Many years ago, a group of people in Stockholm (which is the capital of Sweden, for the geographically-challenged!) robbed a bank and held its occupants hostage for several days. During the subsequent investigation, police determined that some of the hostages were so traumatized by the experience that they actually began to identify with their captors – even going so far as to assist them, and try to help them get away! This phenomenon is widely recognized today, and psychologists have named it Stockholm Syndrome.
I have a theory that this condition doesn’t affect ONLY hostages, but even affects some inmates as well – because some of the people I see around here clearly identify with the guards far more than they do the other inmates! Sometimes I suspect that some of these guys’ biggest regret is that they missed out on the building tender days, when they really could become proxy guards.
If you look at any job in TDCJ that is even remotely considered a “privileged” job, you will find examples of what I’m talking about. Around here, we simply refer to people like that as being “institutionalized” – and this condition does get worse over time, for the inmates who are susceptible to it.
All you have to do is walk through the serving line in the chow hall, and on at least one of the items being served, you’ll find an inmate who is completely programmed to give out a single portion of whatever he’s serving – and not a gram more than necessary. You may catch the guard not paying attention, but you won’t get by HIM!
Or go to the showers, and you’ll see inmates exchanging clean clothes for your dirty ones, and at least one of them will refuse to give you anything at all unless he (not the guard, but HIM!) sees you turning your dirty clothes in. These guys aren’t making a dime for their efforts. The only thing they’ll receive is a bunch of their fellow inmates cussing them out and calling them every name they can think of! (People hate to be told NO at any time – much less by another inmate…)
Some people have identified with the guards for so long that they feel like they even have some rank, too! It is unfathomable to me, why an inmate would try to tell a guard what HE – the guard – should or shouldn’t be doing! Back in history, even the Roman Emperors had to have someone riding alongside them in their chariots, simply to whisper in their ears, “You are mortal.” In other words, don’t get TOO reckless, or so full of yourself that you feel like you can do anything with impunity. Clearly, some of the guys around here need someone to remind them that they are still inmates! Some of them can get quite “uppity” because of their jobs or who they work for.
The term “politician” in here means an inmate who will go to someone in the Administration and do something unilaterally, just because they can. For example, a guy may work for a Captain, a Major – or even a Warden. Say he lives on a wing where someone has been arguing with him, threatening him, or trying to throw his weight around and be a bully. (Or maybe he just doesn’t like him!) The guy will go to work, and tell whoever he works for that so-and-so needs to get moved off the wing, because he’s starting a lot of trouble, and some shit may kick off because of it. And it’s done!
The other guy will get a “move slip”, and be moved to a different wing. He may even know exactly who got him moved – but there’s absolutely nothing he can do about it. He can go peacefully or he can go to lockup, but he WILL be moved, one way or the other.
This type of inmate also loves to feel as if he has privileges that noone else is allowed to have – even if the “privilege” is only being allowed to work for the guards!
One time a Sgt. asked me (as a hallway SSI) to pick up all the empty mail bags and return them to where they’re kept until they’re picked up the next morning. I’m on my way, and another SSI spotted me – and ran me down like a guided missile. “What are you doing? If they see you with those bags, you’re liable to get fired! Nobody’s supposed to handle them but me.”
I’m like, “What? I guess the Sgt. didn’t get the memo, because he just TOLD me to take them back. Was I supposed to tell him NO?!” All he could do was sputter and say, “I’ll talk to him.”
Just recently, I overheard one of my coworkers telling a guard, “Nobody is supposed to go in here but me, so don’t let anyone else in here.” How is it even possible that an inmate thinks that he is justified in telling a GUARD what to do? He is, after all, the one with the keys! (The guard, I mean – much to that inmate’s dismay.)
Even I am smart enough to see that once they reach that stage, it is the beginning of the end of that inmate’s job. Because not only are all the inmates gonna hate him (not to mention calling him all kinds of snitches and ass-kissers), but the guards are also gonna hate the way that he will have the audacity to argue with them, and quickly run to the rank to complain about the guard. Then it’s only a matter of time before they find a way to railroad him and get him fired. In fact, I got MY job because of the last guy getting fired along the same lines.
I firmly believe that you can learn something from anybody. Even if someone is a complete idiot, I can at least learn what an idiot is, how to recognize one when I see him – and how to keep the same thing from happening to me!
Most importantly, it’s never a bad idea to keep your mouth shut. We do have the freedom of speech, but we also have the freedom to THINK – and if we do that BEFORE we speak, it will make all of our lives easier. So says DannyBoy.
DannyBoyinExile 