PSYCH: Jail time

So jail wasn't what i thought it would be. I guess it wasn't what my doc thought it would be either.

So the first thing I learned is the difference between jail and prison. Jail is somewhere you go to wait to be sentenced or its somewhere you go for a short period of sentencing.  If you go to a prison it is long term and it means the court found you guilty of something pretty big. We went to jails.

The first one was way out in the middle of a corn field and it was full of guards and barbed wire. Every door frame you entered through had a glass door that had to be opened from the guard station. Only certain guard stations could open certain doors and as a rule, it was never the closest guard station. There was no control room that could open every door, so if you wanted to open all the doors you'd have to go from guard station to guard station- which is impossible unless there is a guard somewhere else to open your door. (confused yet?) Not to mention many doors came as pairs and if one door was open the other couldn't be unlocked until its match was closed. So moral of this story= if you are thinking of a zombie escape plan and need somewhere safe- don't go to the prison because chances are you won't make it out. Not because of the zombies but because of the complexity of the doors. And the inevitability that some person in a guard room will be eaten so they cannot open the door for the other group hence starvation.

The first jail we went to was clean. I was later told that certain less security inmates were offered '1 day free' if they helped tidy the jail facility. 1 day free means they get out 1 day earlier than sentenced. I always wondered how people got out of jail for 'good behavior.'  We didn't go to the inmates, but instead they came to us. We were put in the visit room and the guards let in one inmate at a time. The inmates wore different colored jumpers, they almost resembled scrubs (oh the irony). The color indicates what security level the inmate was on.  So Lime green was maximum security. Navy blue was lowest security.  There were 6 different levels.  The lowest allowed the inmates to go out into the community to work but they had to report back whenever they were not at work. So you could understand that the majority of the inmates who refused to come see us, were those who got to go to work.

Yes that's right, certain inmates can refuse to come see the psychiatrist. And frankly, he wishes all of them had that option because those who are required are generally pretty nasty. That said the majority of the  inmates were polite and even thankful that we were there. Not only were we a chance to get out of their cell but also somebody who would actually listen to them when they spoke. Guards are required not to. Most of the guards I ran into were rather portly and didn't instill a sense of security to me. However, the jail ran like clockwork. It was strict and well organized. The cells themselves, 'dorms' as the inmates called them, came in two varieties: normal and glass house.  the normal dorm was a bed, metal toilet, a small triple reenforced window about the size your fist, and a solid teal door with a lunch slot in it.  The glass house contained the same amount, but the doors and in many cases the walls were glass, so the guards could see what you were doing at all times. And let me tell you inmates and guards have absolutely no sense of privacy or shame at being naked. (more on that later)

We only got to go to the 'units' or cells when a patient was required to be seen and was too behaviorally challenged to be let out of their cell.  No guards accompanied us. We only saw one of them today.  He was rude in the way a teenage boy is rude to his mother for not giving him what he wanted. He slammed his hands on the table (aka picnic table screwed to the floor) and that was as violent as he got.  He wanted meds that we couldn't give him.

That's what they all want actually. Believe it or not most people in jail are depressed and report crying and wanting to be out within the first two-three weeks.  And nobody sleeps good.  They all want something to sleep.  Some even go as far as to say they want to be sedated so they don't have to feel 'guilty'.   I haven't decided if this is a con or not.  Many accept that we don't give sleeping meds, which is one of my docs rules for jail.  He says they are too habit forming, which is true. You can tell they aren't too happy about it, but very few are stupid enough to make any big thing out of it. Many actually pout like a three year old refusing to talk to you, or they just walk up to the door. Many also try to rationalize you into it, much like high schoolers did to your parents when they said no.  There were some that graciously accepted the explanation as well.

This jail had good record keeping and we saw probably 30-40 patients from 5:30-10:00 which is a pretty good stint. we get just a few minutes to assess each patient and determine if they are lying, seeking or real. I still haven't mastered this but the doc has got it down to a beautiful art.

The second jail is dirty and dungeon like. They have actual bars everywhere as opposed to glass. The cells are something i haven't ever seen. They have only 3 levels of security and they are the county jail. They have had several escape attempts and therefore the inmates MUST behave or else they don't get to see the doctor, their lawyer or anyone else. But i did get to see the medical cells. They were nothing but a large fuzzy blanket and a toilet. There is no bed, no windows, no nothing. These cells were about the size of a closet. They were more of what i was thinking of degrading. These inmates were not allowed outside or to the gym but once a week. The other jail gave their inmates outside time everyday.

This jail i saw many naked people just walking around the hallway with the guards. I guess the inmates refused clothes, which legally guards can't do anything about. Most patients in this jail were angry, young or immature. But nothing really exciting happened. The guards here were also alot angrier and more immature. One guard got pist and won't respond unless you use her first name only. She was also offended we didn't invite her to lunch.  The doctor told us that last week there was a fight but it was between the guards not the inmates, and worse, none of the guards were fired.

So anyway more stories later. :)