Introduction
“Institutionalization” is a common term we associate with those who have gone in and out of the system and have been abused and had a hard time adjusting to society again. We see it time and time again: the effects of state repression and abuse, warehousing people under the guise of rehabilitation and public safety. We also know that during your “punishment” for your crime as a prisoner, you’re further punished routinely, one of which is segregation, a tool and tactic used by the state to further repress societies “undesirables”. We see it in institutions like California and Texas where people do 40+ years in segregation on grounds of “institutional” safety. The fact is that’s a barbaric harmful practice within the prison industry — really ANY prolonged time in “the hole”, “the shoe”, “box”, “bucket” — whatever name we choose to give it, it harms people, and not just in here but our families.
This idea of “segstitutionalization” isn’t a new one, but perhaps a new way of looking at it, perhaps a way to spread more awareness about the harmful affects of prolonged isolation and the conditions people suffer under. My objective isn’t to “coin” a new term or make an idea my own but to personalize the experience for you out there. To bring you stories of men who’ve lived and experienced those long term affects and how they deal and how they adjust. To offer the opportunity for them to speak to a harmful practice abused throughout the country to further harm and oppress us. In some cases, as we have seen, you can be stuck in the hole for decades just for who you are, what you say, or not renouncing your gang or agreeing to inform on others. Those lucky enough to get through long term segregation suffer from the same sort of things you see in and “institutionalized” individual and the “recidivism” rate for those who go to the hole and go back is along the same lines of those who get stuck in the cycle of going in and out of prison. The term “under the jailhouse” is real.
These are a few stories of those affected.