When Is a Prison Not a Prison, an Inmate Not an Inmate, and a Guard Not a Guard?

Abstract

Language can be used to bias or distort information, and thus influence how people think about something. Take the case of the California Youth Authority prison I worked in for close to two years, as Senior Clinical Psychologist, and Director of the Substance Abuse Program. It was clearly a When I interviewed for the job, I was asked Have you ever worked in a prison before? It was surrounded by fences with razor wire. And, the state's worst youthful o∂enders (under age 25) were sent there. Most were youths whose previous incarcerations not deterred them from committing more crimes. However, a few were sent to a Youth Authority prison because they committed a serious crime, such as murder, attempted murder, rape, etc., even if they no previous record. The way the language was used at this prison was nothing short of amazing.A Prison?First, it was not referred to as a The technical name was the Youth Authority, but so many people in the general public referred to it as the California Youth Authority that that name was finally chosen and placed on the patches on the uniforms of the guards. The Youth Authority is a major state bureaucracy, with the main o[double dagger]ces in the state capital of Sacramento. It has responsibility for all kinds of concerns about youth, and as part of this runs prisons for youthful o∂enders. Some of the prisons are called camps and are a[double dagger]liated with the county in which they are located. These facilities house all kinds of including murderers and other dangerous felons. But if a youth leaves a camp (a very misleading name; it sounds like a place to go fishing and boating and have cook-outs) and commits more crimes, he may be sent to the most restrictive prison system that the state has for youthful o∂enders, the California Youth Authority.Where I worked, we two prison systems. I was in the Marshall Intensive Treatment Program, where therapy was used to try to make the prisoners more law-abiding. A larger prison on the grounds was the Southern Center and Clinic. Perhaps we were the clinic; I was never sure. Reception is a term used in prison language to refer to the place where prisoners are first sent, for assessment, to see what kind of prison would be most appropriate for Thus, a center is a prison, although, again, the name sounds much nicer than it should. One person to whom I mentioned the name reception said it sounded like a place that would give you doughnuts and co∂ee.Failing to call it a prison was misleading but sometimes e∂ective. When I took a taxi to the prison, I referred to it as a prison, but the taxi driver said It's not a prison. From the driveway leading up to the main entrance, you could see lots of trees and buildings, but unless you noticed that the fences razor wire, you might not appreciate that it was a During a large group meeting, where we met in the day room with all the prisoners and did, in e∂ect, group psychotherapy, I referred to it as a prison, and one of the newer prisoners said It's not a prison. So, some people were taken in by the failure to call it what it was.Inmates?The prisoners were not called inmates, prisoners, or any of the other usual terms. At first, since I was doing psychotherapy with them, I referred to the ones I worked with as patients, but was always corrected when I said that. The o[double dagger]cial name, and the one that all sta∂ to use, was wards, as in wards of the court. Technically, they not been convicted of crimes, but rather had a sustained petition filed against them. This kind of language is often used in other states for juvenile o∂enders, and was the language used here, where we juveniles and young adults (up to age 25). In California, one is an adult at age i8 (in some states it is i7).Prisoners from age i8 up to 25 could either be sent to the California Youth Authority, which was the system for youthful o∂enders, or to the Department of Corrections, which was the prison system for adults. …