Prison Murder

In my last class, Crime and Punishment, we watched a documentary that explained how prison life is in the U.S.  The documentary was entitled, "The Gladiator Days, The Anatomy of Prison Murder." It gave the story of a teenager, Troy Kell, who shot a man to death and consequently landed in prison for life with the option of parole.  Later in life Troy along with an accomplice ends up stabbing another prisoner 67 times until he finally dies.  What is most interesting in this documentary is focused on Troy's accomplice.  His name is Eric Daniels and he was put into a maximum security prison where he met Troy on the basis of forging a check.  So in perspective Eric was less of a dangerous man than Troy was.  Yet, they both came together to severely murder a man in prison.  This is where I think psychology comes into play.  Eric came into prison not being very violent at all but as time went on it was like being in an institution psychologically changed him into a man full of anger and hate.  The man who was stabbed by Eric and Troy was an African American and Eric and Troy were strong white supremacists.  After years had gone by Eric stated that he had found God and that he was no longer the person he used to be.  It is interesting that when interviewed Troy stated that mental problems arise while in prison because every day you are fighting for scarce resources that inmates share causing anxiety and even depression.  This documentary was very informative and it is made on the angle of both psychology and law.  Here is a website to explain more:

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