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(The Miwd,

Department of Corrections, Offenders, Veterans, Rehabilitation

Merriam- Webster Dictionary:

Correctional: The act or process of punishing and changing the behavior of people who have committed crimes.

At a glance, one would think the Department of Corrections (DOC) is an epic Department with meaning and serious purpose i.e., rehabilitation, for all of their imprisoned population, Veterans included. Every State in the United States has a Department of Corrections (DOC), even a few private companies have this type of Department. The question I put forth from my fifty years of experiencing life in DOC's in different States is, what do they really correct?

Jailbird, Convict, Inmate, Prisoner, Veterans incarcerated. As an inquisitive thought you would think these evocative words are basically the same, as in the same meaning, not totally so. Years ago the archaic word 'convict' was dropped from our prison jargon. Just a few days ago, an inmate stated he was a convict. That told me a lot about him.

Fundamentally, when we did use the word, you could not declare yourself to be a convict. Someone else would have to say, "you can trust him, he's a convict". Meaning he just does his own time, doesn't hangout with the guards (Correction Officers), doesn't run to them with stories about what someone else is doing and there are a few other good qualifications. 1 he word 'convict' originated from being a convicted felon.

Different penitentiaries, prisons and institutions, under the realm of DOC, have different types of population, Military Veterans included, unfortunately. Penitentiary is an archaic descriptive word from approximately the 15 th century. They usually have walls surrounding them or other types of high levels of security to which DOC determines the prisoner's requirements needing a more secure environment. Prisons, some have walls and some have fences, now in this day and age, many have electric fences. Institutions have fences for the most part and can range from Level four security down to level one.

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(Tlne Mtwd,

Now this Private Corporation institution has a majority of inmates and only a few prisoners. The word "Inmate" was first used in its old English definition which varied between the 14 century and the 15 th century in definition. In 1508 England, the word was given a meaning to someone in a hospital and then changed to include prisons. From there, altering the meaning once again, more towards a person housed in an insane asylum. Another usage for the word 'inmate' started in the 1600s, describing two people sharing a room in an Inn, as Inn-mates. The morphology really happened in approximately 1980's here in the U.S. where the word 'inmate', underwent transformation to identify any incarcerated person. This usage was meant as a negative degrading metaphor. Most recently, Newspapers, Police, Courts, and Correction Departments use a different 14th century word, Offenders. How is the use of degrading metaphors rehabilitative or correctional? The Veteran's new DOC and society's verbiage is "Thank you for your service", but they do not acknowledge that service or the PTSD help we need.

On a conservative television program, I was watching, they stated that 80% of Offenders in the United States, have the usage of drugs involved in their case and when they are released back into society from Correctional facilities, 95% use drugs. This includes Veterans incarcerated that still self-medicate. These percentages illustrate the proof that DOCs do the opposite of correcting and rehabilitating Offenders cognitive behavior, from what they expound they are doing. I honestly believe those percentages are accurate from my lengthy experience in these Prisons and Institutions. Especially among the Gen.

y's and z's and a large quantity of older inmates. Unfortunately, this is the majority of thought their immature minds process, dope, dope, dope.

I would say, todays drugs and their quantity in Institutions, especially Private Institutions, have brought that negative descriptive word, 'inmate', usage to the forefront. Some

Institutions and Prisons, have very little usage of drugs by their population.

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(The MtvU,

They would be referred to as 'Prisoners' because they hold themselves to a higher standard. Here where I am presently incarcerated, most do not hold themselves to that higher standard, Veterans included. They are, "Inmates".

This Private Institution is overloaded, more than State prisons, with various drugs and one in particular, is nick-named "tune". Tune is just bug killer; such as Raid or any other type of bug spray, sprayed on paper. Yes, I said bug killer! Then they cut the paper into little strips and smoke it. One would think tune should be spelled "toon" as in looneytoons.

Different states have different descriptive words for this same insane drug that is smoked like marijuana. In Florida jails and Institutions, I have heard they call it 'Champaign'. I was in Florida Prison system from 1995 to 2000 and there was no such drug, then. It is all new day and age now. You have to be looney (a cartoon) to use it and if not before usage, then unquestionably after usage, Health problems later in life, you can bet the bank on that. However, in the immediate time-frame, it causes them to be more oblivious to their surroundings, drunk, looney, out of touch, all in one, more than normal. This is where the word 'inmate' comes into play. The Institution Staff do try to honestly stop the saturation of tune and other drugs by inmates into the institutions because it would cause the Warden to look bad and plus it is their institution staff friends who bring in 90% of the drugs. True, they always blame the inmates and prisoners for introducing drugs into the environment. Remarkably, that's not the whole truth of the matter. How do the words 'corrections and rehabilitation' fit in with this? How does it help change negative cognitive behavior? I haven't figured out what is being corrected or rehabilitated yet.

One could honestly refer to me as a perfect poster boy for the definition of the 1603 word 'Jailbird' which is defined as a person whom has spent most of their repentant life as a

Jailed person in the hoosegows.

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(The MtlU,

This is illustrated by being uninterruptedly housed in California, Florida and Ohio Prisons and Institutions and even a couple old antiquated Penitentiaries, consistently and continuously for 50 years, as a Veteran Incarcerated for violent acts. I do not wear this negative descriptive word proudly. Though, regrettably, we did create the situation. I say we focusing on my PTSD and myself, it took two of us. There is very little PTSD therapy in institutions, now a day,

I am a Marine Vietnam combat Veteran with VA recognized PTSD and medical issues. I noticed a recent article in a Veteran Mag where a self-designated army veteran and previous police office for many years wrote a negative statement concerning us Veterans Incarcerated. He was probably violet under the color of the badge. Only the real know better than hatred for a subject they know nothing about.

We recognize that viable various Programs, such as drug counselling, vocational training, education, pre-release programs, Veteran programs and PTSD therapy, are beneficial to the incarcerated prior to release back into society. However, prisons once had all that and more, but in their Department of Corrections wisdom deleted most of the beneficial vocations and Programs. There are a few left here and there in different states, especially California prior to 2019, and a few are re-starting programs. However, no one is pushed nor is it rnade nnaadatory to partake in these beneficial programs before being released back into society. Only Lifers must do programs and mature before there is a chance of freedom. The Offenders and Veterans need and honestly want what the public pays for with their hard earned tax dollars. Therefore, I am left to return back to the original question, "Where is the Corrections and Rehabilitation, Especially for Veterans"?



Semper Fi!



John B. Tidwell

Vietnam Veteran USMCword count 1307