The 13 types of prisons (and their psychic effects)

Prisons or jails are institutions authorized by the government to incarcerate and isolate from society to those individuals who have disobeyed the law. Prisoners are locked up and deprived of liberty for months, years and, in some cases, their entire lives.

Although all prisons have the same objective, they can be classified in different ways.

The prison system varies from country to country

The prison system is different from country to country, and in some cases it can be complex. The army has its own judicial system and minors are not treated in the same way as adults. Although the concept "prison" is very abstract, its characteristics depend largely on the legal, political and social context of each region, and there may be great differences between the way in which countries determine the functioning of these institutions.

In the United States, for example, there are numerous jurisdictions (federal or state) and different consequences for prisoners than in Spain, such as the death penalty. On the other hand, in Spain, prisons are differentiated according to the different types of life regimes of inmates. The objective with which the state legitimizes its use is the search for order and security for the vast majority of inhabitants.

How Incarceration Affects Prisoners

Prisoners are deprived of their liberty. The situation they live in and the behavioral deprivation to which they are subjected mean that their stay in prison causes different physical and psychological consequences at various levels:

• Biological: deprivation of liberty can lead to an increase in the instinct to attack as they cannot flee. It also causes problems of sexual or sensory deprivation (vision, hearing, ...). On the other hand, at certain ages a state of clear isolation can cause serious developmental alterations, although this does not occur in the prisons of democratic states.

• Psychological: The psychological effects are a reality for inmates with problems of self-esteem, drug use, anxiety, learned helplessness, dependency, etc. Furthermore, if used for many days in a row, the isolation cells are deficient in sensory stimulation that in other contexts has been found to be extremely harmful and can generate the breeding ground for psychiatric disorders to bloom. Some of these findings were made decades ago by Harry Harlow's monkey experimentation.

• Social: family problems, social and work isolation, social learning problems, skills to relate to others and stigmatization. Especially this last element is decisive when it comes to learning new habits when leaving prison; a strongly stigmatized person will hardly find a job and will be marginalized informally.

Research shows, these types of detrimental effects on inmates are associated with sentence time. In other words, the longer time in jail, the worse the consequences.

Types of prisons

However, What types of prisons are there? What are the different kinds of prisons? Below you can see the different types of prisons there are:

According to the prison regime

The penitentiary regime is the process that the prisoner goes through in the fulfillment of his sentence. There are three degrees: first degree or closed regime, second degree or ordinary regime, third degree or open regime.

1. First degree jail

The modules or prisons of the first degree are for those most dangerous and maladjusted subjects. They are regulated in art. 90.1 LOGP (General Penitentiary Organic Law) and there are two classes:

• Closed regime centers or modules: for inmates with maladjustment to common regimes.
• Special departments: for those who cause altercations. For example: isolation modules.

2. Second degree jail

In the ordinary regime there are second degree convicts, unclassified inmates and detainees and prisoners. In this type of jail there are compulsory activities (hygiene and personal hygiene, cleanliness and order of the cell). The day starts at 7:30 a.m. and at 00:00 the lights go out.

3. Third degree jail

The open regime is for convicted persons, classified in the third degree, who can continue their treatment in semi-freedom. This is necessary so that the individual can achieve a normal coexistence but with the necessary rigid controls.

This type of regime can be carried out in three different prison structures:

• The Centers of Social Insertion: independent centers for inmates in the third degree.
• The Open Sections: departments that are part of a multipurpose prison, specially designated
• Dependent Units: residences that are located within a community and are managed by public or private institutions.

American prisons

In the United States there are different types of prisons

Local jails

This type of jail are for a short term stay. They are local and massive. They are usually for those who have just entered the criminal justice system.

Federal and state prisons

In the United States it is possible to find federal prisons, whose jurisdiction run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), and the state ones, for more serious crimes and crimes.

1. Federal penal institutions

They are prisons for those criminals who have committed serious crimes (embezzlement, fraud ...) but who are not classified as dangerous. They are minimum security prisons.

2. Federal medium security prisons

They are medium security institutions, which usually contain security perimeters and armed guards. They are the infrastructures most used to incarcerate prisoners.

3. High security prisons

Intended for violent criminals. Offenders are dangerous people, so they need more control than inmates in previous prisons. They are designed to establish several layers of security and isolation between the exterior and the most protected from these architectural complexes, so that the central parts are practically airtight.

4. State prisons

State prisons They are for those convicts who have carried out very serious crimes and state crimes. There are different types: for women, for men, maximum security, etc. The security of these complexes is exceptional, and a large investment is devoted to it given the seriousness of the crimes of those who remain there.

5. Death row

Death row is the name given to cells for those inmates who have committed very serious crimes and who, in addition, are serving the death penalty and are awaiting execution.

Other types of prisons

There are other types of prisons, for example, for minors, or psychiatric ones.

1. The Dungeon

The dungeon is a cell that you are in the same police station or barracks. It is used to briefly incarcerate subjects who have been detained, especially for a later trial. A detained person you can spend up to 72 hours here.

2. Juvenile correctional

People who have been arrested and do not reach the age of majority they must serve their sentence in special centers, not in prisons for adults.

3. Psychiatric prison

The psychiatric prison it is usually a prison hospital where the subjects who are serving a sentence suffer some Mental illness.

4. Military prison

They are the centers where army soldiers, officers and NCOs are sent so that they serve a sentence for violating the military penal code. This differentiation is evidence of the special importance that the State gives to the security forces that ensure the maintenance of power.