MovieChat Forums > The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Discussion > How a real psych ward of a prison operat...

How a real psych ward of a prison operates...


I know this is fiction and the film wants you to be really scared and freaked out for Clarice when she visits Hannibal. It just is not realistic at all.

1. Why were the other cells not sealed? So just have bars like the Mayberry jail for criminal pervs and nut jobs? Let them throw shit, piss and semen at anybody passing by? Let them potentially be able to reach out and grab people? I know they are creating a contrast with the way Hannibal is housed but that is bull crap.

2. Why is Hannibal allowed wall to wall plexiglass for him top see everything? The cells in an acute care mental health ward in the prison I worked had plexiglass only on the top half of the door. That was the only place to see in or out. At mid level was a pie flap that only officers(Not chick trainees) could open with a key to pass things like food or medicine. If an inmate was particularly dangerous or threatening they forced them to stand at the back of the cell when a nurse placed their meds. If they objected to the rules they did not get their meds or food.
Why a dangerous multiple murderer like Lecture would be allowed an extra large suite with full view is bull!

3. There would be no need for holes in the plexiglass either. Ventilation can easily be obtained without holes.

4. An especially unstable or dangerous inmate might have 24/7 monitoring. A guy like Lecture would possibly have both nursing staff and a corrections officer on his door. If he threatens to harm others or himself they can take away his things allowed in his cell. People on SP suicide precautions in my prison were not even allowed clothes. They got a heavily padded blanket or vest. Other than that they would be totally naked. They were also given no more than 2 squares of toilet paper at a time because that could be used to commit suicide.

5. Cameras everywhere. From every angle. Officers have a red emergency button they can push on their walkie talkie that will rush officers from all over the prison to that spot.

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I can answer the question about the floor to ceiling safety glass on Lector's cell. It wasn't so he could see out. It was so they could see in. This was an extremely intelligent and dangerous prisoner. They didn't want to give him anywhere to conceal anything.

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He was a 50 year old man of average size. A simple designation of max security was all that was needed to contain him. The guy is not Ivan Drago.

A max designation means he cannot interact directly unless 2 officers are there. To transport him anywhere he would be cuffed from behind.

The guy has a cell that is as big as 4 normal cells. Why?

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He was of exceptional intelligence, he would likely have slaughtered an Ivan Drago sort.
Big tough dummies are way less scary than little psycho killers that eat people with knives and forks!

As for Lecter’s cell it was pretty big but I’d like to keep an eye on that crazy bastard, give him some space and put him at ease.
If he acts up we run in there six deep with Batons and Plexiglass shields and fuck him up real bad.

Bust his knees real good, that will cripple any scary asshole.

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Considering what he did to the two guards at the end proves that extra precautions were necessary.

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Two squares of toilet paper? I couldn't possibly get the job done with that.

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LOL! Not even half way there mate.

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"There would be no need for holes in the plexiglass either."

That was there so Anthony Hopkins could make a big moment out of smelling her perfume.

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Keep in mind they like to use him for intelligence and to get inside the minds of other killers. I am sure Hannibal was visited often by investigators and shrinks looking to learn from him. He would have bargained for what he has, he will co operate if they give him "X" etc etc.

He ends up being moved from the prison because he makes a deal with the politician who is the mother of the girl that went missing. Once they move him he kills the guards and escapes.

Leaving him in a big cell with no privacy is the best option.

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Good points. He's not being held in a typical prison, either. It seems to be dedicated to holding just the worst and most dangerous of serial killers. I don't think there is such a place in the real world.

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I think most prisons have something like it to some degree but the one in Silence of the Lambs seems overly neat and kind of like a file drawer the way they have the prisoners housed and segregated. I also don't think they would allow the prisoners to communicate the way they do as we saw Hannibal convinces Miggs to swallow his own tongue and choke to death.

In Australia our old Pentridge prison has a psych ward and the Jika Jika division where they housed the worst offenders. I did a tour after it closed and the Psych ward was freaky, there was a horizon line running along the middle of the wall as the inmates were so medicated they couldn't tell up from down so the horizon line helped them.

Jika Jika was for the most violent offenders and they would keep it very warm to sap energy from the inmates.

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