New Britain herald., 1930-12-30
air each day.
\. l

Al.
 We recommend the erection within the prison walls of what might be termed a receiving prison 1 ward or hospital where all persons 1 upon admission to the institution may first be placed for a stated | period, thereby lessening the likeli- 1 hood of epidemics and also affording ample opportunity for classification. In connection with this latter work, 1t is essential that there should be 1 employed either full time psyChia- | trIst, or one who, like the present | highly skilled time psychat trist, can give sufficient time to direct ! this work, in an efficient manner, with such full time assistance as he may require. All the present in mates of the prison should also be examined and classified.
 XII
 "It is desirable to build up a per- sonnel capable of carrying out the all-irnportant business of individual | lz&tion in the treatment of the in- mates. A serious attempt should be made to raise the standard of eff tICicncy of the custodial officers and other employees. It would not be aIi5S to have some system of in strnction or training for these men under the guidance of competent, skilled and experienced prison spe- cialists. In this connection too, we would suggest the wisdom of con- Sidering the appointment of special assistants to the warden, who should be educated men with no custodiaI duties, to perform the contact work which is such an essential part of the proposed system.
 "Classlficaticn, segregation and like measures will be of little prac- tlcal value unless the preliminary work of the prison physician and the psychiatrist is followed up bv Individual contact men. We realize the difficulty inherent in this rec onmcndation, but If a few such men could be obtained, who would work Iii close cooperation with the war den, the work of rehabilitation, we are confident, would be greatly stimulated. II is manifestlv impos- Slble for the warden Of any prison of population of practically seven hundred men, to study the individual problem of each inmate Some means must be provided to relieve the warden of a large share of this time consuming but highly import ant work
 The simplest calculation will show how this operates Assuming that there are seven hundred pris- oners and that the warden could sec and interview a prisoner even in the limited period of ten minutes, it would take him practically fifteen days, working steadily for eight hours g day, to see them all. When VIC consider the other duties and grave responsibilities which are inn posed upon the warden, it is per icctly evident that no individual could possibly perform the service which is manifestly required.
 NHI
 with regard to the use of soli- tary cells. so many considerations are involved that any hard and fast rule IS apt to be a mistaken one. We are satisfied that solitary con- fincment at Wethersfield is only re- sorted to for serious mira ctions of th" rules. At times there are in mates who not only commit such offnnScs; but who become boisterous and create disturbances which are Offensive and annoying to other prisoners. Moreover, there are cases where men have to be temporarily restrained because of extreme vio- lenCe. Manifestlv there is a legiti- mate use for solitary cells. Solitary cells are unpleasant places to oc- cupy but those who advocate their abolition have difficulty in suggest ing any satisfactory alternative. Nevertheless, we fell constrained to offer the following suggestions:
 "(a We believe that the lower tier of solitary cells should be de- rtolishcd.
 'tb) We recommend that the upper tier of solitary cells be re- tained until better ones can be pro- Nlded in a more favorable location.
 "(c) We recommend that the prisoners assigned to these cells should not be kept in darkness. There should also be an improve Mcnt in the ventilation.
 "(d) We do not believe prisoners should be kept in these cells beyond the period of actual penitence.
 "(e) We recommend that the handcuffing of prisoners be aban- doned altogether, except where it is necessary to restrain the prisoner for his own safety, or for the pro- lection of property.
 "f) No prisoner in solitary should be put upon restricted diet except with the approval of the prison physician.
 "(e) No prisoner should be kept in solitary confinement without the advice of the prison physician: and prisoners placed in solitary should be visited at least three times a day by the prison physician who should .~~@- -
 = = A