Would Air Conditioning Prisons Reduce Inmate Violence?

Would Air Conditioning Prisons Reduce Inmate Violence And Stress?

Because we live in a modern era where we can live in the hottest of cities without a single drop of sweat coming out of our bodies, comfort is never far away. It is no secret that when our body temperature is not in tune with the temperature of our surroundings, we tend to have higher stress levels. This is why air conditioning serves a much more important role than one would think at first.

In prisons, air conditioning is not usually done. The idea is that air conditioning is a luxury that costs a certain amount of money and this luxury should not be meted out to criminals. However, when you really think about it, purchasing air conditioners for prisons would be a good investment and it would really benefit inmates as well.

When we go to work, most of us are privileged enough to work in offices that have been air conditioned. You are able to enjoy the coolness of the air around you, without working up a sweat no matter how long your work hours may be. This reduces your stress levels and keeps you comfortable throughout the day. In the same way, prisons with air conditioning can really benefit inmates. They are kept comfortable throughout the day because of the pleasant condition of the air that surrounds them. The importance of this is stressed because inmates tend to have levels of stress which in turn causes violence among them.

You must have heard of fights breaking out several times and inmates hurting one another, sometimes even to the point of inflicting serious harm or homicide. Because of the high levels of stress they are in, these inmates need some sort of vent to their frustrations which is why they resort to violence. Even though air conditioning hardly seems to be the way to solve this problem, you would be surprised by the impact of heat on stress levels of inmates.

When air conditioning is present in prisons, it helps the prisoners to cool down. This lowers the level of stress in them and helps them to be in a more comfortable ad relaxed state. When they are more relaxed, they tend to show less signs of violence and incidences of fights and physical abuses tend to go down as well.

As it is, regular people get majorly affected by high levels of heat. When the weather is very hot and humid, we tend to get stressed and uncomfortable and this makes us more prone to anger. In the same way, prison inmates tend to show such signs of anger and they manifest it by exhibiting violence in their behavior. With air conditioning, heat levels go down along with stress levels and everyone is in a more calm and relaxed state. It is as simple as that. While air conditioning is not the only solution to the problem of inmate violence, it is definitely one step that can be taken towards achieving the end of putting a stop to prison violence and stress.