Opinions From an Inmate

• DOI: 10.1177/10439862221096739
• Author: Matthew R. Hettinger
• Date: 01 May 2022
• Published date: 01 May 2022

https://doi.org/10.1177/10439862221096739

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2022, Vol. 38(2) 255 –258

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/10439862221096739

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Essay

Opinions From an Inmate

Matthew R. Hettinger

Stop for a moment and ask yourself what qualifies as “violence.” There are some obvi-

ous answers: murder, kidnapping, physical assault. But what about threats and inten-

tional intimidation? And what about taunting, verbal abuse, and emotional abuse? Can

these nonphysical aggressions be considered violence? If so, what about derisive

snorts, eye-rolling, and other rude forms of nonverbal passive aggressiveness? What

qualifies as violence? And if you include these lower forms, who all now qualifies as

perpetrators of violence? Are we limited to just inmates now, or are we including

hyper-aggressive staff members too? An argument can be made that violence exists on

a much broader spectrum and plays a large role in all our lives. And avoiding it has just

as much to do with the people around us as it does with our internal thought

processes.

The level of violence in American prisons varies dramatically, depending on which

prison you’re in. There are prisons that have stab lines and beatings constantly, and

there are prisons that experience almost no fighting at all. I know because I’ve lived in

both kinds. I’ve been incarcerated for over 13 years, and I’ve split my time roughly in

half... About half that time in vicious prisons full of violence, and the other half in a

relatively peaceful, calm, nonviolent prison.

The differences in living in these two very different kinds of prisons cannot be

overstated. For simplicity’s sake, I’ll call them good and bad. In a good prison you’re

not confined to your cell all day. You have some freedom of movement. If you need to

go to laundry or clothing-issue, you can just sign out and go there. If you need to go to

the education department, or the gym, or the library, or anywhere else you can just sign

out and go. And if you need to talk to a psychologist, your counselor, the treatment

director or even the assistant warden, all you have to do is sign out and go. Absolutely

none of these options exist in a bad prison. In a bad prison you’re locked in your cell

20-22 hours a day, and even when you’re out of your cell, you can’t just go anywhere

you need to. That type of confinement restricts you from accessing the people, ser-

vices, and resources you need, especially for inmates interested in rehabilitation. These

restrictions and the inability to access anything in a timely manner, leads to frustration,

anger, and often violence. Much more violence than in a good prison.

There is definitely a correlation between the level of confinement in a prison, and

the levels of violence that exist there. But I think the more important factor, is the

people. First the types of inmates, but more importantly the types of people working

1096739CCJXXX10.1177/10439862221096739Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeHettinger

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