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| Small changes take off edge in state prison |
| By The Missoulian |
| Published: 11/24/2003 |
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Church in Deer Lodge, Mont. is always sad for Deb Watson. The pews are full of two kinds of people: prison officers and their families and the families of men behind bars. Watson, who comes to Deer Lodge to visit her 25-year-old son James, serving time for assault and kidnapping, falls into the latter category. Regardless, she said, everyone prays for the same thing. James Watson lives in Max, the prison's maximum security building. He is mentally ill and has had behavior problems since he was a toddler, Deb Watson said. For a long time, the emotional climate in Max was difficult for James. Prison authorities didn't give him medication for his mental illness. James intentionally cut and hurt himself repeatedly. When his behavior became too much for officers to control, he was placed on behavior management plans, which involved stripping him naked and taking his mattress. James has a lawsuit pending against the state over the treatment. The Montana Supreme Court has since ruled such punishment is "cruel and unusual" especially for mentally ill prisoners, and the prison has overhauled the way it treats unruly inmates. But besides all that, Deb Watson said, something is happening in Max that might be an answer to everyone's prayers: Things are getting better. Her son is now on medication. Officers check on him every hour or so to make sure he's OK. They seem genuinely concerned, she said, and her son is doing better than he has in the eight years since he was sentenced. James is participating for the first time in a prison "pizza party," in which inmates' families can buy pizza for prisoners from the Pizza Hut in Deer Lodge. The prison is toying with the idea of bringing in pets from the outside for pet therapy - something the Montana Women's Prison in Billings already has begun. Warden Mike Mahoney cautioned, however, that pets in Deer Lodge could be a few years off. Watson has been so impressed she wrote a personal thank-you note this fall to Mahoney, state Corrections Chief Bill Slaughter and host of others at the prison. The changes, Slaughter said, stem from a spate of suicides this spring and summer when three prisoners killed themselves within three months. They haven't done anything dramatic, Mahoney said. Officers are trying to be a little more mindful of the mentally ill. The prison is also developing a special outfit in which to dress suicidal prisoners - one that can't be fashioned into a noose. The pizza program is nothing new, either. Prison clubs, like Narcotics Anonymous, can sell pizza twice a year to raise money for paper and other supplies, Mahoney said. Pizza and pets might sound like little things, Slaughter said, but they're part of a bigger picture of maintaining safety at the prison. Prisoners have to be good in order to participate in the "pizza party." One inmate acting out can cancel pizza privileges for an entire cellblock. So inmates are strongly encouraged to fall in line. There's something else going on, too. Officers and staff don't just run the prison, they also serve as representatives of outside society. They have to model appropriate behavior to the inmates, Mahoney said. That means being professional and courteous. And kind. Slaughter has also invited the National Institute of Corrections to come to the prison to both train staff on managing the mentally ill and critique the prison's current treatment of such inmates. Even with the changes, managing the mentally ill behind bars is hard. Slaughter said experts warned years ago that cuts to community mental health programs would lead to more mentally ill people in prison. And it has. |
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