House Of Detention Research Articles

Beating the Gong and Chasing the Dragon in the Lion City

The use or abuse of opium, in its three main forms, chandu (prepared opium), morphine, and heroin, covers a span of 160 years, from the founding of “modern” Singapore in 1819—when opium was exchanged as a gift between the Temenggong (Malay Sultan) and Raffles (the founder of Singapore) to 1978—when the first person to be convicted of drug-trafficking was hanged for the offense. For the three distinct products of the opium poppy—smokeable extract of opium (prepared opium or chandu), morphine, and heroin—with their three distinctive modes of administration—smoking, injection, and inhalation—there seem to be three distinct periods when each drug emerged as the main drug of addiction. Opium smoking was known in the earliest days, morphine injection appeared during the first half of the twentieth century, and heroin smoking became popular during the 1970s. The history of opium smoking can be traced among the early settlers of Singapore. These people were multiracial, but the Chinese predominated. Morphine injection became popular among adult Chinese and Indian/Pakistanis after its introduction around the turn of the century. Heroin abuse has become widespread among multiracial groups of young adults during the 1970s. For each product of the opium poppy antecedent factors are examined: the drug, the host, and the environment, especially the presence or absence of favorable or deterrent official, commerical, cultural, or political responses. For opium smoking, there was no preceding drug of abuse, its use having been introduced by a prevailing older tradition. In the case of morphine, its introduction found fertile ground among the abundance of opium smokers and new inductees did not have to cross cultural barriers. In the case of heroin abuse, its introduction was facilitated by a milieu that had been initiated to drugs in a milder form—“pot and pills.” The author examines the nature of drug use from the point of view of an outsider, but retains a vested interest in treating and rehabilitating his patients “for their own good.” Having seen the essential tragedy of their lives, such as elderly men becoming “vagrants” remanded to a “House of Detention,” or the first morphine death from overdose in the first drug dependence clinic for young “pot and pill” users in 1971, he speculates on what might perpetuate opiate drug use among the people of Singapore. The paper concludes with identification of serious questions and profound issues that as yet have not been thoroughly addressed and may continue to remain inadequately treated.

Here, This is the Shih-Ching Detention House

Comrades, do you know what is going on in the Shih-ching Detention House?

A research project in teaching in a women's prison

The purpose of this project was to discover new goals and techniques for teaching commercial subjects to women inmates at the House of Detention for Women in New York City. Formerly, this program had been judged a failure, since almost none of the inmates went on to secretarial work after release. With long histories of recidivism, these women were generally out of touch with themselves and with reality; their behavior was evasive and manipulative both in and out of prison. A typewriter, however, cannot be manipulated; typing cannot be faked. The confrontation with the inflexible reality produced by the black symbol can thus be used by a well-trained teacher to impart new insights, encourage firmer reality orientation, and strengthen selfconcepts. The redirection must be from emphasis on the acquisition of technical skill to the understanding of behavior and the therapeutic value of autonomous achievement.

A Letter from Prison

This article was written inside the New York City Tombs or Men's House of Detention, where the author had been remanded without bail, while awaiting sentencing on charges of criminal contempt. Mr. McAdoo, who is chairman of CERGE (see MR, January, 1965, inside back cover) and a leader of the Harlem Defense Council, was convicted along with four others on March 22, on several counts of criminal contempt of the 2nd August Grand Jury which is investigating the causes of last summer's Harlem riots. The five jailed on March 22 have a total of eight children. The procedure of remanding persons to prison without bail, pending sentencing, on a misdemeanor charge, is unusual if not unique in New York law. The five received their sentences on April 5 and as we go to press they are still in jail, while their attorneys appeal the convictions. The five are: William McAdoo, David Douglas, Vivian Anderson, Nat Barnett, and Mike Crenovich. —The EditorsThis article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

History of the Movement to Establish a House of Detention for Untried Adults in Philadelphia

History of the Movement to Establish a House of Detention for Untried Adults in Philadelphia

Support for a Philadelphia House of Detention

Support for a Philadelphia House of Detention

A Proposed and Prospective House of Detention in Philadelphia

A Proposed and Prospective House of Detention in Philadelphia

Recommendations for Detention Program for the Proposed House of Detention

Recommendations for Detention Program for the Proposed House of Detention