Institutionalization

By Jay Goodman

As the brutal 70’s ended and the deadly 8O’s and 90’s took over with so many killings in the prison system, being incarcerated was like living in a warzone. During all of this mayhem, the Puppet Masters were plotting and planning their next move. They will use every tactic they can to manipulate and control the mass prison population, a lot of the time these tactics are used on their own CO’s. They will beat, starve, isolate inmates for decades in single man cells, even go as far as planting weapons and drugs on the prisoners. This will lead to more charges being filed, unnecessary loss of our few freedoms and sometimes even death. They have flooded these prisons with all types of contraband, leaving the inmates to suffer the brutal consequences. The Puppet Masters readily manipulate their staff Correctional Officers with mind control or fear tactics of possible job losses. I have to credit the Puppet Masters, they are always testing how far they can push the limits of their tyranny. Believe me there is no limit to what they will try. The David Ruiz lawsuit did slow them down, and the Federal Judge William Wayne Justice orders to revamp the whole prison system might have put a wrench in things, but their control machine keeps turning day after day.

Here we are in 2018, in the 21st Century and the Texas prison system, one if not the biggest prison system in our country, can not join the rest of our nation and begin the honest rehabilitation of it’s inmates. The last thing they want is for the men and women prisoners to stop coming back to prison. The rationally thinking person would be asking, “How can we cut back on at least half of our one-hundred and nine prisons?” The Puppet Masters thinking is, how can we BUILD another hundred prisons, They could care less about how many lives they’ve ruined in the past, or how many lives they are destroying now. The only thing that is important is keeping these prisons full of prisoners and keeping them as long as they can. They have brainwashed the public and several of our state officials into believing in the need for all of these prisons. When anyone has questioned the need for so many prisons, naturally the Puppet Masters have devised several methods of examples pointing out inmates who have committed some of the worst crimes imaginable. There are also lists of prisoners who have committed acts of extreme violence while being incarcerated. I have mentioned before in my book, there definitely is a need for prisons, but what they will never speak about is the tens of thousands of people who have not committed horrible crimes. What they don’t want you to know about are these thousands of prisoners who have been model inmates and could be released right now. They will only show the public and the government officials the worst of the worst, so it will instill fear in everyone and lead them to believe in the need for all of these prisons.

With all of the tactics they have used in the past and the ones they are still using to this day, the Puppet Masters most effective tool today is institutionalization. Believe me, they have mastered this science to such perfection it’s actually very disturbing. I have never in my life witnessed such mass manipulation to the degree that this prison system controls its inmates. I have read books on Adolf Hitler, Charles Manson, Jim Jones and several others, but I have never seen or read about anything like this before. Texas, a part of the United States, using this kind of control tactic on its own American citizens. They are so masterful with this institutionalization that most people do not see it for what it is. Not even the CO’s of these prisons, because it’s also being used on them, although in a different form.

I would like to try and break this down and explain what I am referring to the best I can. Hopefully, I’ll be able to explain it well enough to paint a clear picture to everyone. Let me give you a quick definition of the word institutionalize or institutionalization: An established organization (emphasis on organization) to incorporate into a structured and highly formalized system, influencing behavior. I have seen this from practically the beginning of my incarceration, and what has surprised me the most is how well it is working on the prisoners and the CO’s. The Texas prison system does have some forms of rehabilitative programming like GED and Cognitive Intervention classes, and they also “train” the guards on positive behavior. One CO showed me a card last month he received during his last training session that mentioned how to conduct themselves and how to help with prisoner rehabilitation. The guard laughed and said, “If I was to help with positive behavior and rehabilitation I might eventually be out of a job.” While it was sad to hear him say this, I must admit I was very grateful for his honesty. It also proved to me I was going on the right track with this chapter on institutionalization.

The days of mass violence by the turnkeys are over, but the Puppet Masters have a much better way of controlling it’s inmates now. Remember nothing is ever what it seems to be in the Texas prison system. Yes, they can talk a great game, but it’s only a light coat of paint to cover up the truth of their despicable intentions. Part of getting everyone on the path to becoming institutionalized is control. From day one an inmate receives his ID card with his full name and T.D.C.J number on it, BUT, the biggest word on it is OFFENDER. This word offender is printed in big red letters so that it stands out more so than the name or the number, which should be the main purpose of our ID card. They want it to be established in our minds that this is who we are, they want this word to become part of our thinking. In Merriam Webster's Dictionary, the word offender says, “to cause pain or resentment, violation of what is proper.” Even the handbook that is given to us with the rules and regulations is called the Offender Handbook.

Everything you read around the prison, whether it is in the chow hall, medical or in booklets or on signs somewhere, it will be written in giant letters, “OFFENDER.” While this may not seem like a big deal, it does take an adverse effect on someone's mental scope. Anyone who has any understanding of the human mind will know that if someone is told something repeatedly for years, that particular type of thinking or thought will eventually grow and become who this person is. It is very much like parents who always tell their children they are stupid, or will never amount to anything. This abuse inevitably having long term effect on their thinking and emotional stability leaving them with no ambition to do anything productive with their lives. It is these type of tactics they use to get the inmates under their control in every aspect of their being.

The first full day of prison all of the new inmates are taken to a large cage in the infirmary at 3:00 a.m, even though the doctors or nursing staff will not arrive until 9:00 or later. Why? To begin the mental control. Next, you will be told what time to go to bed, what time to wake up. You will be told what time to eat and only given a very small amount of time to do so. You will be told when to shower, when you can watch T.V or even when to come or when to go. You will be constantly screamed at or belittled. It’s a constant offender this or offender that. Any inmates trying to change by attending programs like A.A or school and church services are belittled with comments like, ”So now you want to go to school or go to church? Why didn’t you do all of that in the free world?” Inmates are never encouraged to succeed, instead, they are disparaged to do so. This is all part of the programming and system forcing prisoners to become institutionalized. The Puppet Masters want to take any ability the prisoners have to think for themselves away.

I admit there is a need to show the new inmates coming into the prison system control, but self-control. Now think about this, if a man or woman is treated this way for five, ten, twenty years or more, it is almost absolutely for certain that these individuals will not be able to sufficiently make decisions for themselves because they are institutionalized. Even a substantial amount of people who have the best intentions will leave prison and struggle terribly because they have been told what to do for years or decades. Another tool that is used by the Puppet Masters is keeping prisoners incarcerated way beyond their eligibility for parole. If they see someone that is a poster child for model prisoners knowing that this person will leave prison and never come back, they are kept incarcerated way beyond their time frame. Why? Because they know the longer these people are kept in prison, the better chance they have at actually institutionalizing them.

I am sure a good portion of everyone reading this has seen the movie, “The Shawshank Redemption.” Do you remember the part where the old white man finally makes parole and is placed in a halfway house and given a job at a store? He writes a letter to his friends in prison describing how everything has changed on the outside and how life is too fast. After a short while of freedom he hangs himself. Now the next man has a very important part and this really portrays how the Puppet Masters work here in Texas. The part is played by Morgan Freeman. Each time he comes up for parole throughout the movie, he talks to the parole board with alot of sympathy and sorrow. He shows them he has done well in prison and begs for another chance at life. But, unfortunately every time he is denied. Then he comes up for a parole hearing one day and walks inside the room and informs the members of the parole board it doesn’t matter to him anymore whether he gets out or not. Of course, this is when he is finally granted parole. Most people I’m sure don’t truly understand the significance of this part of the movie. The parole board knew without a doubt that Morgan Freeman’s character was institutionalized, therefore he was more than likely to come straight back to prison. The Puppet Masters are so good at this that they can manipulate people into staying here their whole lives. This is also why some inmates are kept here so long, even if they are model prisoners.

My friend Bowleg and I were talking this and about how many prisoners have died from the heat. A female guard who is black, overheard our conversation, and because my friend Bowleg is also black, she began calling him an Uncle Tom, because we showed her that what we were talking about was true. Why did she call him this? To discourage him from listening to the truth. This whole prison system is set up to institutionalize it’s men and women inmates. First to control them physically, then over time to control them mentally. This process is done slowly over periods of months, years, and decades. If people were to go to each prison and meet with its inmates, and take a serious look at how much time they have actually served, they would be shocked. The Puppet Masters are fast to show everyone the worst of the worst, but they will never let you see the tens of thousands of prisoners who could and should be released. Men and women just sitting here so long they have become comfortable with the fact they are institutionalized. They want these prisons full to ensure job security and of course, they want good, well-behaved slaves to run their factories and to work their fields. The more prisons they have, the more power they have to control.

 
The Attorneys
  • Francisco Hernandez
  • Daniel Hernandez
  • Phillip Hall
  • Rocio Martinez