Military Prisoners: Part V. Correctional Treatment (1960)

[Music] correction treatment seeks to analyze and to understand the motivations behind each offense committed it recognizes that in any group of military prisoners there are offenders who appear exactly alike but the reasons behind their offenses can be completely unlike when these motivations are understood and action taken to correct their underlying causes the chance that a soldier will commit another offense is greatly diminished this prisoner went AWOL because his wife was pregnant he had the notion that his presence at home would be helpful he didn't trust anyone to keep him properly informed as to her condition when this man's Furlow was nearing its end he decided to have one more night of Celebration unfortunately he drank too much passed out and awakened much later many miles from his home station drunk and disorderly was the charge this man faced the fact that he had received a Dear John Letter was brought out at his court Marshal but the charge remained drunken [Music] disorderly this prisoner threatened an NCO he chose not to make a statement at his trial but the mental hygiene consultation service finally learned that he had definite feelings of persecution his charge read destruction of government property through neglect why had this man operated his vehicle without first properly checking it carelessness yes but maybe there was something much deeper behind it in past years the Army Stockade program could best be described as one of all things to all people it grouped prisoners into custody grades based primarily on their offenses custody classification was generally the maximum that could be applied rather than the minimum required an armed guard for two or three prisoners no matter how minor their offenses was a common sight work assignments were almost entirely menial labor such as pushing brooms cutting grass picking up trash or cleaning ditches but today the Army's Correctional program is concerned primarily with the individual in the past a man's custody classification was based primarily on the nature of his offense today the Army has gotten away from that now his custody classification is based on a professional evaluation of the man [Music] in determining the future disposition of any prisoner in confinement the staff of the entire post is utilized with the confinement officer serving as coordinator of major importance is the prisoner's own company Commander by periodic visits to the prisoner he supplies an important contact with the reality of Army service through his guidance and example a prisoner may be made to realize his obligations to himself and to the service the the medical officer assists in problems of health and physical evaluation for counseling character guidance and religious instruction there are the chaplain the mental hygiene consultation service AIDS in determining mental and personality problems and provides professional evaluation of each prisoner in addition to determining the disposition indicated in an individual case this process is designed to develop an understanding of the individual and his capability days when coupled with the prisoner's performance and demonstrated motivation this process often results in timely recommendation to the commanding officer for shortening the man's sentence and returning him to duty in handling Prisoners the Army insists that procedures for custody control and treatment be corrective rather than punitive before starting any Correctional treatment whether to return to duty remain in confinement or return to Civil Life each prisoner must first be professionally evaluated this process starts with the confinement officer at the post stade one of the aims is early identification and elimination of the undesirable and unfit retention of troublemaking and useless individuals in the service is much too costly Correctional treatment involves a plan of custody work training and treatment adapted to the individual prisoner its two major objectives might be summarized briefly first retraining for return to duty of prisoners with potential for further military service second orientation for return to Civil Life of those unfit or unsuited for further service in Correctional treatment first important step is proper custody classification some typical cases will serve to illustrate the basic principles of Correctional treatment Richard Turner age 25 found guilty by special Court Marshal of having been aw 23 days sentenced to 4 months confinement Turner's previous three-year enlistment was without incident 4 months after he reenlisted Turner went a wol Turner I'm putting you in medium custody until we have more information on you as medium custody prisoner you will be employed outside the stade either under armed guard or unarmed supervisors sit down as you know your custody grade is subject to review at any time let's hope it goes up to minimum and not down but whether it goes up or down depends entirely on you your conduct and your attitude I want you to have a talk with captain malen of the mental hygiene office but sir there's nothing wrong with my mind we not saying there is Turner all we want to find out is what made you decide to go awall I just had to get away sir you know almost everybody who gets into trouble is running away from something I wasn't running away way sir I just wanted to help oh how do you mean that Turner it was my wife she just had too many bills to pay she said my allotment didn't half cover the expenses so I took off figuring maybe I could help straighten things out did you talk to your company Commander about this no sir why not well I figured maybe Captain Roberts was too busy to worry about me your company Commander is never too busy to concern himself with the problems of his men maybe I better have a talk with Captain Roberts about your problem Captain Roberts please Captain Barry yes we've checked on Turner's story through the Red Cross it jibes Mrs Turner's in a real jam on on finances seems she's been buying too much on the installment plan did Turner going a wall help mats any well not much he apparently read the riot act to his wife but just didn't have enough money to cover up the bills well I sent for Turner he ought to be here any minute you know unless we find some way to take that load off of Turner's mind I'm afraid he isn't going to be any good to anybody himself or the Army well Mr Blakeley of Army emergency relief has come up with what sounds like an excellent suggestion yeah he reports that a will grant a loan of $138.4 come in prisoner Turner Richard C reporting is directed sir that is that is Turner Turner I think we found a way to solve your problem of finances oh but how sir well Army emergency relief is willing to loan you the money 100 $38.75 I believe but sir I don't see how I can pay it back as long as I'm in The Stockade ER doesn't expect you to start paying back the loan until after you've returned to duty but that won't be for nearly 4 months it's possible it won't be that long we'll see it all depends on you and so in one brief session Turner learned the basic fact of army life going AWOL never solves any problem in in his case the problem could be solved with the help of others by facing up to it this was apparent a few weeks later sergeant from these reports Turner looks like a good Prospect for further military service so set up a conference for me with Turner so that I can change his classification to minimum custody and start them in the retraining program yes sir and that gentleman is the report on Richard Turner in one week he will have completed his retraining program now I recommend that he be returned to full duty at that time well how about it Captain Marin what's your opinion Turner has convinced me that he wants to be a good soldier well gentlemen do we agree okay I agree I agree very well the clemency board will recommend to the installation Commander that he remit the remainder of Turner's sentence that he be returned to full military duty upon completion of the retraining program and so one week later private Richard Turner was returned to full military duty application of one of the principles of Correctional treatment individual evaluation to determine the cause of offenses and treatment for these causes helped Turner to be a better man and a better Soldier but there are cases which prove much more stubborn and difficult James Horn age 23 arrested 21 February while on KP Duty he sees meat cleaver threatened to kill mes Stewart while being taken to post Stockade for confinement awaiting filing of charges horn leaped from Jeep and escaped was AWOL 24 hours before being apprehended placed in maximum custody because of possibility of Escape Tried by special Court marshal free March found guilty sentenced to confinement for 6 months and to Forfeit $50 per month for like period sentence approved for March your parents are alive how was your home life about average I guess did your parents like you as a child how would I know oh we got along all right I guess for a while then I started to get into trouble and well I left home I was away about 2 years did they miss you I don't know probably not was there any trouble as a boy I did two years in the boy State Reformatory did you like it there who would what are you trying to hide from us nothing well something's disturbing H if we could find out what it is maybe we could help you I'll get along don't worry why didn't you mention your civilian arrest record before horn who says I've got a record the FBI and it's uh quite a long one too so I got in trouble once or twice oh sit down horn you were arrested three times for fighting and there are two charges of assault with a deadly weapon okay so I got arrested a few times assault with a deadly weapon horn ah was only a knife well sure I've carried a knife I had to sometimes a guy gets in my way and nobody pushes me around oh I see and uh did the mess stward also get in your way horn why that dirty stinking bum if it wasn't for him I wouldn't be in this mess that's enough horn yes sir tell you what I'll do with you I want you to have another talk with Captain Malden of mental hygiene maybe he can uh think of a way of straightening you out the head shrinker all right I'll see him sir you can go horn so that's what you were trying to hide from us H your civilian arrest records nothing to be proud of can't say I blame you for trying to hide it okay you're right I thought when I got into the army I could forget all about it that Army M Steward always riding me well someday I'm going to fix him I'm going to fix him good I don't think you will horn well he's to blame for this whole mess I'm in if it hadn't been for him in his pigheaded attitude about wait a minute horn it looks like you're going to have to learn to live with your arrest record pretty fancy ain't it all right I get nabbed five times but do I serve any time not me I beat the rap every time now when I get out into civilian life that'll be enough horn on 25 March the clemency board after considering recommendations of the confinement officer and others recommended to the installation Commander that action be taken to administratively eliminate horn from the service with an undesirable discharge Joseph Burke age 18 found guilty by special Court Marshal of having been AWOL 3 days sentence 6 months confinement suspended 10 days later Burke failed to go to his assigned place of Duty suspension was vacated and he was ordered to Stockade to serve out his sentence upon admission Burke refused to talk or answer questions aware that this might indicate Disturbed mental state confinement officer requested medical check of prisoner medical officer found nothing wrong with Burke stated belief prisoner was mingering Burke the doctor says there's nothing nothing wrong with you you can hear me and you can answer me if you want to this is your first day in the tarade under sentence of the Court you have 179 more days to stay here but with time off for good behavior that total can be reduced but with your present childish attitude in refusing to talk or answer any questions that certainly cannot be considered good behavior now I know that you're young and this is a new experience for you and maybe you're a bit scared about everything but that's no excuse now look tomorrow you will be interviewed by one of our officers he's going to ask you some questions now I want you to answer those questions fully and honestly understand all right you may go Burke Burke says here that you went awall when you heard your father had been in an accident that you wanted to find out how badly he'd been injured you must like your father a lot he's all right does he know where you are now I wonder how he'd feel about this he'd probably say it served me right H why is that he didn't want me to join up neither did Mom so you enlisted against your parents wishes why I got tired of being babied around the house are you the only child I've got three brothers and two sisters all older than me I see how was your home life did you have enough money I guess so I never had any trouble getting what I wanted except except what I wanted this jalape it was a stripped down job didn't cost much dad put his foot down and said no then I decided to join up did you finish High School no sir I had another year to go I guess that's what made them mad they said I was crazy to enlist said I should finish school maybe I should have but it's too late to worry about that now well of course you can still do that if you want to the United States armed forces Institute can help you get that high school diploma if you're willing to study and work hard I've heard something about that sir I just never have the time ber there's time for anything if you want it badly enough yes sir I guess so all right that'll be all for today ber he's young and immature shows adolescent judgment and a reluctance to confide in people yes but he's not hopeless far from it firm handling should prove very beneficial to this man I see would you say that he's uh ready for a retraining program I believe so I think he's will to learn now oh by the way mess Personnel tell me that uh his diet is all wrong what he takes on his tray principally is bread and desserts you know sweet stuffs never any meat or vegetables another drugstore kid he's got to learn to eat properly I think Burke could use some sound counseling from his unit and from the stade Personnel it should help him to find him himself and as place in the Army there are a couple of other cases I wanted to discuss with you so with counseling and guidance from stock a Personnel Joseph Burke began the difficult task of growing up as predicted a proper diet did wonders for the [Music] prisoner once when he had some questions about his sentence an interview was arranged with the Staff Judge Advocate and Berke got the answers straight and [Music] clear his physical condition improved rapidly in the course of his retraining Burke learned the business of being a soldier and a good one his attitude toward himself and the world slowly improved his Outlook began to change from adolescent pessimism to mature acceptance of his responsib abilities Burke also profited by the character guidance instruction and counseling given by The Stockade chaplain he began to understand that real maturity is not merely a matter of years in only a few weeks Burke earned the status of installation parole Le he was proud of his parole Le card and the Privileges it gave him of being permitted to salute and to work without continuous supervision Burke's skill with things mechanical first hinted at in his talk with the mental hygiene officer was encouraged as an important part of his retraining as a peri he was able to add to his knowledge and skill by actual work on motorpool [Music] vehicles encouraged by the stock a Personnel Burke continued his education through the Armed Forces Institute he had a worthwhile goal now completion of his high school education when his case was considered by the clemency board favorable reports on Burke and his progress came from all sides from the confinement officer the chaplain the mental hygiene officer the Staff Judge Advocate the board recommended that when his retraining program was completed the balance of his sentence be remitted and he be returned to duty [Music] Burke's company Commander had visited him frequently during his confinement but this visit just one week before his release from The Stockade was the most important peroy Burke Joseph C reports as directed sir ades Burke we had you called in here for your uh pre-release interview the main purpose for this interview is to bridge the gap between your Rel releas from confinement and return to Duty with your unit bridge the gap I don't believe I understand sir well you see while you've been here your activities have been closely supervised almost all the time your days have been full of work and training when you return to your unit you'll find you'll have a lot of free time on your hands right Captain that's right and how you use that free time is of course up to you Burke I'm not worrying about that sir it's yes Burke what is is it what will they think of me after all I have been in The Stockade and all that shouldn't make any difference we believe you're coming out a better Soldier oh yes Burke your attitude during the retraining program has been very good thank you sir and on your return to the company you can expect to be treated just like any other soldier who recognizes and accepts his responsibilities yes sir through such a pre-release interview the awkward gap between released and returned to duty is usually successfully bridged both the confinement officer and the unit Commander are aware that the first few days after a prisoner's release are the most critical it is during this period that the man may decide to go AWOL if he can be made to understand what he can expect and what is expected of him that danger may be averted private Joseph Burke the remainder of his sentence remitted left the Stockade one week later [Music] reporting back to his unit he was just a little nervous but his fears about any stigma were groundless he was welcomed back like an old friend that pre-release interview was beginning to pay off for [Music] everyone and those critical days after his release passed without incident Burke didn't have time to get into any trouble he was much too busy studying and working and proving to the world that he had become a man and a much better Soldier through early determination of each prisoner's potential the Hopeless Misfits can be eliminated and individuals with potential for further military duty can be rehabilitated and returned to their units better trained better disciplined as a result of correct treatment great benefits are realized by the individual prisoner his unit the Army and by the nation