spent 10 minutes looking for this link to post, then discovered its on the spr site! one of the most disturbing articles I ever read, originally published in Jim Goad's Answer Me! mag, called "Donny the Punk"...


http://www.spr.org/en/news/doc_01_answerme.html

Humor is often used to cover up discomfort with the subject. The prison rape genre of humor seems to be an offshoot of gay jokes, all of which are cruel, unfunny, and used to dehumanize their subjects. It's okay to accept or even cause violence against another person if you don't actually view them as a real person.
Something is very wrong with our society if jail is used as a place to warehouse rather than to rehabilitate people. And the idea that someone has committed a crime should not justify torture, rape, or any other disgusting acts of violence. Unfortunately, as displayed by our pop culture almost daily, we are that sick . . . and sick enough to find it funny.

Seeing and hearing a friend get raped accross the hall from me in jail (before trial) cured me of doin' crimes.

And also cured me of ever wanting to set foot in Sacramento county again, ever.

Edited by author 09-02-2003 11:59 AM
"Midnight Express" pretty much covered this topic for me and led to a life-long aversion to incarceration. Back in the day, the original "scared straight" film for us hippies dreaming of hitting big with a stash from an exotic land.