Prospective Research
Crystal Harris
Blog Post/ final
CJ Trauma 720
Research of “60 days In” contestants:
In 2016, A&E began broadcasting a television show entitled 60 Days In. This program, produced by Gregory Henry, Kimberly Woodard and Jeff Grogan, was created as a response to some issues occurring inside of the Clark County Jail in Indiana. It consisted of several average people, with criminal justice backgrounds, entering into the jail as prisoners, unbeknownst to the guards and other prisoners. These “inmates” job was to obtain insider information on how the prison was being run. They were to witness the occurrences in the jail and report back to the sheriff.
The following is a list of specific questions I would attempt to answer in my research in order to better understand the trauma of incarceration. As these individuals do not have a stake in my research and can leave the prison anytime they wish, I believe their answers will be more forthcoming. They will lack much of the blame tactics that we would find if we were to ask regular prisoners the same questions. These questions would also help to understand the different personality changes that occur due to incarceration. While writing my research questions, I became more enthralled in finding out their answers and have determined that this is what my final project for this class will be on. I am very excited by this prospect and what ideas I can come up with.
How did their family dynamics change?
Did you become more patient or less patient with your family?
Did you become more or less domineering?
Did they experience any feelings of being a real prisoner?
Did they forget they had volunteered for this?
Did they exhibit any prisoner like behavior?
Did they gain a gang mentality?
Did they participate in criminal behavior?
Did they participate in the bullying of other prisoners?
When they were released, did they feel shame for their actions in the jail?
Did they experience any trauma by the loss of freedom, even though they chose that loss?
Did the belief of “not being weak” roll over into their normal lives?
Did it affect their interactions with others around them?
What changed their thoughts about how prisons are run?
Did their thoughts change?
Did the spying, that they had to do in the jail, roll over into their regular lives?
Did they feel guilty about spying on the inmates?
Did they feel guilty about spying on the guards?