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CHAPTER SIX
Wednesday Is Spiraling Out of Control
On this fourth day of the experiment, I am looking forward to a less frenetic time
than Tuesday's endless troubles had created. Our daily schedule seems filled with
enough interesting events to contain the volatility that has been bursting the
seams of our prison. A priest who had been a prison chaplain is coming to visit
this morning to give me a sense of how realistic our prison simulation is to pro-
vide a benchmark, the actual prison experience, against which to measure our-
selves. He is reciprocating an earlier favor I did for him, providing some references
for a paper he was writing on prisons for a summer school course. Although his
visit was arranged prior to the start of our study, it will do double duty by also par-
tially satisfying the Grievance Committee's demand for church services, sort of.
Afterward there will be the first Parole Board hearing for prisoners requesting to
be paroled. The Board is going to be headed by our prison consultant on this pro-
ject, Carlo Prescott. It will be interesting to see how he deals with this total role in-
version: from a former prisoner who had repeatedly requested parole and been
rejected, to the head of a parole board.
The promise of another Visiting Night after dinner should help to contain the
distress of some prisoners. I also plan to admit a replacement prisoner, in uniform
number 416, to fill the vacancy of troublesome Doug-8612. A lot of action is on
today's agenda, but it is all in a good day's work for the superintendent of the
Stanford County Jail and his staff.
A PRIESTLY PUZZLE
Father McDermott is a big man, about six feet, two inches tall. He is slim and trim;
looks as if he does regular gym time. His receding hairline gives his face more ter-
ritory to show off his big smile, finely crafted nose, and ruddy complexion. He
Wednesday Is Spiraling Out of Control
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stands straight, sits erect, and has a good sense of humor. McDermott is an Irish
Catholic priest in his late forties who has had experience as a pastoral counselor
in an East Coast prison.
1
With his starched collar and neatly pressed black suit, he
is the movie version of the jovial yet firm parish priest. I am amazed at the fluidity
with which he slips into and out of his priestly role. Now he is the serious scholar,
now the concerned priest, now someone making a professional contact, but al-
ways he returns to his leading role as "the Priest-Man."
In the Superintendent's Office, we go over the long list of references with
annotations that I have prepared for him to help on a report he is doing on inter-
personal violence. He is obviously impressed that I'm taking so much time with
him and pleased by the reference list, so he asks, "What can I do to help you?"
I respond, "All I would like is for you to talk with as many of the student sub-
jects in our experiment as possible in the time you have available and then, on the
basis of what they tell you and what you observe, give me your honest evaluation
of how realistic their prison experience seems to you."
"Sure, pleased to reciprocate. I will use as my comparison base the prisoners
I worked with in a Washington, D.C., correctional facility I was assigned to for
several years," the father tells me.
"Great—I very much appreciate your assistance."
Now it's time for me to switch hats: "The warden has invited any inmates
who want to talk with a minister to register for that privilege. A number of them
do want to talk with you, and some want to request that religious services be held
here this weekend. Only one prisoner, number 819, is feeling sick and wants more
sleep so he won't be talking with you."
"Okay, let's go, it should be interesting," says Father McDermott.
The warden has set a pair of chairs against the wall between Cells 2 and 3
for the priest and each inmate who comes to him. I bring over another for me to
sit on next to the priest. Jaffe is at my side, looking very serious as he personally es-
corts each inmate from his cell to the interview. Jaffe is obviously relishing the
mock reality of this scenario with a real priest enacting his pastoral role with our
mock prisoners. He really gets into it. I am more concerned about the prisoners'
likely complaints and what the good father is likely to do to correct them. I ask
Jaffe to be sure that Curt Banks is getting this on video as close up as possible, but
the low level quality of our video camera doesn't allow close-ups as tight as I
would like.
Most interactions take the same form.
The priest introduces himself, "Father McDermott, Son, and you?"
The prisoner responds, "I'm 5486, sir," or "I'm 7258, father." Only a few re-
spond with their names; the rest just give him their numbers instead of their
names. Curiously, the priest does not flinch; I am very surprised. Socialization into
the prisoner role is clearly taking effect.
"What are you charged with?"
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