I told my workmates I’d be able to find the answer to our morning discussion on the Straight Dope and for once I haven’t been able to! So now I write…
At the morning tea break we got on the topic of prisons and then if prisoners are allowed to shave and have hair cuts. When we see photos or video of Western prison inmates we generally see them clean shaved but a number of the “Guantanamo Bay types” have beards and long hair. Someone suggested this is because lights are kept on 24hours in the more inhumane prisons so prisoners have hair to block the light out.
Our thoughts then turned to the contraband razors and even batteries from electric razors could be used for and how they would hide them. :dubious: Also the risk of infection from using used razors. So then we thought maybe they each see a barber who gives them a shave and a haircut but that seems a time consuming (and expensive!) process. And just to make this gender inclusive, what about female prisoners who want to shave their legs, underarms, etc.
So, what’s the straight dope on prisoners and their hair grooming privileges?
Yes, they can shave themselves and get regular haircuts. Certain regulations apply, but anyone in our prison system who is chronically scruffy is choosing to appear that way.
They are issued safety razors, special ones not real amenable to being turned into weapons. They still can be, but they’re not very good ones, and penalties are high for being found with them.
At minimum security facilities, inmates get to use more sophisticated grooming devices.
As far as Taliban at Guantanamo, long beards and relatively long hair are a cultural norm there. The Taliban notoriously shut down barbershops in Afghanistan as unIslamic. Shaving your beard is viewed as effeminate.
Excellent, thank you! On a side note… what about deodorant/antiperspirant? And moisturizer for the skin or lipbalm? I’d consider these essential but perhaps not
But such items can be obtained in the small shop that inmates may buy food and other comfort items at.
For those lacking all funds, soap is provided, along with towels, clothes, toothbrush and generic toothpaste, and a razor. Along with 3 hots and a cot.
I remember my 24-hour stint several years back, and seeing these little hand-printed signs in the windows of cell blocks that read “SHAVE PLEASE!”. I think the guards weren’t too quick about getting people their shaves.
We issue each prisoner one bic razor (or its generic equivalent) even to those who do not plan on using them. He is responsible for his razor. Once a week, during a count, every prisoner has to hold his razor in his hand so that the guard can see he still has it and that the blade has not been removed from it. In order to get a new razor, you have to turn in an old razor (the blade is once agin checked). Losing a razor is a serious offense so prisoners are motivated to not leave their razor lying around.
Haircuts are done in a barbershop. Prisoners are trained as barbers and that’s their job. Haircuts are supposed to be free but we recognize that most prisoners make unofficial under-the-table payments like a pack of cigarettes or a couple of candy bars to get a better quality haircut. There are some restrictions on what kinds of haircuts are allowed to prevent gang insignias. In most prisons, getting a haircut is open - a prisoner can go anytime when he feels like it assuming if it’s his free time. If crowding gets to be a problem, we set up a schedule. Barbers are brought into the units for those prisoners who are locked up fulltime or otherwise unable to go to the barbershop.
There was an interesting article in yesterday’s Washington Post (free for two weeks from publication) about a guy who invents prison toiletries. Prisoners can be very creative, and have been known to file down the handle of a toothbrush to make a weapon.
