Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-09-20
SOVIET AAs SYSTEM AND OURS
Home Burroughs for Prisoners in u S.?

cells, constant shakedowns. and
. host Of other real or petty
grievances.
But the overriding cause. 20.
cording TO experts, Ia the whole
atmosphere Of prison life:
The deadly, corroding mo-
notony Of spending year after
year behind bars the sour
stencil Of fear and animal-like
hatreds the incessant muted
babble Of Thousands Of mems
voices the reek Of cabbage
soup. rank stews and rancid
grease and the all-pervading
prison smell Of disinfectant :.
Living like zombies. prison in
mates suddenly awaken TO the
feverish excitement Of q riot and
become obsessed with o raging
desire to destroy. burn and kill
until subdued by the IRE hose.
hunger. State troopers or National
Guardsmen.
Asked why convicts riot, q
longtime Ohio prison guard
shrugged:
"They Just seem to want to
wreck the Joint"
Question Of Reform
Penologists say that theoretical
ly o prison Il o well-planned In.
stitution for reforming the GRIM
inal. Actually. they say. there are
grave misgivings whether any
thing more effective could be
contrived TO debase the human
personality.
One Of the country's leading
penal psychiatrists. DR.. Ralph s.
Banay, says the time has come
to adopt q completely new atti.
tude toward prison inmates.
Instead Of high-walled prisons.
he says, there should be thera-
peutic institutional communi.
ties" for those who present Q
real hope Of rehabilitation-and
work colonies for the hopeless.
TITS not pure damn meanness
in Q criminal that makes him DO
the things he does" says DR..
Charles K. Bush Of the Ameri.
can Psychiatric Association.
"The more you see. the more
you realize there Is . definite
emotional background to crime.
I think O majority should be
treated in hospitals-not prisons
to rehabilitate them by delving
into their reasons for committing
crime"
AS for such huge old prisons as
San Quentin with $500 inmates.
Ohio State Penitentiary with 1900
and Joliet with 1850, Dr.. Cas-
terms them Psychological mon
strosities."
Federal Director Bennett says
United States prisons are sorely
lacking in psychiatrie diagnosis
and treatment for "the more than
100000 defeated, embittered,
twisted, queer, handicapped and
seriously neurotic individuals who
pass annually through the gates
Of our prisons"
Mr.. Bennett deplores the fact
that the entire Federal system
Of 80 penal institutions, ranging
from Atlanta to Alcatraz, has only
IS psychiatrists TO care for its
10000 inmates.
ut would be Q big stride for
ward If we had ut least 80 or 40
more" he says.
Some critics, however, complain
there is already too much PSYCHE
atric smorgasbord," too much glib
talk Of the "psychodynamics Of
criminal behavior" and total
milieu therapy" connected with
prison rehabilitation programs.
Scoring at what they call soft
headed do-gooders. these critics
say the only answer to crime In
to incarcerate the criminal until
he has learned his lesson-the
hard way.
Mr.. Bennett sadly agrees that
some criminals appear to be
warped beyond redemption. but he
adds this thought-provoking COM
ment:
"our prisons would bulge to the
bursting point II everyone who
broke the law landed behind bars.
I'VE should remember that
those who enter prison are mostly
confused. frustrated, resentful
people caught in the blind alley Of
some unfortunate circumstance"