0:00:09 > 0:00:20This programme contains strong language and scenes which some viewers may find disturbing
0:00:49 > 0:00:54BANGING
0:01:01 > 0:01:05BANGING
0:01:10 > 0:01:14HE HOWLS
0:01:17 > 0:01:20BANGING
0:01:22 > 0:01:26This place is like an insane asylum.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28All types of craziness, and
0:01:28 > 0:01:32if you don't have a strong mind, this place can break you quick.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37A lot of guys, they don't even have reasons why, they just snap out.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40That's what this place does to you. It makes you mean.
0:01:40 > 0:01:41It makes you violent.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45The more you sit down here, the worse person you can become.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06This is solitary confinement.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54My name's Todd Michael Fickett, my prisoner number is 93262.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01I'm here for arson. In prison for arson.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20Down here, makes you feel like you're being buried alive.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26You're some place, alive, but you're no place anybody would want to.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35I'm down here in solitary confinement for, like, six months
0:03:35 > 0:03:37for hitting an officer in the kitchen.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48That's what you get to do.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Sit there and think about your thoughts all day.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Pace back and forth.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59That's pretty much 24/7.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03Like, you come out, I think it's twice a week, for a shower.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06You know. You can change your clothes when you want,
0:04:06 > 0:04:08but you're still stuck in a cell every day.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25My-my-my-my...
0:04:25 > 0:04:28mental state will probably go downhill, like it did last time.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34I go pretty crazy.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14We're not supposed to do it, but we do it.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16It's kind of funny.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18We're just bored, we've got to have something to do.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21You want to make sure somebody's around.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28We send notes, letters, medications,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31and sometimes razor blades.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57- OFFICER:- What's up? What's going on?
0:05:57 > 0:06:00- PRISONER:- We've got a bleeder!
0:06:03 > 0:06:05We've got a little bleeder!
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Hey, Fickett.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Fickett.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Fickett. Talk to me, man.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23Hey! What's going on, man?
0:06:23 > 0:06:25- Talk to me.- I can't do that.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30- How come?- I got fucking six others talking in my head, smart ass.
0:06:30 > 0:06:31OK.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Why don't you take this stuff down?
0:06:35 > 0:06:37What's going, man? Come on.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43Can you grab a camera and come in here, please?
0:06:43 > 0:06:46That's what mental health will get for not doing their job.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53- PRISONER MOCKS:- I love you, faggot!
0:06:53 > 0:06:56How bad are you cut, let me see it?
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Let me see it.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03- We need to get medical in.- Yeah. - Like, a lot. Now.- OK.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08Hey, Fickett, do me a favour. Put that towel over there on your arm.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11OK? Let's just at least slow that bleeding down.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13- PRISONER:- Hopefully next time you fucking die!
0:07:13 > 0:07:15Are you willing to cuff up?
0:07:17 > 0:07:19Drink some of your blood, Fickett!
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Come on. We're going to help you.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28The first step is we've got to get that arm taken care of.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30And then we can get you some help, OK?
0:07:37 > 0:07:41Faggot! Murderer!
0:07:41 > 0:07:43Kill the faggot!
0:07:49 > 0:07:51He's a pretty serious cutter.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55I've known Todd for quite a while now,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58and his history of self-injurious behaviour is pretty significant.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02So he does a pretty good job when he does cut, so, I mean,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05he'll go right for a main artery
0:08:05 > 0:08:10or he'll tap into something that produces copious amounts
0:08:10 > 0:08:12and puts his life at risk.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14So, basically right now,
0:08:14 > 0:08:16I'm going to see if I can move him to one of our two cells
0:08:16 > 0:08:20that I have that are designated for constant watchers,
0:08:20 > 0:08:23they have cameras built into them. They got full glass doors.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28It's inevitable, you put us in here with nothing to do,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31shit's going to hit the fan.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41Another day on the job. It's a real clean-up right year.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46We probably average about 20 of these a month, so...
0:08:48 > 0:08:49Yeah.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55In the last year, I've become an expert on blood, I guess.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18My heart goes out to everybody down here.
0:09:18 > 0:09:19I've been behind these doors,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22so I know what it's like to stay down here for years.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30You know, being behind these walls, it get to everybody,
0:09:30 > 0:09:33and everybody deals with it in their own particular way.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39As you can imagine, someone being 17, 18 years old
0:09:39 > 0:09:43in a setting like this, you know, it does a lot with your mind.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39My belief is the use of segregation has its place
0:10:39 > 0:10:42when you have real dangerous prisoners, but from my perspective,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45it is overused throughout the United States.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51For the normal person who doesn't work in a facility like this,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53they're going to be thinking,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56"If you punish them, you're going to make them better."
0:10:56 > 0:10:59And the reality is the exact opposite happens.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02- PRISONER:- Come and get it, motherfuckers!
0:11:02 > 0:11:04Putting them in confinement, forgetting about them,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07is essentially going to make them worse.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09There's no question in my mind.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16If I have somebody that comes in with a five-year commitment,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19you can have them do their whole time in segregation,
0:11:19 > 0:11:22but I don't want them living next to me when you release them.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25THEY SHOUT
0:11:25 > 0:11:28I think we need to make every attempt at
0:11:28 > 0:11:31moving them out of those cells
0:11:31 > 0:11:33and moving them into general population.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37I want you out on the other side of that door.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Because that's good for you to be on this side of the door,
0:11:40 > 0:11:42not that side. All right?
0:11:42 > 0:11:44- All right.- So we've got to find a way to get you out,
0:11:44 > 0:11:46so you're not fighting with people.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50We had some very, very dangerous prisoners.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54So, on the surface, they might look crazy, but the reality is
0:11:54 > 0:11:5780% of these inmates are going to be hitting the street.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00OK, so, we can either make them worse, OK,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02and create more victims when they go on the street,
0:12:02 > 0:12:04or we can rehabilitate them.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25I'm Adam Brulotte. 102817.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32I've been in prison since November 28th, 2012.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39Got into a lot of fights in school, started drinking at 17.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43Getting in huge fights at parties. Like, three on one
0:12:43 > 0:12:45and winning, and everybody thought I was the coolest kid,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47so I just kept on doing it and doing it.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51I went too far and broke a kid's jaw in seven places with one punch.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54That landed me an aggravated assault.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07- All right?- Yeah.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Secure bravo 101, local, secure, please.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16I just went overboard.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18That's why I'm down here.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20I freaked out,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24I was screaming, I started punching stuff.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27I got maced and tackled.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29They're trying to say I started a riot.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34And they brought me down here. I've been down here two days now.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40I like seg. I can handle being locked down 23 hours a day
0:13:40 > 0:13:44cos I can read. I can write, I can do push-ups.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47Most of the time I just chill, you've got to relax.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51You can't get yourself wound up cos you can't leave that room.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Sounds good to my standards!
0:13:55 > 0:13:57I'm always at this window, so I like the window to be clean.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00My face touches it, my hands touch it.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07Yeah, it sucks, but I think I'm doing good.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23Good, that's a good place for you to focus on.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46I don't know what I could do. My mind races all night and...
0:14:48 > 0:14:52..I've got hardcore ADD, and I'm about to leave in five months.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57I don't know where I'm going to go.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00I don't know where I'm going to work.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02I don't know how I'm going to get a car.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05I've still got 1,000 to pay, with no car and no job.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11When you settle down in your room, and you really just start thinking,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15just bang, bang, bang, all at once.
0:15:15 > 0:15:16And I need...
0:15:16 > 0:15:19I'm just trying to get some medication
0:15:19 > 0:15:22to slow that down for now. That's really the problem.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24This really kind of fucks with my head.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41- REPORTER:- Why are you pissed off?
0:15:41 > 0:15:44Because they're fucking fucking with people's portions.
0:15:44 > 0:15:45Argh!
0:15:45 > 0:15:48- Right in the face! - Hit him right in the face!
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Scumbag!
0:15:52 > 0:15:54That's a million-dollar shot, kid.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57That's what they call the million-dollar shot.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01BANGING
0:16:07 > 0:16:12BANGING
0:16:17 > 0:16:19What's all that stuff?
0:16:19 > 0:16:23Probably urine and toilet paper and food.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30What's going on, Adam?
0:16:32 > 0:16:34In half an hour, I'm going to let that lose,
0:16:34 > 0:16:36it should be in the hallway.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38Listen, there's no need for this, man, you know that.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42If you're making a statement, Adam, I don't want to hear it.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44It never fucking ends.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Can't do anything unless you talk to me.
0:16:53 > 0:16:58- You know that. Come on.- Oh, shit! There it goes.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04No?
0:17:15 > 0:17:17If we just leave Brulotte in segregation,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19he's going to become worse.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23We're going to end up with an inmate that probably will attempt
0:17:23 > 0:17:25to stab himself, without a doubt, at some point,
0:17:25 > 0:17:30begin demonstrating some self-abusive behaviour.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33So now we're going to introduce some programmes,
0:17:33 > 0:17:36we'll work with the inmates until eventually
0:17:36 > 0:17:38they become less dangerous
0:17:38 > 0:17:42and then we could look at moving them back to general population.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48- Good morning, good morning. - 25 days in seg.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50We'll talk about that after.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52Oh, here he goes.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56No, I just want to get started cos we've only got a little time.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58This class is going the same way we always go.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Ain't nothin' gonna change for nothin'. No reason.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03This is going to be a slow process,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06we had Brulotte initially in cuffs and shackles.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08After we developed a little more confidence,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12he'd be attending the groups just in cuffs.
0:18:12 > 0:18:13Build up a little more confidence,
0:18:13 > 0:18:15he'd attend the groups without cuffs,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17and with just one other inmate.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19And we would gradually work him,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22so that he'd leave that group from segregation
0:18:22 > 0:18:25into general population, where his programme would continue.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27So how does pride affect us?
0:18:27 > 0:18:31I show pride. I try to go too far. I started to get hard-headed.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35So you go from pride into doing what everybody wants?
0:18:35 > 0:18:39Yeah. "I'll be so much cooler if I break this guy's eye socket."
0:18:39 > 0:18:41- Or if I flood this... - And then I go do it,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43and then I go to a high-risk...
0:18:43 > 0:18:47You've got to find a different way of dealing with your anxiety,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50your anger and all that other stuff that comes
0:18:50 > 0:18:52with sitting in that cell all day.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55When I get angry, I don't think before I act.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57I usually don't take responsibility for myself
0:18:57 > 0:18:59and I just blame other people.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01But, doing this programme,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03I'm going to start taking responsibility.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06I'm the one fucking up, so I can't be pointing the finger.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10That sounds fantastic. Number one - honesty.
0:19:10 > 0:19:11I've seen it work.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14I'm an absolute believer in it working.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18It is our job to the extent that we can to rehabilitate them
0:19:18 > 0:19:20so that they can become successful,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22productive citizens in the community.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00KEYS RATTLE
0:20:08 > 0:20:09DOOR RATTLES
0:20:13 > 0:20:15My legal name's Samuel Caison.
0:20:17 > 0:20:18I prefer to be called Sam.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25I'm currently here for a Class A aggravated assault.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Most of my family's been in and out of prison their whole life.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40I grew up around this.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57I first drank and smoked pot around ten years old.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02By age 14, I was shooting heroin
0:21:02 > 0:21:06and had already done a couple of juvenile sentences.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13The first time I got in trouble, I got sent to a mental hospital.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19And then I got sent to a juvenile facility for a year.
0:21:27 > 0:21:33I spent nine months in seg, by myself, when I was 16.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36That was the worst, you know.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38It's just torture, pretty much.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44I would bang my head on doors, cut myself.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Pretty much anything I wasn't supposed to do that I could do
0:21:50 > 0:21:53with the very little bit I had in my cell.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00Lay down.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03I spend most of my time in seg in the chair.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Get off me, motherfuckers!
0:22:06 > 0:22:08Get away!
0:22:08 > 0:22:11The chair is a restraint chair,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15they cuff you up, your arms are strapped in.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18You have two straps going across your chest.
0:22:18 > 0:22:19Your legs are strapped.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24And they leave you strapped in
0:22:24 > 0:22:27until they feel you're calm enough to act normal.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30- Stop resisting. - Don't fucking...
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Stop resisting.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35No!
0:22:40 > 0:22:42- OFFICER:- Shut the door.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55I had turned 18, and I got sent up here,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57and pretty much spent the rest of that sentence in seg.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Me, personally, when I spend too much time inside my head,
0:23:07 > 0:23:08it's a dangerous thing.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16Cell extractions are like a game.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21It's our opportunity to get back at COs.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24They mess with one person
0:23:24 > 0:23:27and spend the rest of their shift doing cell extractions.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43Dumb as it is, the cell extractions, people cutting up,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45is our TV, so to speak.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56I cut cos it's my only way to escape.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01Obviously, being locked up, you don't have control of nothing.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06And cutting myself makes me feel in control.
0:24:13 > 0:24:20Since I came to population, I just tried to bury myself in programmes.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23But I don't know how any of that's going to work out.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30After doing a lot of time in seg, I'm not a person that likes to talk.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33It breaks you.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37When I'm inside my head too much, I get paranoid about things...
0:24:38 > 0:24:42..and ultimately get depressed. Depression's not a good thing
0:24:42 > 0:24:45when you're locked in your cell 23 hours a day.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59SIRENS BLARE
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Solitary confinement has the most fascinating history in
0:25:09 > 0:25:11the United States.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14The United States was actually the leader in modern times of
0:25:14 > 0:25:18introducing solitary confinement to the world.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20It was actually introduced by the Quakers
0:25:20 > 0:25:22as a noble experiment in rehabilitation.
0:25:25 > 0:25:26There was a belief
0:25:26 > 0:25:30that you could put a prisoner in his own solitary cell,
0:25:30 > 0:25:34freed from the evil influences of modern society,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37and if you put them in that cell,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40they would become like a penitent monk -
0:25:40 > 0:25:42free to come close to God
0:25:42 > 0:25:44and to their own inner being,
0:25:44 > 0:25:45and they would naturally heal,
0:25:45 > 0:25:47heal from the evils of
0:25:47 > 0:25:49the outside society.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52It was a noble experiment,
0:25:52 > 0:25:54and it was an absolute catastrophe.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58By the 1830s,
0:25:58 > 0:26:00statistical evidence began to accumulate
0:26:00 > 0:26:03that there was an inordinate incidence of psychosis,
0:26:03 > 0:26:08of suicide, and that people just deteriorated.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10By 1890,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13there was major condemnation of the institution by
0:26:13 > 0:26:16the United States Supreme Court. And so,
0:26:16 > 0:26:21the experiment with solitary confinement gradually diminished
0:26:21 > 0:26:26as evidence became unmistakable
0:26:26 > 0:26:30that this was causing disastrous psychiatric consequences.
0:26:51 > 0:26:52What we're going to do with Todd
0:26:52 > 0:26:54is introduce an individualised programme
0:26:54 > 0:26:56in the mental health unit.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58We're going to have a clinician working with Todd
0:26:58 > 0:27:02until we are successful at reducing the cutting behaviour.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04Ultimately, at the end of the day,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08we'll look at reintegrating Todd back into the general population.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13We still believe that he presents a significant danger to the staff
0:27:13 > 0:27:16and the other inmates. Todd ended up in segregation
0:27:16 > 0:27:20for a very serious assault, so essentially
0:27:20 > 0:27:22we need to be reassured, through programming,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25that the likelihood of him engaging in that type of behaviour
0:27:25 > 0:27:27is significantly reduced.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36Have a seat there. You must be, Mr Fickett.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40So next is to figure out how you're doing and plan our next steps.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43So fill me in.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45You still don't feel very good?
0:27:45 > 0:27:48Can you tell me a little bit more about...?
0:27:48 > 0:27:50You feel like shit, what does that mean?
0:27:52 > 0:27:53You still want to what?
0:27:55 > 0:27:56All right.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59Not even knowing the guy very well, and I don't,
0:27:59 > 0:28:00I can tell you he doesn't enjoy this.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05The intent isn't to engender any sympathy, the intent, many times,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08is to make an officer do things.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11They feel totally controlled, and this is what they learn.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13It's a learned behaviour,
0:28:13 > 0:28:15is that you can control others with this.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18But it is, kind of, a pathological way of control
0:28:18 > 0:28:21cos it doesn't gain them anything.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24It's just, for the briefest of time, they feel some sense of control,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26and then they are left stuck again.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30And usually, in worse physical shape.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34We're just at the beginning. He's still struggling.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38He's still going to have to do his seg time,
0:28:38 > 0:28:40and he doesn't want to do it.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44So there is that kid side of him that just doesn't want to have to,
0:28:44 > 0:28:46and, "You can't make me," kind of thing.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48I'd like to help him through that process.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10So after the Quakers' experiment,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14the United States abandoned the use of solitary confinement
0:29:14 > 0:29:17because it was widespread recognition that it was doing
0:29:17 > 0:29:20terrible damage to the people who were placed there,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23only, sadly, to return to it in the late 20th century.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27- REPORTER 1: - On our special segment tonight,
0:29:27 > 0:29:29the subject is overcrowding. Prison overcrowding.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31- REPORTER- 2: The state has the nation's largest prison system
0:29:31 > 0:29:33and also one of the most overcrowded.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36- REPORTER- 3: Outdated, overcrowded and near a state of crisis.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38- REPORTER- 2: With three times as many inmates as cells.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40The United States in the 1970s,
0:29:40 > 0:29:43we began to put unprecedented numbers of people in prison,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46and so you had terribly overcrowded conditions
0:29:46 > 0:29:50and prisons that looked like they were about to become out of control.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52- REPORTER:- Prison populations reached
0:29:52 > 0:29:54an all-time high in this country last month,
0:29:54 > 0:29:56and one prison burst under the strain.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00Inmates set fire to 13 buildings and then attacked prison guards.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04The other thing that happened was that there were increasing numbers
0:30:04 > 0:30:07of mentally ill prisoners coming into the prison system.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09Their behaviour was harder to understand,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12it was harder to control. Prison systems didn't have
0:30:12 > 0:30:15the resources to properly deal with them.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17- REPORTER- 1: Marion, America's toughest prison.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19Conditions are so tense officials now say
0:30:19 > 0:30:22the prison is in a virtual state of siege.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24- REPORTER- 2: In October 1983,
0:30:24 > 0:30:26two inmates, already serving life sentences,
0:30:26 > 0:30:30murdered two guards in the same cell block the same day.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34Well, in 1983,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37there were two officers within 24 hours that were killed
0:30:37 > 0:30:39by the Aryan Brotherhood.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44The staff at Marion were completely demoralised.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47They felt that we had to do something
0:30:47 > 0:30:49to protect them from these inmates.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51And we had to do something to protect...
0:30:53 > 0:30:56..inmates from these inmates.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01The Bureau director got involved, and said, "Lock it down."
0:31:01 > 0:31:06It wasn't just a day, it wasn't just a week, it was a permanent lockdown.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08- REPORTER- 1: The entire prison was locked down, that is,
0:31:08 > 0:31:12every man was confined to his cell to restore order.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15- REPORTER- 2: Now there is nearly one guard for every inmate.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18Unruly inmates can be chained to their concrete slab beds
0:31:18 > 0:31:21for hours, even days.
0:31:21 > 0:31:26With the high security, the lockdown was created out of necessity
0:31:26 > 0:31:31to maintain control of the inmates, confidence
0:31:31 > 0:31:33and protection of the staff
0:31:33 > 0:31:37that have to face these kinds of individuals on a daily basis.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39- REPORTER:- Marion's lockdown was never lifted,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42and officials say it never will be.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Their response to it was to employ
0:31:46 > 0:31:49very large-scale solitary confinement.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51Put a ton of people in solitary,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54which took away opportunities for programming,
0:31:54 > 0:31:57opportunities for social interaction,
0:31:57 > 0:32:01and that model of utter total control
0:32:01 > 0:32:04and harsh punishment took off in the United States,
0:32:04 > 0:32:09so that over time it developed more and more super max prisons,
0:32:09 > 0:32:11where everyone's in solitary confinement.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20For the people who felt we were too hard or harsh,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23what alternative did we have?
0:32:24 > 0:32:26What choices did we have?
0:32:28 > 0:32:31Our job is to protect the inmates and the staff
0:32:31 > 0:32:34and to allow people to get through their time
0:32:34 > 0:32:38and go out as respectable citizens, that type of thing.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41What are you going to do with those people
0:32:41 > 0:32:43who don't want that to happen?
0:32:43 > 0:32:45Have you got a better answer?
0:32:45 > 0:32:49I wish we did. I always said, I wish we had some social medicine,
0:32:49 > 0:32:53or a magic wand that we could use to correct people's behaviour,
0:32:53 > 0:32:55but there is no such thing.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03You guys get to go home! I've got to stay here for a fucking year!
0:33:12 > 0:33:13That's not right, man.
0:33:20 > 0:33:21Yeah, I figured.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27I've been down here 40 days now.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31And I'm not eating or drinking.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34They are going to tell me to drink something, I'm going to say no.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36Then they'll be like, "Well, just give him what he wants."
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Education, a deck of cards and medication.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47Not even medication I can even possibly abuse.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50Antidepressants and something to slow me down.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57A day in this cell is like three days out there.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59It drags.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03I want my education.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05You're going to be getting your GED. OK?
0:34:05 > 0:34:09I want to fucking do some testing tomorrow.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12- OK.- I'm not eating anything and I'm not going to.- OK.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15You can put me in the deepest... I want my fucking GED.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17- Absolutely.- I'm going to snap. - You know what?
0:34:17 > 0:34:21That's a legitimate request.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23But you stamping isn't going to get it to you.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26What you need to do at this point is let me try to help you.
0:34:26 > 0:34:27I'm just fucking... I'm done.
0:34:27 > 0:34:32- I'm this close.- OK. - I'm just fucking close!
0:34:32 > 0:34:35- PRISONER:- You believe that bullshit, you'll believe any fucking thing.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37I don't fucking believe in nothing.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41Brulotte is a young man.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43Brulotte is impulsive.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46And essentially, he's going to have to engage in programmes,
0:34:46 > 0:34:48he's going to have to demonstrate
0:34:48 > 0:34:50the behaviours that we are looking for
0:34:50 > 0:34:53before we're ready to reintegrate him in general population.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55He's going to have to show us, and demonstrate to us,
0:34:55 > 0:34:59that the likelihood of him being involved in assault or a crime
0:34:59 > 0:35:02is diminished significantly.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04Listen, you've got four months left.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07You start behaving and we'll figure something out.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11Let me tell you, if we can put some behaviour together,
0:35:11 > 0:35:13then we'll take a look at, at some point,
0:35:13 > 0:35:17moving you out of here so you can be released in general pop.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31This is fucking bullshit!
0:35:34 > 0:35:36You treat us like animals.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38We will act like animals.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43You want to come out and talk about all this stuff that's going on?
0:35:43 > 0:35:46Well, after I fight.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52- WALKIE:- '61. 400. 500.'
0:35:52 > 0:35:55B-R-O-U-L-E...
0:35:55 > 0:35:58BANGING
0:36:02 > 0:36:04Yep.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06There's got to be something.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13Well, right now we have an inmate that's covered his window,
0:36:13 > 0:36:15we can't see in.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18He's actually plugged his toilet, flooded the toilet out.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22Pushed faeces out the cell doors.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24He's covered our back window
0:36:24 > 0:36:26so we can't look into the back window and see him either.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29So we have some concerns for what he's doing in his cell,
0:36:29 > 0:36:31for his own safety.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33'Ten, nine.'
0:36:33 > 0:36:36We have a prisoner that has boarded up on the lower quarter.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38Refusing all staff orders.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41'I do not know, but if anybody is, it will be 611.'
0:36:41 > 0:36:47Unit manager Alan will be conducting and operating the extracting team.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50I will be assuming incident command, 10-3?
0:36:53 > 0:36:57'Bravo 222, I can confirm the extraction team.'
0:37:02 > 0:37:05Bravo 222, over. Bravo 222.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07Viewing central. He's in here.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11RADIO CHATTER
0:37:11 > 0:37:13BANGING
0:37:16 > 0:37:19You can't conduct yourself like a human being
0:37:19 > 0:37:21when they treat you like an animal.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26YELLING
0:37:45 > 0:37:47'10-4.'
0:38:24 > 0:38:29- Mr Brulotte, how are you feeling today?- Better.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31- That's good to hear. - It's freezing in that room.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34There's only the door, and there's a crack in it, this much.
0:38:34 > 0:38:39I can barely sleep down there. And my mind just races and races
0:38:39 > 0:38:44and races. I read, I do push-ups, I eat, I shit, I fucking jerk off,
0:38:44 > 0:38:47I do all I can to keep busy.
0:38:47 > 0:38:52All I really want to do is go to school. I leave in like 170 days.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55- Yeah.- I'm down two days now.- Yeah.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58We've got staff on board that can help you.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00No, I need fucking shit to do, I need to go to school.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02And I want my GED.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04That's all I ask.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08- OK.- I'm not going to go out there and scram for another job,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11selling drugs and shit cos I don't have no education.
0:39:13 > 0:39:14That's fair. OK.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17I told you at your door yesterday, give me a shot.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20Give me a chance. If I feel you're full of shit,
0:39:20 > 0:39:22then you do what you think you've got to do. OK?
0:39:22 > 0:39:24And we'll do what we've got to do. All right?
0:39:24 > 0:39:27We'll do our best to get you the help you need, OK?
0:39:27 > 0:39:29But I need you to do your part, OK?
0:39:29 > 0:39:32You need to keep your head screwed on straight, OK?
0:39:32 > 0:39:35- Thanks for coming out and talking, all right.- Yes.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44YELLING
0:40:07 > 0:40:10MAN HOWLS
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Solitary confinement is toxic to mental function.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21There's a particular illness
0:40:21 > 0:40:25that results from being in solitary confinement. It's a delirium.
0:40:28 > 0:40:33It's a neuropsychiatric, almost a medical neurological disease.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43What we see in humans,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46we see in animals, we see it in mammals.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50- NARRATOR:- Now suppose that
0:40:50 > 0:40:52in addition to an environment that is merely strange,
0:40:52 > 0:40:56we produce one that's really frightening.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59Doctor Harry Harlow, in the 1950s,
0:40:59 > 0:41:02did some experimentation with monkeys,
0:41:02 > 0:41:05studying the effect of social isolation,
0:41:05 > 0:41:08and one of his experiments involved taking monkeys
0:41:08 > 0:41:11who had been raised with other monkeys,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14so they were socialised and OK,
0:41:14 > 0:41:16and then putting them in
0:41:16 > 0:41:18what amounted to a solitary confinement chamber.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22Distressed.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24He may die for want of love.
0:41:25 > 0:41:30You'd see them rocking and shaking and, sort of, ritualistic,
0:41:30 > 0:41:31compulsive behaviour.
0:41:32 > 0:41:37And after some period of time, they brought them out
0:41:37 > 0:41:40and put them into a cage with other animals.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43These monkeys were massively impaired.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47They were frightened, hiding.
0:41:54 > 0:41:59And then they would have sudden aggression, attacking each other.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09Very different behaviour, very abnormal behaviour.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15There was no recovery. These animals didn't recover from this.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23One of the important clinical findings with solitary confinement
0:42:23 > 0:42:26is that people deprived of an adequate level of stimulation
0:42:26 > 0:42:29become actually intolerant of stimulation.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32They overreact, they become hyper responsive to it
0:42:32 > 0:42:34and they can't stand it.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36That's why you see guys getting out of solitary
0:42:36 > 0:42:39and they just hide in their room. They can't stand stimulation.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43There has been a recent study that actually showed that
0:42:43 > 0:42:46this is a reality in the brain.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49It was a study from the Balkan conflict
0:42:49 > 0:42:53in which it looked at prisoners released from confinement
0:42:53 > 0:42:56and looked at their brainwaves.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59Some of these guys had hyper responsive reactions,
0:42:59 > 0:43:02spiked reactions to visual stimulus.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05And they looked at who those fellows were.
0:43:05 > 0:43:06Semi-starvation, no.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08Length of time in prison, no.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10Beatings, no.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12There was only two things that predicted it -
0:43:12 > 0:43:15head trauma to the point of unconsciousness
0:43:15 > 0:43:19and a period of time in solitary confinement.
0:43:19 > 0:43:25So what we see clinically is actually confirmed by EEG finds.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30Think about this in terms of the danger to our community.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33Most of these people are going to get out.
0:43:33 > 0:43:35And you're releasing them to the street,
0:43:35 > 0:43:39totally unequipped to deal with being outside the jail,
0:43:39 > 0:43:43and of great danger to our community.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45You're increasing the danger to our community.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13You lose all feelings.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17You become immune to everything.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22You're not the same after spending so much time by yourself
0:44:22 > 0:44:25in those conditions.
0:44:25 > 0:44:27I don't care who you are...
0:44:28 > 0:44:30..you don't come out the same person.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37I did 11 months in the seg unit.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41I went from there, straight home.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49I tried to tell my mom and everybody I didn't want anybody around.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52I got home, there was five people there,
0:44:52 > 0:44:55and I felt like it was 5,000 people there.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59And ultimately, for my first couple of months,
0:44:59 > 0:45:04I'd lock myself in my camper until my mom and everybody
0:45:04 > 0:45:08tried to explain to me I'm not in prison.
0:45:08 > 0:45:09I shouldn't live like that.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19I ultimately...
0:45:20 > 0:45:25..tried to force myself to live
0:45:25 > 0:45:27like I was still in seg...
0:45:29 > 0:45:32..because I didn't know what to do.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35And then when I stopped, I was out of control.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39I didn't know what to do with myself. I went from...
0:45:39 > 0:45:46the most restrictive place I've ever been to no restrictions at all.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52And ultimately, I ended up shooting somebody and coming back.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40My name's Richard Stahursky, 29297.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43I was convicted of robbery,
0:46:43 > 0:46:47and crime with violence in possession of a stolen firearm.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50I got sentenced in 2002.
0:46:50 > 0:46:51Sent me here.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02I was always getting in trouble as a kid.
0:47:02 > 0:47:04Pretty much, I grew up around violence.
0:47:06 > 0:47:11And when I was really young, I was in a place for young kids who have,
0:47:11 > 0:47:14like, behaviour problems and whatnot.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19And then when I was 17, I went to a red alert prison.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25I did most of my sentence in seg.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28I think it had an effect on me
0:47:28 > 0:47:32because it made me where I don't care. It doesn't bother me now.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34And then it just progressed from there.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36Got out, went in. Got out, went in.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38Then I ended up in seg here.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46In 2003, I was out in population and I stabbed an inmate 23 times.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50I got placed in segregation
0:47:50 > 0:47:53and stabbed another inmate out here in the red cages.
0:47:53 > 0:47:59And assaulted a bunch of COs, lit a couple of fires.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02Escaped out of my cell.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05You name it, I've done it.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09And then they let me back out in to population.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14And, to be honest with you, I was weirded out
0:48:14 > 0:48:16because you're in a cell 23 hours a day,
0:48:16 > 0:48:19you're not used to people walking behind you,
0:48:19 > 0:48:21talking to you real loud.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24And getting out felt really weird.
0:48:25 > 0:48:26Kind of like
0:48:26 > 0:48:30the first day at school, except, like, 100 times worse.
0:48:30 > 0:48:31You know what I mean?
0:48:33 > 0:48:35It's weird.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39Being around groups of people after being so segregated for so long.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46On a scale of one to ten, where you sit now,
0:48:46 > 0:48:49where do you feel that you are in terms of open-mindedness?
0:48:49 > 0:48:51- Probably a two.- A two?
0:48:51 > 0:48:55You know, while we may be willing to change and be open-minded about...
0:48:55 > 0:48:57I'm very confident that this process is going to work.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00I can tell you that the number of fights have dropped,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03the number of use of weapons has dropped.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05Transports to the emergency room have dropped.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08The use of constant watches has dropped.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12So overall it's had a positive impact, but we're just beginning.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15The reality is we're just beginning.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24Prison systems around the country, very, very slowly beginning to see
0:49:24 > 0:49:28that solitary confinement is not a panacea,
0:49:28 > 0:49:32that in many instances it creates many more problems than it solves.
0:49:32 > 0:49:34It's very, very expensive
0:49:34 > 0:49:38and that there are much more cost-effective
0:49:38 > 0:49:42and intelligent ways of addressing these problems than the super max
0:49:42 > 0:49:45solitary confinement solution we've been using.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48- REPORTER- 1: The Federal Bureau of Prisons
0:49:48 > 0:49:50has started a review of solitary confinement
0:49:50 > 0:49:51at all federal prisons.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54Colorado, Maine and Georgia are already scaling back.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57- REPORTER- 2: New York State has agreed to place
0:49:57 > 0:49:58unprecedented restrictions on
0:49:58 > 0:50:01the use of solitary confinement in its prisons.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03- REPORTER- 3: The president says, quote,
0:50:03 > 0:50:06"Solitary confinement has the potential to lead to devastating,
0:50:06 > 0:50:08"lasting psychological consequences."
0:50:08 > 0:50:11In each place, the consequence of depopulating
0:50:11 > 0:50:16the segregation of super max units has been a very positive one.
0:50:16 > 0:50:21It's actually resulted in an overall reduction in the amount of violence
0:50:21 > 0:50:26in the larger prison systems, which is something no-one predicted.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28- REPORTER- 1: After a series of reforms
0:50:28 > 0:50:32the number of Mississippi inmates in solitary confinement is down 75%.
0:50:32 > 0:50:37Closing unit 32 saved Mississippi 6 million a year.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40Let me tell you what I think may be going on,
0:50:40 > 0:50:44which is that the existence of solitary confinement has allowed
0:50:44 > 0:50:46correction systems to deal with problems
0:50:46 > 0:50:48by putting people in a hole,
0:50:48 > 0:50:50by sending them off to solitary confinement
0:50:50 > 0:50:52and never having to think it through beyond that.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55The absence of having that as a quick solution
0:50:55 > 0:50:58forces them to take a different attitude about things,
0:50:58 > 0:51:01to de-escalates problems before they get to be too severe.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05To try to get to the bottom of why it is there is conflict between prisoners.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08And when you get to the root of the problem
0:51:08 > 0:51:11you can actually try to address the problem in the here and now
0:51:11 > 0:51:14rather than saying, "Well, there's always super max."
0:51:41 > 0:51:43How are you doing?
0:51:44 > 0:51:46Did you get my letter?
0:51:49 > 0:51:51So how are you and Mom doing?
0:51:53 > 0:51:57I got to finally talk to my daughter for the first time,
0:51:57 > 0:51:58and she actually said,
0:51:58 > 0:52:00"Hi, Daddy. I love you." So...
0:52:02 > 0:52:04..it's good.
0:52:06 > 0:52:08- MAN:- How did it make you feel?
0:52:08 > 0:52:10It made me feel like a new guy.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15I wouldn't say man, per se, because I'm only 21,
0:52:15 > 0:52:17but it made me feel like a new guy.
0:52:17 > 0:52:19It made me feel all fuzzy.
0:52:23 > 0:52:27Mr Fickett's somebody who tries to illicit that he's not helpable
0:52:27 > 0:52:31and he's just into being a nasty guy, but I don't believe that,
0:52:31 > 0:52:32and I've told him that,
0:52:32 > 0:52:36so he sometimes tries to test me,
0:52:36 > 0:52:40and see if I can be brought down to believing that he's really
0:52:40 > 0:52:41a horrible human being.
0:52:41 > 0:52:45No, I mean, he's too young to throw away.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03I like puzzles, so I've got one for you, Kirkland and Griffin.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06I'm going to each give you something to do.
0:53:06 > 0:53:07I think you're going to enjoy this.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11It's on a piece of paper, so I need to get a piece of paper for it.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13- All right.- Let me get this piece of paper.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Now we're into puzzles time. Oh, my God! We're doing puzzles.
0:53:18 > 0:53:22You see how enjoyable these guys are? I mean, they really are.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25They don't want to be broken, they don't want to be upset.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27They want contact that is meaningful.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33I got a present for you. Here we go.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36This is a good one.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38No conferring with each other either.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42So the idea is to see if there's a way to keep mental health
0:53:42 > 0:53:45in their cell without having to be with them.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49So we use a transitional object, something that represents me.
0:53:49 > 0:53:51We'll see if you got that by Monday.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53If you notice, I didn't just hand them pieces of paper,
0:53:53 > 0:53:55I made contact with each of them.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57We've had a nice interaction,
0:53:57 > 0:54:01so that got them off the grumpy, kind of, I'm upset and everything,
0:54:01 > 0:54:04and reconnected with them, engage with them.
0:54:04 > 0:54:07And then I'll be there to follow up with this piece,
0:54:07 > 0:54:08and they'll be all excited,
0:54:08 > 0:54:10especially if they've accomplished this thing.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12I want you to go in one direction,
0:54:12 > 0:54:14- coming back the other way's another line.- That's why I'm asking.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16The other thing that they are unaware of is
0:54:16 > 0:54:18the actual thing that they are working on
0:54:18 > 0:54:20has clinical component attached to it
0:54:20 > 0:54:23that I'll be using the next time I meet them.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27Because the solution has to do with other ways of looking at problems.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52It's very healthy to struggle. There's nothing wrong with struggle.
0:54:52 > 0:54:57- So what have you got?- How does a ball go in one direction, stop,
0:54:57 > 0:54:59and go back in the opposite direction
0:54:59 > 0:55:03without touching anything at all after it leaves your hands?
0:55:03 > 0:55:06- Oh, OK, that's...- You want me to tell you? Or do you want to try
0:55:06 > 0:55:09- and figure it out?- I always want to try to figure it out.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11We can't just bury these guys.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14As a psychologist, I'm looking into what is effective.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17What works. Why do we keep doing things that don't work
0:55:17 > 0:55:19or make things worse, why don't we figure something else out?
0:55:19 > 0:55:22So every time I meet with them, you know,
0:55:22 > 0:55:24it's much more of an uplifting kind of thing.
0:55:24 > 0:55:25We'll goof with each other.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28It goes in one direction, stops...
0:55:28 > 0:55:30Goes back in the opposite direction.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32Comes back in the opposite direction...
0:55:32 > 0:55:33Without touching anything at all.
0:55:33 > 0:55:35I'm not there to judge him.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38And I don't have him just as being this nasty kid.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42He doesn't want to end up where he knows he's going to end up.
0:55:42 > 0:55:43He's a kid.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45You're a smart guy.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47And you've got a great smile. All right?
0:56:05 > 0:56:08I'm done trying to be good. I'm going home in 90 days.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11All I have to do is 90 more, and I'm done. I'm going home.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22Yeah, my mental health diminished.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25Slowly but surely, it will do it to anybody.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28I lasted a while.
0:56:28 > 0:56:29Now I just think, "Fuck it!"
0:56:35 > 0:56:38They put me in the coldest cell of this whole prison...
0:56:39 > 0:56:42..as punishment.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44I don't know, this is America, not Russia.
0:56:44 > 0:56:45It's fucking cold in here.
0:56:50 > 0:56:54All I know is if I can open a vein and throw blood all over myself
0:56:54 > 0:56:58and refuse medical attention until I get a warmer cell.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00Make myself bleed a little bit.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14..I have an inmate with self-injurious behaviour.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16I need A and B responders, and medical, please.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19MEN SHOUT
0:57:28 > 0:57:29- MAN:- We've got a bleeder!
0:57:40 > 0:57:41MAN SHOUTS
0:57:44 > 0:57:47- Put your hands here and I'll cuff you up.- Fuck you!
0:57:47 > 0:57:50This is bullshit.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08- Stop it!- You need to calm down.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11I've been fucking calm, I've been asking you all day.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13I'm not going to sleep in a fucking cold room.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16At this point, hollering at us is not going to do any better.
0:58:16 > 0:58:18I'm trying not to.
0:58:20 > 0:58:22- MAN:- That blood is pouring out of him in the back,
0:58:22 > 0:58:24you need to bring a medical, man.
0:58:24 > 0:58:28- This is bullshit!- Immediately! - Leave me alone!
0:58:29 > 0:58:33Fuck medical, I want a fucking warm room.
0:58:33 > 0:58:34I hate the cold.
0:58:36 > 0:58:38I shouldn't have to fucking do this.
0:58:41 > 0:58:46- MAN:- How you feel? - Fucking pissed!
0:58:46 > 0:58:49You're going to a fucking put me in a fucking warm cell!
0:58:56 > 0:58:58Stick around, there's more coming right up!
0:58:58 > 0:59:00LAUGHTER
0:59:09 > 0:59:13- MAN:- We've seen Adam Brulotte deteriorate since he arrived in seg.
0:59:13 > 0:59:16Was segregation the right place for a person like Adam?
0:59:18 > 0:59:22Well, you just defined why we don't like to use segregation,
0:59:22 > 0:59:24but sometimes it's necessary.
0:59:26 > 0:59:28Mr Brulotte was engaged in some very,
0:59:28 > 0:59:32very serious behaviour while he was in general population,
0:59:32 > 0:59:35so, without a doubt, it was the right place for him.
0:59:38 > 0:59:40Did he spend too long in seg?
0:59:40 > 0:59:43You know, that's a real hard question to answer.
0:59:45 > 0:59:48There's a lot of grey areas in some of the decisions that we make.
0:59:48 > 0:59:51There's no exact science to any one of these guys.
0:59:51 > 0:59:55You have to try to figure them out as we go along.
0:59:55 > 0:59:59But ultimately when we're moving him back into general population,
0:59:59 > 1:00:04we have to be certain that the staff are going to be safe,
1:00:04 > 1:00:08the other inmates are going to be safe and that he's going to be safe.
1:00:14 > 1:00:17Before you went to seg did you ever imagine
1:00:17 > 1:00:20- that you'd cut yourself like that? - No.
1:00:20 > 1:00:22Never. I didn't know what it was.
1:00:23 > 1:00:27I seen a couple of people doing it, so then I started doing it.
1:00:31 > 1:00:33I try to be normal again.
1:00:40 > 1:00:43Just the routine, every day, gets to you.
1:00:43 > 1:00:45I've been down here four months.
1:00:46 > 1:00:49I've got in trouble, like, 30 times.
1:00:51 > 1:00:53I've been extracted umpteen times.
1:00:53 > 1:00:58Flooded my whole room out a couple of times.
1:00:58 > 1:01:00It's just stuff to pass the time away.
1:01:01 > 1:01:05And I guess they don't like that, they think I'm crazy for it.
1:01:07 > 1:01:09But you've got to do something.
1:01:56 > 1:01:59We have some inmates that are incredibly dangerous.
1:02:00 > 1:02:03But even those inmates we've got to work with.
1:02:05 > 1:02:09We've been able to reduce our segregation population by 50%.
1:02:11 > 1:02:14We saved about 1 million a year.
1:02:14 > 1:02:18I'm very confident that this process is going to work.
1:02:18 > 1:02:20And, obviously, if there's any negative outcome,
1:02:20 > 1:02:23we're going to look at that negative outcome.
1:02:23 > 1:02:24But, frankly,
1:02:24 > 1:02:27I'm absolutely convinced that what we're doing is going to work,
1:02:27 > 1:02:28and it is working.
1:02:37 > 1:02:39- REPORTER- 1: State police have formally charged
1:02:39 > 1:02:43a Maine State prison inmate with murdering another inmate.
1:02:43 > 1:02:44- REPORTER- 2: The police say Richards Stahursky
1:02:44 > 1:02:48took two makeshift knives and stabbed convicted child molester...
1:02:48 > 1:02:51- REPORTER- 3: How is it possible a murder can go unnoticed,
1:02:51 > 1:02:54an inmate beaten, tied up and stabbed 87 times?
1:02:54 > 1:02:56- REPORTER- 4: Investigators say Stahursky used a piece of
1:02:56 > 1:02:59metal bed frame as a makeshift knife.
1:03:21 > 1:03:24I've been locked up a little over 14 years,
1:03:24 > 1:03:27and I've been in seg a little over 12.
1:03:27 > 1:03:29What does that tell you?
1:03:29 > 1:03:32I did six years in seg, do you know what they do?
1:03:32 > 1:03:34They take me, put me right back out in population.
1:03:34 > 1:03:37Instead of integrating me out there, they just threw me out there.
1:03:37 > 1:03:40You know how I felt? I felt so weird just being around people.
1:03:40 > 1:03:42I never felt like that before. You know what I mean?
1:03:42 > 1:03:46Just having people walk behind me, having them just, like,
1:03:46 > 1:03:48I don't know.
1:03:48 > 1:03:50I kind of felt, like, real paranoid.
1:03:50 > 1:03:52I'd go, "Is this dude going to try something?
1:03:52 > 1:03:54"Maybe I should get him first."
1:04:06 > 1:04:10I've never hurt anybody that I felt that didn't deserve it.
1:04:10 > 1:04:13Staff members, any staff member I ever put my hands on,
1:04:13 > 1:04:17I didn't stab any of them. I had multiple opportunities to.
1:04:17 > 1:04:19I have not done that.
1:04:23 > 1:04:25When I was done, I walked up to the desk,
1:04:25 > 1:04:28the female that was on had her back to me,
1:04:28 > 1:04:31threw the two shanks on the desk.
1:04:31 > 1:04:33And I told her, I said, "I'm not here to hurt you."
1:04:33 > 1:04:35I held my hands up like this, and go,
1:04:35 > 1:04:39"I'm going to turn around. Put my hands behind my back, cuff me up."
1:04:39 > 1:04:43I turned around, put my hands behind my back, she froze up.
1:04:43 > 1:04:45I think she was, kind of, a little in shock,
1:04:45 > 1:04:48she just didn't know what the hell was going on. She was like,
1:04:48 > 1:04:50"Is that your blood? Is that somebody's blood? Is that yours?"
1:04:50 > 1:04:52I said,
1:04:52 > 1:04:55"Hello, don't ask no questions. Just cuff me up, call your code."
1:04:58 > 1:05:02Am I a violent inmate? I can be, yes.
1:05:02 > 1:05:06You put me in certain situations, I am going to be like that.
1:05:06 > 1:05:09That's not no secret, though, anybody knows that.
1:06:08 > 1:06:11We take an event like that extremely seriously.
1:06:16 > 1:06:19But at the same time we recognise,
1:06:19 > 1:06:22given that we're working with a very high-risk population,
1:06:22 > 1:06:24the key is not to overreact
1:06:24 > 1:06:26to an incident like that
1:06:26 > 1:06:28and change an entire system,
1:06:28 > 1:06:32or take a giant step backwards out of fear.
1:06:34 > 1:06:36The mission of the Department of Corrections
1:06:36 > 1:06:40can't just be about management or control.
1:06:40 > 1:06:42It's got to be about mitigating risk,
1:06:42 > 1:06:44and to mitigate risk you need treatment and programming.
1:06:44 > 1:06:48To have treatment and programming, individuals can't be locked down.
1:06:48 > 1:06:49They've got to be interacting.
1:06:49 > 1:06:53So I think the key around that homicide, which was horrific,
1:06:53 > 1:06:57was to treat it appropriately, hold the offender accountable,
1:06:57 > 1:07:03but not sabotage a system that was moving in an appropriate direction.
1:07:50 > 1:07:52There's going to be mistakes.
1:07:52 > 1:07:53There's going to be missteps.
1:07:53 > 1:07:55There's going to be major incidents.
1:07:55 > 1:07:57But I do think it's working.
1:07:57 > 1:07:59We're seeing a reduction in assault
1:07:59 > 1:08:04and the numbers have continued to go down in the seg unit.
1:08:04 > 1:08:08So that tells me that we're doing a better job at keeping people out
1:08:08 > 1:08:09and of getting them out sooner.
1:08:09 > 1:08:13I also think that we're doing a better job of equipping them
1:08:13 > 1:08:17when they leave so that they have more of a chance of being successful
1:08:17 > 1:08:20when they return to their housing unit.
1:08:45 > 1:08:48I do have a different attitude from two years ago.
1:08:49 > 1:08:52The programme that I've done since I've been in prison...
1:08:54 > 1:08:56..taught me how to change my frame of mind.
1:09:00 > 1:09:03These groups aren't just something to occupy your mind though,
1:09:03 > 1:09:05these groups are...
1:09:05 > 1:09:08supposed to help you change yourself.
1:09:08 > 1:09:14So I can say part of it is to give me something to do, yes,
1:09:14 > 1:09:18but these groups have also helped me see a better person in myself
1:09:18 > 1:09:20than I was before, so...
1:09:25 > 1:09:29Actually, going back a couple of years ago, my mind would go...
1:09:29 > 1:09:31into these little circuits where it's like,
1:09:31 > 1:09:33I'd be aggravated real quickly
1:09:33 > 1:09:37or I'd be going into depression real quick like.
1:09:40 > 1:09:43And I've been trying to work over the past two years to change that.
1:09:46 > 1:09:48And as of right now, I could probably tell you,
1:09:48 > 1:09:50I will never cut again.
1:09:51 > 1:09:53I don't plan on it. I don't want it.
1:09:53 > 1:09:57Some days do I actually think back on what I did?
1:09:58 > 1:10:01Some days I've thought and said,
1:10:01 > 1:10:05"Hey, yeah. I wasn't only hurting me, I was hurting some of the COs."
1:10:05 > 1:10:08I was hurting inmates who had problems with it,
1:10:08 > 1:10:10just staring at the blood.
1:10:11 > 1:10:12I've hurt my family.
1:10:12 > 1:10:15I don't think it was right for me doing any of it.
1:10:15 > 1:10:19But, like I said, the past is the past, you can't change it.
1:10:33 > 1:10:35Things just plain had to change.
1:10:37 > 1:10:40We just plain had to change the way we're doing business.
1:10:41 > 1:10:44Self-injurious behaviour in segregation hasn't stopped,
1:10:44 > 1:10:46but we've significantly decreased it
1:10:46 > 1:10:49largely by just not punishing it.
1:10:49 > 1:10:52So that was the first change in culture,
1:10:52 > 1:10:54that punishment doesn't work.
1:10:55 > 1:10:56Now it's all about treatment,
1:10:56 > 1:10:58how do we work together so that you get better?
1:10:58 > 1:11:01And we will do whatever is necessary to make you better.
1:11:01 > 1:11:03That's very mature. You're 20?
1:11:03 > 1:11:05- Mature?- Yeah.
1:11:05 > 1:11:07It's not "ma-chure", it's mature, I tell everybody that.
1:11:07 > 1:11:09Mr Fickett is still pretty young,
1:11:09 > 1:11:13so you still have a chance to look at some potential change for him.
1:11:13 > 1:11:14So do you feel the same?
1:11:15 > 1:11:19So he's been in seg four times, five times, but each time he leaves,
1:11:19 > 1:11:22he's moved further. He's really, kind of, getting it.
1:11:22 > 1:11:25He realises we didn't send him to seg to show him who's boss
1:11:25 > 1:11:26and kick him in the ass, it's...
1:11:26 > 1:11:29"You're going to seg because you really messed up.
1:11:29 > 1:11:31"We're not going to let you hurt people.
1:11:31 > 1:11:33"We're not going to let you do this.
1:11:33 > 1:11:35"That's not helpful to you as a human being,
1:11:35 > 1:11:36"it's not going to get you out of here.
1:11:36 > 1:11:40"And we're going to stop you, and we'll stop you every time.
1:11:40 > 1:11:43"And then we're going to move you forward again."
1:11:59 > 1:12:01I want to move on.
1:12:01 > 1:12:03I want to change myself.
1:12:04 > 1:12:06I've changed over the past couple of years.
1:12:06 > 1:12:09Where you're angry, depressed, to completely flipping it,
1:12:09 > 1:12:13so you can actually do better for yourself.
1:12:14 > 1:12:17It's just harder than it looks.
1:12:17 > 1:12:20It's easier to talk about than it is to do.
1:12:34 > 1:12:37BARACK OBAMA: The overuse of solitary confinement
1:12:37 > 1:12:38across American prisons.
1:12:42 > 1:12:45Social science shows that an environment like that
1:12:45 > 1:12:51is often more likely to make inmates more alienated, more hostile,
1:12:51 > 1:12:53potentially more violent.
1:12:55 > 1:12:58Do we really think it makes sense to lock so many people
1:12:58 > 1:13:02alone in tiny cells for 23 hours a day, for months,
1:13:02 > 1:13:04sometimes for years at a time?
1:13:04 > 1:13:07And if those individuals are ultimately released,
1:13:07 > 1:13:10how are they ever going to adapt?
1:13:14 > 1:13:17Monday morning, I'm getting released to the free world.
1:13:18 > 1:13:20This sentence is the first sentence
1:13:20 > 1:13:25that I haven't spent 90% of my time in seg.
1:13:25 > 1:13:28I've done a lot of programming.
1:13:30 > 1:13:32I've got a wife and kids out there now.
1:13:33 > 1:13:36I guess it's the first sentence where I realised
1:13:36 > 1:13:38this isn't the life that I want to live.
1:13:38 > 1:13:41I mean, I've been in and out since I was nine.
1:14:08 > 1:14:11Sometimes I wish I wasn't going home...
1:14:13 > 1:14:15..because the anxiety is so bad.
1:14:26 > 1:14:30For somebody like me, that's spent most of my life locked up,
1:14:30 > 1:14:33it's easy to say, "All right, I'm going back to prison
1:14:33 > 1:14:37"for however many years."
1:14:38 > 1:14:42It's not easy to go back to the streets.
1:14:50 > 1:14:55I definitely think that all the solitary time I've done,
1:14:55 > 1:14:57it's changed me.
1:14:59 > 1:15:04Maybe not permanently, but it won't be easy to change back.
1:15:04 > 1:15:07I mean, as far as functioning in the real world,
1:15:07 > 1:15:11I think it's affected me in extreme ways.
1:15:13 > 1:15:14You know, I was out for six months
1:15:14 > 1:15:18and I still couldn't go into Wal-Mart
1:15:18 > 1:15:22without either being high or having a panic attack.
1:15:23 > 1:15:27It may just be because I've spent so much time out of the real world,
1:15:27 > 1:15:30but my honest opinion is because
1:15:30 > 1:15:33it's because I've spent so much time in a cell by myself.
1:15:35 > 1:15:39- Is that your pup?- Yup. There's my dog.- That's the one, huh?
1:15:40 > 1:15:43I feel like I still carry it,
1:15:43 > 1:15:45but I don't feel like it's going to affect me as much
1:15:45 > 1:15:46as it has in the past.
1:15:57 > 1:15:59I don't want to come back here again.
1:16:01 > 1:16:03All I can do is take it one day at a time.
1:16:03 > 1:16:05Try to do the right thing, and that hope it works.
1:16:56 > 1:16:59There are going to be individuals that no matter what we create
1:16:59 > 1:17:03for a system and how progressive we get, that we might not be able to
1:17:03 > 1:17:06reduce their dangerousness to other individuals.
1:17:06 > 1:17:09And we have to accept that reality.
1:17:09 > 1:17:12But obviously it's a very small percentage of individuals
1:17:12 > 1:17:15who you might
1:17:15 > 1:17:17characterise as psychopathic,
1:17:17 > 1:17:20which is an individual who really is willing to take a life
1:17:20 > 1:17:24and there's very little impact on them emotionally.
1:17:27 > 1:17:31With true psychopaths who have killed people, and will do it again,
1:17:31 > 1:17:35I don't know that there is any good definitive treatment in the world
1:17:35 > 1:17:39that's been developed. Psychopaths are very dangerous,
1:17:39 > 1:17:42and danger doesn't necessarily mean they're big and threatening.
1:17:42 > 1:17:44Sometimes they can be very coercive and nice
1:17:44 > 1:17:47and are extremely dangerous and will hurt you.
1:17:50 > 1:17:52Are you going to strangle me with my tie?
1:17:52 > 1:17:54I would never do that.
1:17:54 > 1:17:57Mr Stahursky has no problem killing.
1:17:57 > 1:18:01There have been those that I've met where, literally, it doesn't matter.
1:18:01 > 1:18:03They would see you as just a hunk of whatever
1:18:03 > 1:18:06and don't recognise that when you're killing someone,
1:18:06 > 1:18:08you're killing another human being.
1:18:10 > 1:18:14- WOMAN:- Do you think you're a psychopath?
1:18:14 > 1:18:16No. I don't think I'm a psychopath.
1:18:18 > 1:18:19I think I made some...
1:18:20 > 1:18:23..serious, dangerous decisions in my life.
1:18:26 > 1:18:30I guess everybody is like, "Oh, man, he's real dangerous."
1:18:30 > 1:18:34So I can't go anywhere here without them thinking I'm Hannibal Lecter.
1:18:34 > 1:18:38They don't trust me as far as they could throw me, I don't blame them.
1:18:38 > 1:18:41But, no, I don't think I'm a psychopath.
1:18:41 > 1:18:43I ain't crazy.
1:18:43 > 1:18:45I'm just misunderstood.
1:20:17 > 1:20:20I got arrested May 31st,
1:20:20 > 1:20:23and I've been sitting here in max ever since.
1:20:25 > 1:20:29Things unravelled faster than they ever have.
1:20:30 > 1:20:33I mean, I don't know if it's just my seg time,
1:20:33 > 1:20:35or all the time I spent locked up,
1:20:35 > 1:20:38or maybe I am destined to rot in a cage.
1:20:45 > 1:20:51I'm not somebody that should ever be left to his own thoughts.
1:20:55 > 1:20:59Addicts feel that the drugs calls their name.
1:20:59 > 1:21:02I feel that that razor calls my name.
1:21:02 > 1:21:07I still think that the best thing for me is treatment,
1:21:07 > 1:21:08some kind of help
1:21:08 > 1:21:12because I overanalyse everything,
1:21:12 > 1:21:17and I think everybody's out to get me and then I start cutting up.
1:21:21 > 1:21:23I'm not normal.
1:21:27 > 1:21:30Normal people don't dream about cutting themselves.
1:21:33 > 1:21:36Normal people don't feel normal in jail.