This is a repost of an article and video series titled "Welcome To The Zo," a 3-part short video series created in 2020 which takes an introspective deep dive into what many incarcerated people refer to as "The Zo," short for the Twilight Zone. The series, created by The Marshall Project, details the tactics administered by prison staff which aim to disrupt and disable prisoners ability to follow rules and maintain mental clarity. Unwritten rules which change by the day, inescapable double binds, Pavlovian conditioning, grievance reports met with retaliation, and many other common scenarios are told by real people who experienced them personally while trying to adapt to the subtle yet ever-present tactics of inhumane destabilization.
Watch the video series here: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/02/27/welcome-to-the-zo
The experiences highlighted by The Marshall Project are every bit unfair as they are unreasonably common. Prisoners face a system which inhibits compliance at every turn, a system which masquerades as fair and just yet proves itself to be cruel and rigged against its unwilling participants, made to fail as opposed to being rehabilitated. In such environment, adhering to complex procedure is near impossible, which is why outside support organizations like The Remedy Project are essential in ensuring that incarcerated people are treated with the human rights that prison administrators vehemently refuse to acknowledge.
This is a repost of an article and video series titled "Welcome To The Zo," a 3-part short video series created in 2020 which takes an introspective deep dive into what many incarcerated people refer to as "The Zo," short for the Twilight Zone. The series, created by The Marshall Project, details the tactics administered by prison staff which aim to disrupt and disable prisoners ability to follow rules and maintain mental clarity. Unwritten rules which change by the day, inescapable double binds, Pavlovian conditioning, grievance reports met with retaliation, and many other common scenarios are told by real people who experienced them personally while trying to adapt to the subtle yet ever-present tactics of inhumane destabilization.
Watch the video series here: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/02/27/welcome-to-the-zo
The experiences highlighted by The Marshall Project are every bit unfair as they are unreasonably common. Prisoners face a system which inhibits compliance at every turn, a system which masquerades as fair and just yet proves itself to be cruel and rigged against its unwilling participants, made to fail as opposed to being rehabilitated. In such environment, adhering to complex procedure is near impossible, which is why outside support organizations like The Remedy Project are essential in ensuring that incarcerated people are treated with the human rights that prison administrators vehemently refuse to acknowledge.
