Prison State

Frank McNamee

Juvenile delinquency

Prison state

        The film "Prison state" discusses the issues facing the criminal justice system, particularly in kentucky. It tells the story of four individuals, Keith Huff, Charles McDuffie, a young woman named Demtria and a young woman named Crystal. Itshows their journey in and out of the court system and jail.

        The thing that struck me most troubling about this film is the amount of money that it takes to run a prison and to keep people in prison. It stated that Kentucky spends 87 thousand dollars per year on each inmate half of which are non violent criminals. The film stated that throughout Keith Huffs life the state of Kentucky has spent over 1.1 million dollars keeping him in jail. The reason I find this so troubling is because it seems to be a a huge displacement of funds. Many of the people who are locked up have mental issues or addiction problems and spending money on rehabilitation and proper medical care would be a better use of taxpayer money and time.

        There are many different predictors and causes of criminality. One of these is the enviornment in which someone lives or is raised in. Most of the people in this film live in a place called Beecher tearace. According to the film going to jail is just part of life in Beecher tearace. Living in an area where jail is normalized would make someone more likely to go there because they dont view it as negatively as they should. This is especially true for children. Both of the teenage girls in this film have family who are in jail or have been in jail. Demetria states that most of her famiy has been locked up at one point or another. The schools in these rougher areas or more punished than upper class neighborhoods. A fight between schoolmates in an upper middle class neighborhood could lead to detention or suspension where in a lower class neighborhood is could result in jail time.

        A second predictor is mental illness. All of the people this film followed had some sort of mental illness. Keith Huff is schizophrenic, Charles McDuffie has PTSD, Demetria takes medication for anxiety and Crystal tried to commit suicide. People who have mental illness are more likely to act outside of society's laws because on a certain level they cant control themselves. Mental illness is the hardest predictor to try and combat because the reason for mental illness is always different. Keith Huff could of been born being schizophrenic but Charles McDuffie has PTSD from a tragic experience in the Vietnam war and Demetria suffered a tragic event when her mom killed herself when Demetria was only nine.