #02029339
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We live in a crazy world - people who kick balls around grass and into some netting are paid tens of thousands of pounds per week, whilst people who try to help other people are paid about £8 to £10 per hour.
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tolstoyed
from the ocean on 2007-01-09 18:17 [#02029348]
Points: 50073 Status: Moderator | Followup to marlowe: #02029347
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they should make a reality shows about it. i bet they'd get paid better.
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SValx
from United Kingdom on 2007-01-09 18:18 [#02029349]
Points: 2586 Status: Regular | Followup to OK: #02029339
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I think a lot more criminals could be punished in other ways, such as fines or lots of community service. I think the people who commit horrendus crimes, and who the public need protecting from, are people who need intense treatment and counselling. I think it would be hugely beneficial if prisons were turned into institutes more like mental hospitals; adressing the issue, that people who can bring themselves to commit these horrific crimes, are ill and need treating, not just locking up and ignored.
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Indeksical
from Phobiazero Damage Control (United Kingdom) on 2007-01-09 18:19 [#02029350]
Points: 10671 Status: Regular | Followup to SValx: #02029343 | Show recordbag
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the people who will do whats necessary and for the best usually end up in the wrong departments, working on individual cases (like social work). they tend to not be bureaucratic enough to rise to positions of power as they get too wrapped up championing some smack addicts cause.
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dog_belch
from Netherlands, The on 2007-01-09 18:19 [#02029351]
Points: 15098 Status: Addict | Show recordbag
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Put them on the moon, like we used to send people to Australia. They did alright.
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Indeksical
from Phobiazero Damage Control (United Kingdom) on 2007-01-09 18:22 [#02029353]
Points: 10671 Status: Regular | Followup to SValx: #02029349 | Show recordbag
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intense treatment and counselling would require about 1 specifically skilled counselling type per every 4 prisoners that required it. there are nowhere near many unfortunately.
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Brisk
from selling smack at the orphanage on 2007-01-09 18:22 [#02029355]
Points: 4667 Status: Lurker
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Criminals just aren't a priority I suppose. Why spend money on people who have neglected the laws of society afterall? Once you're found guilty, you face punishment rather than rehabilitation. Sure, a lot of the people in prison are some of the most despicable humans on the planet, but this isn't the case for the entire populous. It's a tricky issue and one which doesn't have any easy solutions, but people need to remember that prisons are supposed to be there to correct behavioural problems, not make them feel shut off from humanity even more.
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staz
on 2007-01-09 18:26 [#02029358]
Points: 9844 Status: Regular | Followup to dog_belch: #02029351
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no, they will make another "Prisoner: Cell Block H" on the moon and it will be even more shit. even if that is incomprehensible.
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marlowe
from Antarctica on 2007-01-09 18:27 [#02029359]
Points: 24588 Status: Lurker | Followup to staz: #02029358
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What are you talking about? Prisoner: Cell Block H is a classic!
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Brisk
from selling smack at the orphanage on 2007-01-09 18:29 [#02029360]
Points: 4667 Status: Lurker
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Oz is better!
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marlowe
from Antarctica on 2007-01-09 18:31 [#02029363]
Points: 24588 Status: Lurker | Followup to Brisk: #02029360
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Without Prisoner, there'd be no Oz! Gritty prison-based drama where the inmates are all either gay for each other or killing each other (and the wardens).
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Brisk
from selling smack at the orphanage on 2007-01-09 18:35 [#02029367]
Points: 4667 Status: Lurker | Followup to marlowe: #02029363
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Porridge? ;)
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OK
on 2007-01-09 22:24 [#02029531]
Points: 4791 Status: Lurker | Followup to SValx: #02029349
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Yes, exactly. The whole point of why prisons were 'invented' is to keep certain people away from society (I'm guessing here, it makes sense), not to punish the criminal. I think humanity should be focusing more on the human aspect and I dunno building social foundations instead of focusing on growing and growing and growing. Capitalism sucks, and one of the reasons I think we're at the limit of what human kind will achieve.
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OK
on 2007-01-09 22:25 [#02029532]
Points: 4791 Status: Lurker
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There must be some way to gradually eliminate the use of prisons. At least for the most part of them.
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redrum
from the allman brothers band (Ireland) on 2007-01-09 22:32 [#02029538]
Points: 12878 Status: Addict
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i don't know about anybody else, but I'm far, far more shocked by what jack posted earlier in this thread than by those statistics..
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redrum
from the allman brothers band (Ireland) on 2007-01-09 22:32 [#02029539]
Points: 12878 Status: Addict | Followup to redrum: #02029538
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that didn't work! so much for being clever.
LAZY_TITLE
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OK
on 2007-01-10 00:02 [#02029558]
Points: 4791 Status: Lurker
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blow the observatory now!
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goDel
from ɐpʎǝx (Seychelles) on 2007-01-10 00:32 [#02029564]
Points: 10225 Status: Lurker
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Haven't read the entire thread, but I assume it's largely about the concept of prisons being unethical because research show that most of the prisoners have metal illnesses. Implying that most crimes are caused by mental illnesses.
There's one problem with this reasoning: are prisoners already mentally ill when they committed their crime(s)? Or does being in prison has a negative effect on the mental health. (think about animals in a zoo, for instance) I don't see if the researchers have taken these things into account. So the question shouldn't be if prisons are useless or not. Atleast, not only. The quality of the prisons should be questioned as well. And perhaps also, whether imprisonment in general will have a negative effect on mental health, regardless of the prisons' quality. And whether that is ethical or not (and to what extent).
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goDel
from ɐpʎǝx (Seychelles) on 2007-01-10 00:33 [#02029565]
Points: 10225 Status: Lurker | Followup to goDel: #02029564
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lots of grammatic errors in the previous post. ..as usual, i guess
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Taxidermist
from Black Grass on 2007-01-10 01:28 [#02029569]
Points: 9958 Status: Lurker
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All fine and good. Two problems:
1 - Its not that people don't want to spend the money towards it. Its just that the money isn't there to spend on it. How much of your money are you willing to put towards adequete treatment of prisoners and the mentally ill? Because its your money that is going towards trying to solve the problems.
That said, if you want your government to start putting their money towards things like that instead of things that are less important, like making bombs and bombing the shit out of other countries. Its all fine and good to stand in front of a political office and scream, but usually the politicians won't listen to those kind of people. The best way to let your voted officials know what you want is to calmly contact their office and nag them about it, and get a whole bunch of people to do it as well. If they start to get it into their head that what you want is what is going to get them more votes next election, they will be more likely to do it.
2 - The whole debate about what to do to with people who have broken the law. Its fine to say that the quality of things in prisons should be higher, but a lot of what goes towards making prison shitty is the prisoners themselves. Its not the officials that make people shank eachother. The prisoners choose to do that. What are you going to do to make it more shitty? Take away more of their rights? That would be dehumanizing. But the more rights you give back to prisoners, the less likely they are to see prison as a deterent.
So then the debate turns to this. What do you do with people who habitually show that they do not want to become productive members of society, but instead would rather act out in an antisocial fashion? I am not talking about people who are in prison for minor drug charges. Drugs should be decriminalized across the board.
To be continued...
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Taxidermist
from Black Grass on 2007-01-10 01:31 [#02029571]
Points: 9958 Status: Lurker
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Aww fuck it. I don't have much else to say. I would just rather let the criminals deal with themselves instead of having 'normal' people have to deal with them. But thats a different thing altogether.
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Ceri JC
from Jefferson City (United States) on 2007-01-10 02:10 [#02029573]
Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to dog_belch: #02029323 | Show recordbag
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I do, when my employer is paying for it, The Times isn't available and I'm not feeling jovial enough to find amusement in The Guardian.
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horsefactory
from 💠 (United Kingdom) on 2007-01-10 02:47 [#02029583]
Points: 14867 Status: Regular | Followup to redrum: #02029539
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that's fucking appalling.
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Ezkerraldean
from the lowest common denominator (United Kingdom) on 2007-01-10 02:49 [#02029584]
Points: 5733 Status: Addict | Followup to horsefactory: #02029583
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i know, its shit innit. reminds me of the nazis. i blame the house of lords. backwards old farts.
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jonesy
from Lisboa (Portugal) on 2007-01-10 03:31 [#02029594]
Points: 6650 Status: Lurker
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If we were to look at the social class of the people swelling our jails then I have no doubt at all we'd find them to be the poor and working class. Poverty causes so many other social problems; mental health problems, drug abuse, crime etc.
If people with money have problems they a) don't generally fall into drug addiction and b) can pay to go to a nice private hospital or get therapy. And c) white collar crime (e.g. fraud) normally goes undetected and not prosecuted.
And does New Labour care about the poor?
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SValx
from United Kingdom on 2007-01-10 04:14 [#02029598]
Points: 2586 Status: Regular | Followup to goDel: #02029564
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Just read the thread goDel. You'll save more time for yourself than having to read my reply explaining everything that answers your post.
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SValx
from United Kingdom on 2007-01-10 04:21 [#02029599]
Points: 2586 Status: Regular | Followup to Taxidermist: #02029569
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I suggested the fact that perhaps there weren't the available funds. But yes, I would rather my money went to something like that than to making bombs to blow the shit out of people. I'm not the type of person to scream and shout, and yes I am thinking about contacting.. someone. I don't know who. I don't know if it will make any difference, but I cant stand the thought of knowing about this and not even trying to do anything about it.
I'm not really talking about the miserable quality of life in prison, other than the disturbing lack of medical health professionals to help people who are psychotic, instead of just locking them in their rooms for 23 hours a day. It's not the prisoners who do that to each other. It's a lack of professionals who need to be there.
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1up
from greater manchester (United Kingdom) on 2007-01-10 04:25 [#02029600]
Points: 2302 Status: Regular
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98% of statistics are made up on the spot. . .
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