Recently in Prison Category

While working on a project for my portfolio, I ran across this site.  There are numerous things located on this site, but I found one thing particularly interesting.  Inmates can post profiles about themselves and request people like us to write back, essentially establishing a pen pal relationship. 

I ran across this site when looking for ways to reduce the development and impact of institutionalization.  I think this is a great way to reduce institutionalization by allowing the inmates to be in contact with the outside world through emails and/or handwritten letters.  Basically, willing prisoners post a profile where they include a picture (some profiles are without pictures) as well as information about themselves and who they are interested in talking to.  Had I not known these profiles were that of prisoners, I would have never guessed they were incarcerated because they seem very friendly and look to engage in meaningful and fulfilling conversations.

The last paragraph on the site says it best:

"Almost every inmate in prison today will be returning to society at some point. If you will invest some of your time and compassion, together we can help insure that not only will many of them return to us as productive members of society, but they will not return to the prison system again and again and again, as has become the trend in recent years. Together we will reduce recidivism."

 I encourage you all to check out this website and consider writing to a prisoner.  I think it could be an interesting and educational experience!   

The case I'm going to discuss is several years old but I found it very interesting and relevant to psychology and law. In 1992, a hunter found the body of a decomposing woman while hunting. After the police found out that the dead woman had been a prostitute, it led them to believe that a possible suspect was Thomas Huskey, a man known for bringing woman to the area. Huskey had a reputation for taking women, tying them up behind the zoo, beating them, and then having sex with them.

About a week after the first body was found, police searching the area found three more dead women. Huskey was arrested and confessed, on tape, to all four murders. During the confession, Huskey changed his voice and expressions and said that he was now "Kyle". Apparently, "Kyle" was the one who killed the women, not Thomas. After "Kyle" emerged, "Philip Daxx", a British man, surfaced. This lead investigators to believe that Huskey had multiple personality disorder.

After 6 years had passed, the trial finally began. Huskey plead not guilty by insanity. The defense psychologist said that Huskey suffered from multiple personality disorder, however, the prosecution psychologist said that Huskey simply created these personalities to manipulate the court. During the course of the trial, the cellmate of Huskey, testified that Huskey had read Sybil and was going to try to make it seem like he had multiple personality disorder to avoid the death penalty. Huskey's mother also agreed that he did not have this disorder. To further the case against Huskey, the prosecution noted that he gave specific details about the crime while he was Tom but if he really did have multiple personality disorder, he would have no recollection of these memories, since they belong to "Kyle".

After the jury deliberated for quite some time, they still had not come to a unanimous decision. The judge declared a mistrial. Huskey was to be tried again in 2002 but he asked for a lawyer during his confession, which was then ruled inadmissible. Huskey is currently in prison for 44 years for previous rape charges.

On another website, I found that the murder charges against Huskey were dropped due to detective errors. He is still in jail for the rape charges mentioned earlier.

Psychology is obviously present here. Because multiple personality disorder is so rare, it probably wasn't Huskey's  best idea to pretend he had it. Any personality disorder is severe and it's likely that Huskey may have had some other form of one. Although he wasn't proven guilty, it seems pretty possible that he did commit the four murders. I'm glad that he's at least in jail for the rape crimes he committed so that he can't go out and murder more innocent women.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/psychology/multiples/index.html 

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/12/prison.farmers/index.html

Here is a website that talks about the Florida Department of Corrections and how the inmates are becoming farmers 5 times a week. They go to the University of Florida Research and Education Center to water and harvest the crops that they have. The inmates get to keep what they harvest in return for their work. This has cut the cost of food that is needed for the inmates in prison, because they no longer have to order vegetables from other places. Having the inmates work on the farms helps them gain respect and work ethic, so those who are in prison for non-violent acts will be able to get out and find a job easier.

I think this is a great idea, because it is cheap labor and the inmates will be able to gain knowledge of farming and will be able to find jobs once they are released from prison. This also helps get the inmates out of the prison "world" and lets them have a chance to see what is outside the prison walls.

http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/html/cruelty_laws.html

This is a website that is all about being an advocate for animals. There are now 41 states plus the District of Columbia that have felony charges for people who abuse animals. This website talks about the Animal Welfare Act, which is the federal law that provides regulations for shelters, pounds and places that recover stolen animals. It also shows each state and what their charges are for people who abuse and neglect their animals. There are also other places you can go to on this website that talk about de-clawing and the laws with that, as well as sterilization and shelter laws.

There are also a lot of shows on tv that deal with animal cruelty. One particular show is Animal Cops on Animal Planet. They rescue animals that have been abused or neglected and take them to the vet or to the pound where they can be adopted. The cops then arrest the people who abused the animals and give them proper punishment they deserve.

These days, it seems like people will do anything to get public attention.  Reality t.v. has without a doubt taken over our living rooms, but exactly how far will producers and contestants go to reach fame?  Apparently, they will go pretty far.  One of the most controversial psychological studies, the Stanford Prison Experiment, was made into a reality television show called The Experiment.  Like the original experiment, the television show was also stopped early.

Now, since we are all aware of the psychological consequences that could be brought about by this study, why would they even think about replicating the study in the form of a reality show?  Personally, I don't think it was a good idea, but it's Hollywood, apparently they can do whatever they want.

Here is some information about the reality show:
http://bbcprisonstudy.org/index.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1986889.stm
        

I came across this article of a man, Allan Menzies, in the UK who murdered his friend in order to become a vampire. Menzies had watched the movie Queen of the Damned at least 100 times and claimed that he was told he had to kill someone in order to become immortal. Menzies called Thomas McKendrick to his house where Menzies attacked and killed him with knives and a hammer. After the death, Menzies drank his blood and ate some of his flesh. He then put McKendricks body in a wheelbarrow and dumped his body in a ditch, which was found 6 weeks later. After the killing, Menzies was convinced he was a vampire and immortal. Menzies was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The psychological issues surrounding Menzies is enormous. He had been diagnosed a psychopath by three psychologists in court. Menzies lawyer also said he was schizophrenic, which definitely runs true with Menzies actions. There needs to be more education for people to understand these mental health problems.

article

After looking for research topics in one of my criminology classes I became more interested in how effective rehabilitation programs are in America's prisons.  According to the article I found the United States has the largest percentage of imprisoned citizens compared to all other countries.  One major goal of prison is to rehabilitate criminals into being productive citizens.  Prison programming can be easily linked to psychology and law in many ways.  One reason I chose this specific article is because it makes readers aware of the criminal theories that can be often applied to psychology.  An example is the social-conflict theory created by Karl Marx.  He believes crime occurs because the stress that lower class people experience when the upper class uses their power.  This theory can be used for prison programming in the fact that prisoners would be taught to be obediant to the powerful meaning to obey the laws of the government if they are released into the public. Another theory behind the rehabilitation of prisoners ignores the rehabilitation process all together.  Structuralists and functionalists view prison as a success already because it allows people to recognize who is "bad" and who is "good."  The people who agree with this theory believe it does not matter if a prisoner is rehabilitated because they will forever be labeled as a criminal by others.  This article is wrapped up after explaining the symbolic-interaction perspective which states that a person would only learn to be deviant if they are around people who teach them to be deviant.  This theory could prove to be an advantage or disadvantage for prison programming.  Either an inmate learns from other criminals or prison staff to be deviant or is rehabilitated by taking advantage of positive life skill programs within the prison.  All theories that are introduced in this article have their positive and negative sides to them.  Everything depends on the specific deviant behavior that occurs.  Yet, understanding these theories and more can help programming move a step in the right direction.  Also, it is obvious that one must understand psychology to understand why and how people act the way they do and also what keeps a person from doing that again.  Prison rehabilitation deals a lot with behavioral and social psychology.  Read for yourself to learn some more information.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/307778/prisons_in_america_their_effectiveness.html?cat=17

 

·         In 2008, 7,703 children under age 18 were held in American adult local jails.

·         3,650 children under the age 18 were held in American adult state prisons.

·         22 states allow children as young as 7 to be tried as adults.

·         Every year, nearly 80 children age 13 and younger are judicially transferred to adult court.

These are absolutely shocking statistics. The book, "From Time Out to Hard Time: Young Children in the Adult Criminal Justice System," tells of how the nation treats pre-adolescent children (age 12 and under) who commit serious crimes.

This report recommends a few things to keep children out of the harsh conditions in prisons. The first is that we should work to keep our children in the juvenile justice system. The second is that parole opportunities should be given to young children regardless of the length of the sentence. The article says that in Florida and Pennsylvania, children as young as 7 can serve life in prison without parole.

The final recommendation is that children in the adult system should not be housed with adult criminals, but instead in a juvenile facility. This I would absolutely agree with. Most seven year olds are raised by their parents in a cozy and safe environment. I can only imagine the psychological impact that growing up in a prison amongst adult criminals would have on a seven year old.

Here is a news article about a 12 year old boy being charged as an adult for the murder of his father's pregnant girlfriend:

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/21/jordan-brown-killed-fathe_n_168862.html

My view on this is that I think our system takes it too far when trying children as adults. I understand that they do some very adult things, but I can't help but feel that we aren't realizing they are children. If we simply look at how they are developed emotionally we can see that they by no means act in adult ways. It scares me to think of my little brothers, who are around the age of 12, going to prison. Not only that, but spending their life there around the other people in prison. I believe our law system needs to get a better grip on children and charging them as adults. Any one of us can think back to the stupid things we used to do when we were kids. I even read old diaries and think, "Wow, that isn't even like me! I was so stupid!" Children at age 12 are still being molded, and I think by placing them into a prison, with adult criminals, is going to mold them in a very negative way.

http://www.beavertonvalleytimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=126827936072322200
This article is about a man who was convicted of murdering a woman and her two sons on account of revenge. He found out that his wife was having an affair with another man and was pregnant with the other man's child. Serrano was upset and went to the other man's house to get him, but found his wife, 37, and his two sons who were 15 and 12. Serrano shot all three of them. The jury of 8 women and 4 men were to decide if Ricardo Serrano was to spend life in prison without parole or have the death penatly.

I found this disturbing because everyone on the defense side was trying to make it sound like Serrano was a good man. I understand that it is their job to defend the accused, but a good man doesn't go and shoot people out of revenge.
I also found another article that talks about the decision that the jury made and about how Serrano's wife wants to testify against him.
http://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/index.ssf/2008/08/murder_suspect_wants_to_preven.html

While looking for good things to make my post about, I found an article talking about a man who interviewed and wrote a book on executioners. Ivan Solotaroff was interested in knowing why these men choose this job. He discovered that there were a few motives. Some said that they liked the machinery of death. Some felt that they just need to do what society wants - get rid of the unwanted. Some executioners are distanced from the process, suggesting that they are denying the reality of the situation and rationalizing it to make it sound better. Solotaroff found only one man who quit his job of an executioner after it took an inmate 15 minutes to die of lethal injection. I thought this article was interesting because you never really think about the personality of an executioner. Their job suggest that they would most likely be authoritarian and like to have power (Solotaroff points out). I think it would be useful in the field of psychology to research more into this. Below is the article where I read about this information.

http://college.cengage.com/psychology/resources/students/shelves/shelves_20020504.html

I haven't been paying much attention to the Mark Becker trial, but I was talking with my secretary and this trial is very important to her because her son knew Mark Becker and was coached by Ed Thomas. I've started paying a little bit more attention towards the end of the trial and I really wanted to have a report on the verdict but it doesn't look as if the jury will have reached a conclusion by 3:15.
Mark Becker has been accused of killing teacher and coach Ed Thomas in a weight room last year.

The prosecution has explained a timeline of events in their opening statements saying Becker broke into his parents' gun cabinet and practiced shooting a 22-caliber gun at a bird house.

The prosecution says Becker then went to the school and asked the junior high assistant principal where Coach Thomas was so they could talk about the Tornado Relief Fund. According to the prosecution, Becker went into the weight room, shot Thomas multiple times, then began kicking Thomas and swearing at him.

The prosecution says even if Becker suffered from a mental illness, it does not mean he was insane at the time of the crime.

The defense argued during their opening statement that Becker suffered from mental illness that kept him from distinguishing right from wrong. The defense says Becker had delusions the night before the murder and believed Thomas was Satan and was turning people into fish.

The defense has brought in four medical experts that all diagnosed Becker as having paranoid schizophrenia. In light of this, I believe that Becker was insane at the time of the murder, and while he should be held fully responsible for his actions, he should not be sent to prison.

I say this because I believe that he will only get worse in prison. He needs to be sent to a place where he can receive proper care and support. He should be sent to an asylum where he can receive proper medical care and rehabilitation. If he is sent to a prison, he will degenerate and likely cause more harm to himself and others, and he will not be rehabilitated, and if he is eventually paroled or released, he will be much worse off than he is now.

I know that many people disagree with my thoughts on this trial, and I would love to have people politely explain their views in the comments to this post.

To learn more about the trial and to learn what the jury decides, visit www.kwwl.com

Bernhard Schlink's novel, The Reader, is one of my all favorite novels because it not only deals with law and psychology but it also is a piece of Holocaust literature. The novel follows narrator, Michael Berg, as he retells his past in three epic parts. The novel begins in West Germany in 1958, almost 13 years after WWII. When Michael was a teenager, he had an affair with a 36 year old train conductress named Hanna. Their relationship was mostly sexual but Michael began to grow strong feelings for Hanna. Hanna was very "down to business" with Michael and very closed off about her past. One of her favorite things to do with Michael was to have him read to her after they had made love. There affair lasts several months until one day Hanna disappeared. Part II of the novel opens several years later with Michael beginning law school. As one of his assignments for law school, Michael observes a war crime trial that attempts to interrogate and punish those who committed war crimes in the Holocaust. On trial is a group of middle-aged women who were active SS officers during WWII and helped guard one of the concentration camps. Michael is shocked and surprised to find out that Hanna was amongst those who were accused.

I do not want to spoil what happens for those who wish to read this book and/or watch the movie, but Part III deals with Michael's life after the trial and what has became of him and Hanna. In Part III several questions are raised that have to do with both the legal world and psychology. One of the main questions that are raised is what are the second generation suppose to do with their Nazi past. In an interview, Schlink has said that one of his favorite professors in school had a visible swastika tattoo. How are the children of the perpetrators suppose to deal with the guilt of their parents as the events of the Holocaust become common knowledge in the 1950s and 1960s? And who can we persecute legally for those who were involved with what had happened in the Holocaust? Surely those who committed murders, but weren't those who committed the murders in fact just following the governments orders? Who can we hold responsible for their actions and where the perpetrators just victims themselves? These are all the things that the book deals with. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the Holocaust, history, or international law.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Reader-Bernhard-Schlink/dp/0753801728/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265914414&sr=8-6 

 

In my criminology class a couple of weeks ago, the issue of "furlough" was brought up. This is when a prisoner who has been convicted of a crime and who is in jail, is granted with the opportunity to go out in public, unsupervised, for a period of time. Willie Horton, who was granted furlough and who was also in prison for murder, never came back. Upon his escape, Horton killed a man and his fiance, on top of other crimes. The link below provides other examples of convicts who have gotten out on furlough, and committed numerous crimes while on this "prison vacation." What do you think about this policy?

 

http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0158_Dukakis__Willie_Hort.html

I found an article about a man that has been in prison for 35 years for something he didn't do. He was released from prison on December 17, 2009 because they used DNA do find out that it wasn't him who raped a 9-year-old boy in 1974.

http://www.newser.com/story/76448/innocent-man-free-after-35-years.html

What I don't really understand is why hadn't they used the DNA testing before on this man? They always take the fingerprints of each criminal when they go to prison, and this case could have been prevented or at least reduced in the years that the man was in prison if they would have been able to do the testing. To answer my own question, I found another article about the history of DNA testing in criminal cases that is really interesting. DNA testing has only been used in criminal cases for about 24 years, so the case with the man in prison for 35 years makes sense. They were only able to do the testing after he was in prison for a while.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5285970_history-dna-testing-criminal-cases.html

Did you know that a majority of imprisoned murderers only spend 8 years, on average, in jail? Rediculous right? What is the worth of a human life, or 5, or 100? Where do we draw the line? September 18, 2004 the LA Times put out an article concerning MORE killers getting out on parole. The article discusses Governer Schwarzenagger letting out 48 murderers in only one years time! The most common release for murderers in prison is due to "good behavior" and a "clean prison record." How can someone who murdered a person, or numerous people, get out of prison for "good behavior" when what they are in there for deserves death itself? This cite leads to the LA Times cite housing the article about Schwarzennager: http://articles.latimes.com/2004/sep/18/local/me-parole18 

The following website delivers a few statistics based on granted paroles: http://www.citizensinc.org/parolestatistics.html 

I understand second chances-- and wrongful charges. But how does the victims family feel about all the goings on? The person who took the life of their loved ones being set free? I side with the victims in this one. The website: http://www.murdervictims.com/Parole.htm gives a little information regarding the victims rights and ways they can get a parole overturned.

The Parole process is a long one that does take victim's family and suspect into consideration. The process has to look at all sides because if they release a criminal and the criminal repeats the offense- or worse- it goes back to the board that chose to grant parole. So the board has to have put some heavy thought into their decision. The following website is a cite that describes the governing process of parole in the state of Connecticut: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/rpt/2009-R-0345.htm 

As you can see, parole sentences are governed by state and each state has its own set rules of who they are willing and not willing to let rome the streets among us. Each state has a public record of their procedures,etc. that determine parole sentences, some more strict than others. All sites are easily accessed through search for parole sentences in said states.

I was going to use this case for project #7: wrongfully convicted, but it hasn't been proven yet so I just decided to write my blog about it because I found it very interesting. Under the subject of wrongfully convicted, I found a website from Alaska that works on freeing the wrongfully convicted. I found an update on this website about a man named Gregory Marino who was convicted of murder and attempted murder in 1994 with no physical evidence supporting this conviction. The reason Marino's case was on this Alaskan website is because they are raising money to get the fingerprints found at the scene tested to prove Marino's innocence. Although Marino hasn't been proved innocent yet, I feel that he is. I found an article in the Anchorage Daily News from July 7, 1994. This article states that there is no physical evidence proving that Marino committed the crime, but that a 7 year old recalls seeing him commit the murder. I find this completely ridiculous! It really shows some of the problems with our legal system. Marino has been in jail for 16 years all due to a 7 year olds memory of a nighttime murder.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1828&dat=19940707&id=-c8pAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YL4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2576,2662787

The website above is one of the articles written in 1994 about Gregory Marino and the "evidence" the proves he was guilty.

Recently in my economics classes we have been talking at length about the economic theory of "Prisoner's Dilemma." Prisoner's Dilemma uses a combination of psychology and economic theory to asses a situation in which two people (commonly prisoners) can be made better off by working together rather than working individually, but because of psychological decisions, both prisoners chose a strategy that better suits them, thereby, making both prisoners worse off than they would be if they decided to work together. To illustrate this idea here is the following example.

"Two suspects are arrested by the police. The police have insufficient evidence for a conviction, and, having separated both prisoners, visit each of them to offer the same deal. If one testifies (defects from the other) for the prosecution against the other and the other remains silent (cooperates with the other), the betrayer goes free and the silent accomplice receives the full 10 year sentence. If both remain silent, both prisoners are sentenced to only 6 months in jail for a minor charge. If each betrays the other, each receives a 5-year sentence. Each prisoner must choose to betray the other or remain silent. Each one is assured that the other would not know about the betrayal before the end of the investigation."  

From this analysis, one might think that both prisoners will choose to remain silent in order to receive only the minor charge and both prisoners are better off. But, assuming that both prisoners are somewhat rational, psychology and economics tells us that both prisoners will choose the strategy at which (on an individual level) each prisoner will be better off. Therefore, the prisoners will both choose to betray the other and both will serve a harsher sentence because of this.

This theory is not only applicable in a prisoner-type scenario. Watch the video I have attached below and see how quickly personal greed takes control of our decision making process. Not only is greed a factor here, but also there is the factor of fear of betrayal. Both prisoners can safely assume that the other is being made a similar deal and does not know which strategy the other will choose. In order to not be completely "screwed" by the other person, the prisoner must choose to betray the other in order to protect one's self. This is a perfect example of how behavioral psychology and economic theory coincide. Watch the video below and pause it at 2:46 and try to guess the outcome. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3Uos2fzIJ0

  In October 2008, Michelle Kehoe drove herself and her two boys, Seth (age 2) and Sean (age 7) to Hook-n-Liner Pond near Littleton, IA. She then tied both of her boys up, duct taped their eyes, nose, and mouths, and slashed their throats leaving little Seth dead and seriously injuring Sean. She then proceeded to the edge of the pond and attempted suicide by slashing her own throat. When she did not succeed with her suicide attempt, Kehoe went to a nearby house and claimed that a man kidnapped them and killed her children. Unbeknown to Kehoe, her son Sean had survived the attack and was able to tell authorities in the hospital later that day what truly happened.
 In November 2009, Kehoe stood trial for the murder of her son Seth and plead insanity. She was later found guilty of 1st Degree Murder, Attempted Murder, and Child Endangerment. In December 2009, she was sentence to life without the possibility of parole for the murder, 25 years for attempted murder, and 10 years for the child endangerment charged.
 
 Click here for the article about the trial. This also has short video clips of the trial including testimony from both psychologists, the recorded statement from Kehoe's surviving son, and the Kwik Star surveillance video of the family shortly before the horrific crime.
 Click here for the article about the sentencing hearing and how Kehoe's husband asked for leniency but the judge denied it. (Please note that the dates written in the article are wrong. Kehoe committed the crime in 2008 and the trial was held in 2009)

 For me, this case hit extremely close to home, in more ways than one. First off, there is the physical aspects of the crime. Kehoe stopped with her boys at the Kwik Star in Jesup, Iowa (which is where I live) and the store clerk who testified is a person that I know.
 After leaving Kwik Star, Kehoe drove down the road and stopped to let her boys play at the playground in front of St. Athanasius School. This playground is located directly behind my house (all that separates my yard from the playground is a single row of trees) and my oldest son plays there often. At this point in the time line, Kehoe purposely left her cell phone so that nobody could call for help.
 From the park, Kehoe drove a few miles further to Hook-n-Liner Pond. This happens to be my husband's and my fishing spot (since this happened though, we have decided to find a new spot). It is located in an extremely secluded location so a person would have to be familiar with the area to find it. Kehoe was originally from this area. In fact, the house down the road from it used to be owned by one of her relatives.

In 2003, there was a woman who killed her husband and kept his body locked in her bedroom for a year. This happened in Defiance, Iowa which is near my hometown in western Iowa. I found an article about it that really explains what happened and how her trial went.

http://news.findlaw.com/court_tv/s/20040421/21apr2004101845.html

It is really interesting because she was trying to defend herself because her husband was always beating her. Everyone in the town, which is about 350 people, knew that he was beating her and no one really tried to stop him. The wife shot her husband in the back of the head with his gun and put his body in their bedroom and locked the door. If that isn't gross enough, she and her children continued to live in the house the whole time. When the police found his body a year later, it was very decomposed, but the autopsy stated that he was shot in the back of the head, which lead prosecuters to believe that she didn't kill him in the form of defense, since he was not coming at her at the time she shot him. As far as I know she was guilty of second-degree murder with a 50-year sentence with 35 years before she could be on parole.

http://www.prisonexp.org/

Welcome to the Stanford Prison Experiment web site, which features an extensive slide show and information about this classic psychology experiment, including parallels with the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. What happens when you put good people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph? These are some of the questions we posed in this dramatic simulation of prison life conducted in the summer of 1971 at Stanford University.