THE 1980 SANTA FE PRISON RIOT

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Santa Fe Prison Riot America's most brutal uprising. The Santa
Fe prison riot, which erupted on February second, nineteen eighty
at the New Mexico State Penitentiary, remains one of the
most violent and horrifying prison uprisings in US history. In
just thirty six hours, thirty three inmates were killed, many
of them savage and gruesome ways, and over two hundred
were injured. The riot exposed not only the brutality that

(00:23):
prisoners can inflict upon one another, but also the deep
structural failures of the American prison system. The riot began
in the early morning hours, when inmates, exploiting lack of
security and architectural flaws, took control of the prison. They
quickly overpowered guards, seized keys, and began moving from cell
block to cell block. What followed was not just a protest,
but a vengeful bloodbath. Some inmates used tools from the

(00:45):
prison workshop, including blow torches and metal rods, to torture
their rivals. Several victims were mutilated beyond recognition. Others were
targeted for being informants or sex offenders. There was really
no single organized agenda. The prison was vastly overcrowded, holding
eleven hundred inmates and a facility designed for nine hundred,
conditions were dire. Inmates were frequently locked down and denied

(01:06):
adequate medical care. By the time state police and the
National Guard regained control, the prison was in ruins. Much
of the facility have been destroyed by fire and vandalism.
The event prompted national attention and a series of investigations.
Despite reforms that follow, the Santa Fe riot remains a
chilling reminder of what happens when a prison system collapses

(01:26):
under pressure. If you look at it psychologically, it's interesting,
is the wired The riots displayed classic symptoms of de individuation,
a state where individuals and groups lose self awareness and
a sense of personal responsibility and the fog of a
collective rage. No moral constraints collapse. This is what happens
when also wear masks and when they go out to

(01:48):
these public lootings and things of that nature. People will
lose a lot of their moral constraints. When anonymity is present,
this will increase quite a bit. Inmates who have not
who might have not acted violently alone, found themselves swept
into the violent fervor of the group. This is where
we see a lot of mob mentality too. Social identity

(02:08):
theory plays a role in prison culture. Identity is polarized
between us and them, black and white type of thinking
are also called splitting. In the world of psychodynamics, this
in group outgroup the dynamic when intensified or prolonged, trauma
resembment deprivation can justify extreme violence in the minds of aggressors.
So there's a little bit of a psychological look at it.

(02:28):
A tragic story over there at the Santa Fe prison
riot