Group punishment. It’s a given. If some guy takes advantage of an officer’s kindness, we all get punished with stricter rules. If someone skips off to gym early, we all have to wait to go to gym. I once almost went to the Hole (along with a dozen others) because some idiot in a class decided to snatch some file labels from the little old lady behind the desk, and the sergeant threatened to cuff up all of us.
As much I don’t want to say this, group punishment is sometimes cowardice on the part of certain officers. Just like most people, they don’t want a confrontation. It’s easier to say “you guys screwed it up for yourselves,” even though it was only one guy who did so.
This is unjust, but even more to the point, it doesn’t teach the right lesson in prison. You should be punished for what you do wrong, and rewarded for what you do right. You, as an individual in prison, have no control over others and they trouble they get into. Individuals who screw up and act like hooligans and take advantage of the system: they should be punished individually. Leave the rest of us alone.
Dan Turner
DOC# 767569
I understand what you say about group punishment, and agree it’s not a great resort. I am a primary school teacher and have sometimes had to resort to group punishment when there’s just too many to individually punish. I guess the theory is you want all the kids to pressure those reckless ones to keep in line, but there is always a few who just don’t care! Difficult one indeed…