I've always had an interest in the reasons that people do the things that they do. Even as a young child I remember my father saying that I was like a parrot with my "why?" Not accepting his "because I said so" or "it just is."
In doing risk assessments on inmates the "why" can go on forever. When you don't have access to infinite data from an individuals past, it is difficult to make any kind of exacting conclusions. Self-reporting by an inmate versus prison records is a wholly limited view that can and usually is; askew.
It is incredibly unfortunate, in my opinion; that alot of the people that contribute to the information in an inmates file were not qualified to make the assessments that are there.
For example; an inmates disciplinary history while incarcerated is subjective to the officers and staff involved in an incident and those making the report. There is an incredible amount of bias involved being made by people with a very limited amount of education and perspective.
I have found that in doing risk assessments alot of what you read in inmate files has to be taken with this grain of salt, so to speak. An inmates interpretation of a sanction placed on them for bad behavior versus what an officer's statement; who may be right out of the academy is just about worthless.
Then there is the situation in Alabama which is currently under a legal microscope for cruel and unusual punishment towards the state's inmate population. https://share.google/mIcjkCJKQNlnHLt8N Where you have officers that have repeated charges of excessive force and inmate deaths.
These same officers with state lawyers defending them and in some cases being shuffled from one prison to another and even being promoted contribute to these files.
uses the Ohio risk assessment system, otherwise known as ORAS https://share.google/L7Ku2tTAXVORwFJry ,to do risk assessments. It relies heavily on self-reporting by inmates. As well as disciplinary records of an inmate. It requires certification of the assessor and to use discernment in these records. The class they offer consists of three days of an instructor explaining what the answers should be. With a fourth day of testing.
In self-reporting by inmates you have just as much conflicting information of what's an interpretation versus what is fact. What is manipulation and what is a credible re-telling of an event. Self-reporting; in general has always been problematic. Alwan NA. The Stigma of self-report in health research: Time to reconsider what counts as "Objective". PLOS Glob Public Health. 2026 Jan 28;6(1):e0005521. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0005521. PMID: 41604362; PMCID: PMC12851462.Take it into a population that may be criminal and your at risk of incredible creative histrionics. Getting to the bottom of an inmates "problem" so that you can determine what treatment they need...Well let's just say that in the criminal justice system it is not an exact science.
A whole lot of underpaid, uneducated, biased, coercive, manipulative, and mental health between inmates and staff alike are making very consequential decisions.
Looking at my own experience of the way I was treated during the first prison I worked at leads me to be very concerned of what my "file" would contain.
I have found that more than most of the administration had great difficulty separating how they handled staff versus inmates. The tactics or strategies that you use to deal with a criminal are not the same as those you use with a person that has average judgement and no criminal background.
In other words, you don't generally assume the average person is lying or trying to con you. Just as the average person takes into consideration what they have seen in someone's character, versus what someone else may have tried to persuade them into believing to further their own agenda. Such as the case of my boss who was charged with sexual harassment. Who in turn told everyone that I disliked him purely because I was "a racist."
I would hate for that 'file' to be the sole decider on my judgement day anymore than an inmate would want their file used to determine parole.
If there is to be 'justice' in criminal justice then you would have to start with a total overhaul in hiring practices and equivalent pay. Which in itself would be a very good start but, a very oversimplified solution.
Speaking of oversimplified...the number one most common response that I see when you speak to the average person about the problems in prison is: " if you don't like it, don't commit a crime." This dismissive way of assuming all inmates are guilty is 1) indicative of a person who justifies their own mistakes as insignificant to the totality of another's. And 2) representative of someone who dismisses external judgement on the basis that they are "a good person."
I think if more people have had the experience of being falsely accused or arrested in the U.S.A. this reaction would be very different. I personally am very aware that it happens way more in 2026 than it used to.
If you look into the history of crime and punishment to the days of repenting for your sin, solitary confinement, incarceration in the hulls of ships, to its rehabilitative period versus now...you will find that it has shifted backwards.
Today's ICE objectives with its brownshirt tactics and 1940's type concentration camps is a direction that all citizens should be fearful of and putting a stop to. Because if you haven't committed a crime, you may just do the time anyways if someone thinks you are unworthy of freedom by their own estimation.
With the system being what it is today, you may not want to be found guilty by a jury of your "peers" or an extremely corrupt system that either doesnt like the way you look, your politics, or your lifestyle.
In my experience 99% of inmates will say they are innocent, or at the very least don't deserve the sanctions they've received. Would you want to be the one who decides their fate? -Thank you for reading my series.