Zahra Gordon

today’s trinidad express reported on a man accused of child molestation who pleaded with the magistrate for prison protection. apparently the other prisoners made death threats towards him. i heard someone speaking about it and they said something i hear often: if you’re put in jail for child molestation or domestic violence/rape (of women) other prisoners are likely to beat, murder, inflict other forms of harm against you. the word on the street is that these crimes are not tolerated by prison populations. period. and this is something i’ve heard not only in or about trinidad but all over. and it just makes me think. the idea is that if you are in jail then its because you have done something that society deems immoral/wrong/criminal. and there are many stigmas associated with prisons and prisoners; one of those being that the place/people in it are lawless or immoral. yet, they police themselves in some ways and there seems to be a moral code. child abuse is immoral even among criminals. and its not just one criminal who has this sense of morality. the man in this case has been threatened and harassed by numerous inmates. so there’s a lot to be said about crime and morality when you think about this. its like the difference between “white collar” and “blue collar” crime, crime of the rich and crime of the poor, the “crimes” committed by black people versus the “crimes” committed by whites. if you steal to feed your children are you immoral? just something to think about.