So: In no particular order, answer the following questions:
1. What did you think—what was your reaction?
2. Was it what you expected?
3. What stayed with you? No: what 3 (!) things stayed with you—and why?
4. What do you want to talk about in connection with this trip tomorrow? And/or: what do you want to find out or hear from your classmates about their experience at the jail?
250-300 words.
I was surprised by how clean the jail was, even though I never saw anyone cleaning it. I guess there isn’t a way for it to get that dirty because most of the people in the building aren’t walking around outside tracking dirt in. Officer Williams and Officer Brown were super nice and happy to answer questions. In fact, everyone in the jail was very nice, except some of the people who didn’t want to be in there, i.e. inmates. I expected the jail to be like the prisons I’ve seen in movies, or the ones I’ve visited, so I going into it expecting something between Alcatraz and the Shawshank Redemption Center. To my surprise it was very similar to the prison from the wire, but more up to date and larger. The first thing that stayed with me was the lac of natural light. I’m used to being in my house or school, which for the most part has windows. It almost felt like we were underground. The second thing that stayed with me was how nice the jail was overall. Now, I don’t plan on being arrested but if i am going to get myself arrested, I’ll make sure to do it in Dekalb County. I was also surprised by how much every employee knew about the prison, for instance officer Brown and Officer Williams always know who to watch out for on every floor. In the front of the group and the back of the group people were asking the officers guiding our tour questions, so I’d be interested to know what they learned while everyone else was walking
ReplyDeleteInitially, I was kind of scared to be touring a jail. I wasn’t sure what I would see. It was just as maze-like as I thought it would be. I was expecting it to be a little more cramped, though. I also thought we would see a lot more inmates than we did. I was surprised by how many different jobs there were within the jail. All of them seemed incredibly stressful, or at least that they could be at times. I guess depending on where you work, the experience can be wildly different. There were parts of the jail that I didn’t expect to exist, like the library. Being a jail and not a prison, I didn’t expect classrooms either. I was also interested in the day-to-day life of an inmate. I wondered a lot about how it would feel to be in the jail for an extended period of time. The first thing that will stay with me about this experience is that Officer Williams said that there were only two guards on a floor at a time. It seems like they would need a lot more, considering the number of inmates who could be on a floor. The second thing that will stay with me was the number of people who sit daily at their desks with inmates sitting in the cells right across from them. If I were in that position, I think I would be intimidated, especially as a female. The third thing that will stay with me was the concept of “weekenders” and “work release.” I had no idea that some people just stay in jail at night or on the weekends. It seems like that process would be really difficult to regulate. Tomorrow, I would just like to hear everyone else’s observations. I would especially like to discuss what people learned that they didn’t know before.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I feel like going to the dekalb country jail today was a very interesting trip. I liked that we were able to see almost every part of the jail. The part I will remember with me the most was when we went up to level 5 with the "crazy" people. This jail was kind of like I expected. My dad told me that its not really as dirty as other jails so I wasnt very surprised when Came inside. 3 things That I wont forget are the mental illness level, walking by inmates in the hallways, and some of the jobs in the jail. Those will stick with me because at the end of the day, they are normal people who made mistakes and they are usually depicted in a very bad way and I guess it makes sense to be afraid of someone who committed murder but not a small crime really. The job that would stick with me the most is being a tactical officer that stays in the jail for most the time like officer williams and brown. They have to deal with fights almost daily and take inmates places. I realize they have very important jobs and have to try and hold down inmates alot. something I would like to know is the questions other people asked the officers while we were walking through the hallways. There were many interesting questions asked while we were walking so I want to know other people learned
ReplyDeleteI thought our trip to the Dekalb County Jail was interesting, to say the least. My initial reaction when I saw the inmates was to become defensive and self-kept, but as we progressed through our tour, I began to ease up. The strange part was, even after spending a little under four hours there, I still felt as if I had been there for years. This partly had to do with the fact that there was so much to see inside, but mostly because I never knew where we were. This is what stood out to me the most. When we went into the pod at 600(?) Southside, I was taken aback by how high up we were. Without windows, I would have had absolutely no clue where I was relative to ground level. I spent alot of the time on the bus back to Paideia wondering if this contributed to the feelings of extreme isolation that I felt at the jail, even though we were less than twenty minutes away from school. There was one other thing that stood out to me in particular: our escorting officers (whose names I never caught). The security I felt when being lead through a jail by those two men was truly inspiring. Tomorrow, I’d like to focus on the point that I brought up previously: was I the only one who felt like I was in there for an eternity rather than just three and a half hours? Was I the only one who felt isolated for the majority of the visit?
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely one of the most interesting “field trips” I have ever taken. I was not exactly scared to visit a jail, just curious. It was strange to see the juxtaposition between the kitchen and the floor with the mentally ill inmates. They were just so different. The kitchen smelled like baked bread, and I did not see a single inmate, and the mental illness floor was definitely not warm and homey and did not smell like freshly baked bread. Also, when we walked by the “booking in” section of the jail with the guy standing in the window, I saw Officer Williams give him this weird smile, which I will not forget mostly because I cannot tell what he was thinking. I will also remember the view from the cell window, where at first I was like “That’s not too bad,” but then I thought about having to stare at a parking lot for possibly the rest of my life, and it was a horrible feeling. Also, everyone who works at the jail seems to have such great relationships with each other. They are all friends and all on the same page about everything, which I thought was pretty great. It shows a little bit about how the jail functions; it is important for everyone to work together. The fact that the officers/deputies/cops that we came in contact with (especially the guides) all looked like supermodels struck me as weird. I don’t know if it’s just me, but it felt like something out of Brooklyn South (that we watched in class,) and my first thought was “This is a little unreal.” I would really like to know how everybody’s perspective of jail has changed since the visit.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the jail visit. At first, I was confused because I just didn’t know the type of stuff I would see. I feel like jails are portrayed very poorly on TV and other media sources, like fights happening everywhere and riots throughout the jail cell. I remembered being very surprised at how empty some of the cells looked. I seen a lot of information about how crowded jail cells were. I don’t know if it was because of the tour, but it seemed like they were empty and that the cells looked a lot better than shown in the media. I appreciated that the officers weren’t afraid to show us everything. I feel like we got the full experience, like seeing the kitchen, the visitation center, and most shockingly the mentally ill ward of the jail. Seeing this ward of the jail made the visit feel more real. I also thought the medical part was a very important piece of the visit as well. At the end of the day, whether or not they are criminals, they are people who may encounter different types of problems with health or surgery or even if someone is pregnant. Lastly, I was glad to see that there was a place for the inmates to receive an education. I think it’s a wonderful way for them to do something productive with their time, and be able to be employed on their way out of jail. It’s not like going to jail is devastating to one’s life, because there is an opportunity for someone to make a change while in the cell.
ReplyDeleteMy initial reaction to the Dekalb County Jail was very different to the view I had after the tour. I originally was excited and very curious to see what a jail looks like, what the inmates are like, what the food looks like, etc. By the end of the tour, my positive upbeat attitude about it wore off. I was serious before, but now I was processing all of the good and bad we saw.
ReplyDeleteIt was what I expected in terms of what it looked like, the structure, and layout. This is only because my elementary school was a mile away from the state penitentiary. The actual inside, inmates, and staff were not what I imagined. I knew it would look bland and colorless, but I did not know it would be a pretty sanitary place for example. The three things I will definetly remember would be 1-the level five inmates. I was not ready for any of that section, but it was probably an important experience to have. I felt fear, sadness, and stress walking through that part of the facility, far more so than any of the other facets of the jail. 2-the cleanliness of the jail was such a surprise. No, it wasn’t spotless, but it got rid of the cramped and dirty jail cell image I had in my mind. Last, I will remember the educational program. I had no idea it existed, but I’m glad the jail has it. Merely holding inmates isn’t enough to stop crime, and the jail realizes that. Helping people get out of the constant loop and helping them find a secure career opportunity speaks volumes to me about their intentions to help the community. I would like to discuss how peoples’ views on prison has changed after going to the prison, and in what ways.
The experience was about what I expected. This is probably because I had already toured Fulton County Jail and was expecting to see pretty much what we did. To be honest, I was surprised we didn’t actually get to see many of the inmates because in my last tour we got to see all the illegal immigrants and such. The thing that stuck with me the most was definitely the mental illness section of the Jail. It was pretty hard not to catch the screaming man threatening us and the guy but ass naked flashing peace signs at us as we walked by. I also found it quite assuring that all the people that seemed to be working with the mentally ill seemed like super nice and genuine people, even asking the inmates if they wanted to talk with us. Both of those facts have stayed with me vividly in my mind. For the most part, I just want to hear about their general opinion on the Jail/Prison system. Did they find the education bit impressive? Do they think the criminal justice system is the best we got? It’s such a controversial subject, and in my experience, it really varies from person to person. It would be interesting to know, how much of the class is towards the more aggressive side, the “jail is jail” mentality, keeping the jail environment cruel. And how much of the class wants jail to be a place where you are apart from society in order to keep your self and the public safe as well as to give you an opportunity to learn and improve yourself so that when you get back on the street, you are changed person who has learned from their mistakes.
ReplyDeleteOverall the visit to Dekalb County Jail was incredibly interesting because it helped me learn about what the justice system in the United States looks like. There were definitely parts of the jail that seemed undesirable; however, other parts were very impressive. For instance, Dekalb Jail’s library and educational programs seemed very well done. I never thought that a jail, which is meant for temporary living situations rather than permanent, would have programs that allow people to complete their GED. Although we learned that Dekalb County jail is incredibly clean, I did not expect the living conditions we saw. I was anticipating it being rather crowded, but in reality, there seemed to be a very adequate amount of space for inmates. Hearing from the two workers in the Warrant Office will definitely stick with me because I never contemplated that part of the justice system. Hearing one of the officers speaking about a fight he stopped was a small part of the tour yet very memorable to me. The officer mentioned that they stopped the fight incredibly quickly and are trained to do so very efficiently. Finally, walking through the hallway next to the jail cells for mentally unstable inmates is something I will never forget. It was a unique and almost scary experience that illustrated the many situations a jail must accommodate. I would like to know whether anybody’s views on police officers or the justice system changed from this visit. Additionally, I am interested in everyone’s opinions on the treatment of the inmates based on what we saw, especially the mentally unstable ones.
ReplyDeleteI thought that if a person ever committed a crime they should head to the Dekalb County Jail because it is a well clean place and everything seems to be organized. I was really surprised to find out that there is such thing as going to work from jail and returning back from work to jail on time repeating the cycle 5 days a week. I was expecting a smelly place with a lot of fights between Inmates, a lot of white cops (even though it’s in a predominately a black neighborhood) and a lot of yelling. What mainly stayed with me is the fact that the jail is trying to help out the inmates become better people when they get out by allowing them to get an education or look for jobs out there in the real world. Secondly, some of the foods the inmates receive doesn’t sound that bad when the food health guy was telling us about it which is surprising because i was expecting mashed potatoes to be served every day. The fact that the jail was really clean and smelled very good (for the majority part) was such a huge surprise and that probably one of the highlights that stayed with me. Tomorrow, I mainly want to find out what others thought about this trip and the jail and how it’s different and alike from movie/tv jails.
ReplyDeleteI thought the jail visit was really interesting. When we first got there I was kind of nervous, especially after seeing the first inmate. I just turned around and saw the inmate and it kind of startled me because I was just like “Wow, this is real.” Then we saw the man in intake who was singing and beating on the wall and right then I thought throughout the whole tour we would see a lot of crazy things. I would say it’s not really what I expected. Before I saw a lot of jail shows on tv and they portray all inmates as sort of wild: always fighting, arguing, banging on glass, etc. So I thought I would see more of that but that wasn’t the case. Something that stayed with me was the part when we went to the Mental Illness section of the jail. I just really felt bad for those women because they were mentally ill and they probably couldn’t control the way they were acting. Another thing that stayed with me was the fact that the people in the jail seemed like they were all pretty much on the same page when it came to helping the inmates instead of making it worse for them. For example, the teacher sounded really excited that the inmates were passing the class, and when the nurse was talking to us, she kept saying “The inmates are human too.” So that shows that they actually care for the inmates. Also, the jail overall stayed with me because it’s one of the ‘best’ jails, and they continue to improve it. In class, I would like to talk about if people expected for the inmates to be cared for in the way that we saw and if they expected the workers to be that passionate.
ReplyDeleteI was about as pleasantly surprised as one could be after touring a jail. I expected the jail to be far more over crowded. I did not expect it to be so organized, clean and well maintained. With this being said these things are necessary for a facility of that size function properly. The psych floor definitely stayed with me. While most of the inmates there were resting those that were awake were very memorable. I could not make out all that they were saying but it was definitely said with passion. The pregnant woman that was unable to take her antipsychotics was a particularly sad case. I can’t help wonder if more could be done to help her. I spoke to my psychiatrist mother and she informed me that there were actually some antipsychotics that are safe for pregnant women, however the psychiatrist working in the jail informed us that she was unable to take antipsychotics because of her pregnancy. I was disappointed to hear that the jail was the largest mental health provider in the state, however I was not very surprised. The people in the holding cell were also very memorable. There was a man standing at the window quietly but intensely staring which for some reason caught my attention more than the man taking his shirt on and off while singing. I was impressed and pleased to hear the programs that this jail offers to its inmates because I thought of those things as only available in prisons and am excited to see how the welding program will go. I would like to hear what my classmates thought the jail did well and what they could have done better. I would also like to hear what stuck with them.
ReplyDeleteThe Dekalb jail is was an eye opening experience. In my free time I usually watch documentaries about jails. In those documentaries, the jails are portrayed as crazy. I was surprised by how clean the place was because I do not usually see clean jails in those documentaries. When we went into the physiatric part of the jail where the people with mental illness are located, i was kind of expecting what was coming our way. For example, I was expecting to get yelled at. However, I was not expecting a guy to be completely naked. That for sure caught me off guard. As we were walking throughout the jail, I noticed the temperature. It was really hot and I could only imagine how the inmates feel. When they get there free time it's the only way they can get cold refreshing air. Overall, the Dekalb mall was something I was not expecting, for the most part. Documentaries shaped my view on prison. I guess the things shown in those documentaries are true to some extent.
ReplyDeleteAfter going on this trip, I wasn't really sure how to feel about it. I'm very glad that I went, but I almost felt guilty by going. There are people in there who are completely innocent and they have to live in these horrible conditions and we walked through to look at it almost for entertainment. It is what I expected, but it wasn't at the same time. I didn't expect there to be so many doors. I also didn't expect her to be so few windows, I kept getting extremely claustrophobic because I couldn't see the outdoors. I could never imagine living my life in a place like this. What I did expect, it was really small jail cells, lots of security guards, and a very structured day plan. Three things that stuck with me were the psych ward because it was something I've never experienced before in my life. Another was how many broken windows there were in the jail cells. It never really occurred to me that people would try to break these windows, because they were so small in the first place there was no way for anyone to escape from them. And lastly, referring back to what I mentioned earlier, the lack of windows really stuck with me. There was never really any daylight to be seen, just the light of the ceiling lights in the building. Tomorrow I want to talk about if anybody else noticed how difficult it was to keep track of time in that building. There were no clocks, it was hard to see outside so we couldn't see if the sun was setting or not.
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