Inspired in part by Warren Jeffs, the topic of hunger strikes in American prisons came up the other day. I realize that in a public-relations type of hunger strike it is critical for the prisoner to get the word out that he/she is no longer eating and/or drinking, in order to cause trouble/make a point/what have you. I also realize that your average US prisoner isn’t necessarily a creature of strong principle or iron self-discipline, and that the ones who are overtly suicidal (as determined by words or actions) probably get brought to the attention of the ‘system’ by the corrections officers or other prisoners.
Still, I wonder about ‘silent’ hunger strikes in prison, like Jeffs’ might have been - a dude who just decides to stop eating but doesn’t blab about it. He may be the proverbial innocent man wrongly convicted with no other way out, or he may have just reached a quiet end of his rope, or what have you. I would imagine that prisoners’ food intake is not monitored closely, nor would their weight be. They may get routine medical checkups every couple of months, but that leaves a lot of time to starve yourself. Would cell mates figure out what was going on and turn him in? I suppose at some point he’d just pitch over in a faint and end up in the infirmary, at which time… what? I know the Guantanamo prisoners were force-fed by being strapped into restraints, but would that happen in a situation that was less politically fraught? What if he’s lucid enough to refuse medical treatment?
I’m already surprised by the lack of suicides among prisoners - I’d off myself rather than spend the rest of my life in prison. I’m aware of the physiology of starvation; I’m more curious about the incidence and treatment in US prisons.