Mental Health

In today's prison system there is a detachment in the mental health field as the code of the FDC has created a gang-like mentality within all staff. A code that says "We never stand alone" has translated into an "it's us against them" mentality. This code has been instilled throughout the FDC and has stripped the meat away from the bones of right or wrong.

This standard blurs the line between right and wrong, and the mental health staff slowly lose their professional identity. When it calls for the staff to help an inmate they are all liars and manipulators who are not really in need of help, just trying to manipulate the system. Never mind, the fact that these professionals went to school to identify those who are lying and manipulating from those who are sincere.

It is a culture that has embedded itself within every area of the FDC and subtly whispers,"...those who are incarcerated are unable to be fixed, so why try." All who truly want help and attempt change, find only an unbelieving system that provides little to no help at all. 

The mental health professionals that do care have no real power to properly treat those under their care. Those who attempt to help are shunned and looked upon as "inmate-lovers" who are, eventually, replaced by some other counselor or psychiatrist who is a better team player. The status quo is once again in place.

Some may ask, "Why should we care about the inner workings of the prison system's mental health department?" It's the same reason that society should care about all aspects of the prison system and that is because those who are in prison will one day walk out of prison. Those who are still in prison still are connected to others (i.e., children, friends, gangs, family, etc.) who are not in prison, and may still hold influence over them.

The generations of the broken do not end by simply locking up those who we have been able to identify as "broken". Those who are connected to the incarcerated are immediately affected by whether they ever get the help they need to overcome the neurotic layers that continues to influence them and their decisions.

To "repetitively do something over and over, yet expect a different result" is truly the act of insanity. This has been society's philosophy toward the prison system and it is time we change this expectation. If we refuse to fix the broken of our world, then that brokenness will, eventually, become our world.

We, here at Society-First, invite those who have been affected by this epidemic, whether a victim, ex-offender, inmate, family member, church, correctional officer, social worker, or simply a citizen to share their personal experience, solutions, or questions concerning this plight on the prison system.

Please, provide any comments, testimonies, facts, or points that you want  Society-First to look further into. Send us your story, or videogram by emailing us. Check the category that best fits the point of your concerns and/or comments. We look forward to hearing your feedback on what's important to Society-First.