"Paranoia is an illness I contracted in institutions. It is not the reason for my sentences to reform school and prison. It is the effect, not the cause"
- Jack Henry Abbott
About this Quote
Jack Henry Abbott's quote is a reflection on the effects of institutionalization on his psychological health. He acknowledges that his sentences to reform school and prison were not caused by his paranoia, but rather that his fear was a result of his institutionalization. This quote speaks with the destructive results of the jail system on the mental health of inmates, and how it can result in the advancement of mental illnesses such as fear. Abbott's quote likewise serves as a reminder of the importance of providing psychological health services to inmates, along with the requirement for reform in the jail system. His words are a powerful reminder of the requirement to acknowledge the humanity of those who are put behind bars, and to offer them with the resources they need to heal and thrive.
"Did you know that nearly one in three children live apart from their biological dads? Those kids are two to three times more likely to grow up in poverty, to suffer in school, and to have health and behavioral problems"
"As we read the school reports on our children, we realize a sense of relief that can rise to delight that thank Heaven nobody is reporting in this fashion on us"
"Taught from infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison"
"Now we maintain that we cannot be afford to be concerned about 6 percent of the children in this country, black children, who you allow to come into white schools. We have 94 percent who still live in shacks. We are going to be concerned about those 94 percent"
