Elridge Cleaver on Prison's Effect of Sense of Self
You may find this difficult to understand but it is very easy for one in prison to lose his sense of self. And if he has been undergoing all kinds of extreme, involved, and unregulated changes, then he ends up not knowing who he is. Take the point of being attractive to women. You can easily see how a man can lose his arrogance or certainty on that point while in prison! When he's in the free world, he gets constant feedback on how he looks from the number of female heads he turns when he walks down the street. In prison he gets only hate-stares and sour frowns. Years and years of bitter looks. Individuality is not nourished in prison, neither by the officials nor by the convicts. It is a deep hole out of which to climb.
Notes:
Elridge Cleaver talks about how prison has a detrimental effect on one's self esteem
Folksonomies: prison elridgecleaver civilrights
Keywords:
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Soul on Ice