Shakespeare, wrote, "True love is like ghosts, everyone talks about it, but few witness it." Everyone recognizes the ugly manifestation of Evil, but few realize they are witness to Evil taking its insidious form. We all hear "dancing with the Devil," but few know they are witness to the dance card being filled. Evil, is a provocative subject. Psychologists, philosophers, and theologians offer publications on the pragmatic aspects of Evil. The public's voyeur thrust is tantalized, as they pay witness to the forbidden, and macabre people with a chain saw, and Jason can't put down his knife, because the public keeps paying to see his handy work. Cops with guns blazing, fight the monsters of Evil, and everyone lives happily ever after.
Focusing on the end products, people are blind to Evil finding its legs. Philosopher, Nietzsche, in his analysis of Evil, wrote, "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process they do not become a monster." Too often we see the reighteous anti-abortionist, secretly wanting his girlfriend to have an abortion, or the Freudian Oedipus complex man posing as the the perfect son, and father, when beneath, he wants to destroy his father, all the while, Evil has found a breeding ground. Why, he's perfect politician fighting the monster abortionists, and he's such a good son and father; "there's no Evil."
Fertile soils for Evil are: greed, desire, obsessive righteousness, jealousy, power, and strangely, confirmity -we saw that when Rodney King was brutally beaten by a pack of conforming police. Separated from the pack, how many of those officers would have individually beaten the man. few will stray from the herd mentality, if the herd hates you, I must too, if the herd says you're a monster, I must destroy you. After all, separating from the pseudo-security of the herd, could be dangerous.
This herd mentality is ubiquitous in prison, with both guards, and prisoners. Guards alone, will usually conduct themselves as officers, however in a group they'll turn bully, demonstrating to the others, I'm as polarized toward prisoners as my peer bullies. Evil driven prisoners like hyenas, will hunt for weaker prisoners to exploit, or gratify sadistic demons within. A prisoner/guard waltz with the Devil.
In ignorant bliss, people find a false-sense of security in: "I don't have to worry about prisons, because they're locked in there with lethal fences." HELLO! prison products are, bad men made worse, and good men made bad. "Rehabilitation" is little more than rhetorical device to patronize taxpayers.
The phenomenon how prisons make men worse can be found in: Dr. Stanley Milgram's "Obedience to Authority"; Dr Christopher Browning's "Ordinary People"; Dr Stanley Asch's "Opinions and Social Pressures"; and Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen's "Science of Evil." Cohen brings attention to a long known condition "banality of evil" (BOE). The lay person recognizes BOE as "I was only doing my job," or "It isn't my job." Nazi guards escaped punishment for mass murder through BOE, incredible human suffering has been inflicted under the safety of BOE. By establishing a chain of responsibility each individual in the chain performs a banal piece of the Evil puzzle, coupled with a lack of empathy, there's a license to kill. There is consensus among psychologists: the absence of empathy, allows a greater proportions of Evil.
An example of BOE: I'm a 74 year old prisoner with a multitude of health problems requiring a multitude of medications, which present sensitivity to heat. San Diego was having a heat, fans are a survival necessity.
On Thursday, 6:30AM, my circuit breaker threw stopping my fan, Immediately the 2 cell-block guards were requested to reset the breaker- a simple process of opening a plumbing chase door, and pushing the re-set button. 32 hours later, Friday, at 2:30PM, after at least ten guards, and three sergeants, all with excuses as to why "It's not my job," and totally indifferent to the suffering caused by their BOE, plant op's opened the door and re-set button.
This banality of evil, is a psychological torture repeated in various forms constantly in prison. Where prison personnel could set example of proper decorum, teaching prisoners what the "Milk of human kindness" means, they prefer to teach, how to be hateful.
At this point, I must say, there are Officers, amongst the guards, individuals that actually teach decorum, however they face a constant pressure to "conform." "Rehabilitation" will never happen, when guards continue to make it easy to hate, and the products they produce are pumped back out into society.

6 November 2017
Robert H. Outman
Prisoner P-79939

http://betweenthebars.org/blogs/895/