Unlocked: A Jail Experiment

Watching this series brought out some glaring truths to me: both punishment and rehabilitation are what prison needs to be.

The hardest part of watching was seeing some of the men trying their best to become better men but not having the mental health support that they so desperately need. I'm sure the prison provides what it can, but without real change in the real world where mental health support should be available to everyone, then this will be an endless cycle. And the people holding the purse strings in Arkansas aren't willing to make changes at the prison for the better. This facility is only a county jail- yet it is being used to house inmates who are serving life sentences and have zero f's to give. Mixing a first time prisoner in with repeat offenders and those who will love their entire lives in jail is less than ideal.

As an Arkansan, I see firsthand how wide the disparities are between those who have and those who do not. Generational poverty, violence, drug abuse and more are running rampant everywhere. And do not fool yourself that everyone is getting an equal education.

If this look into a prison brought out any empathy, then please urge your lawmakers to support this sheriff and his staff as they try to balance punishment and rehabilitation in a novel way.

The prisons in the US are bad! Finally some of the people running them has started to understand that how you treat people inside the walls will mirror how they will act when they get out.

To let the prisoners get responsibility and some freedom is the only way to educate them for the life after prison, and that is what the sherif in Arkansas that is head of the prison will make an experiment about.

Seeing how the inmates get into groups that wants to and don't wan to follow the rules is very interesting. Seeing how the prisoners change already from the first hours and all the way to the end of the show gave me tears in my eyes.

This is a documentary that I would recommend for everyone, and especially those who like prison movies or that has served time or even those that are going to serve time.

There is almost always hope if you just have the right mindset!

Wow, hope this system can b used and implemented in all the prisons. What a fantastic change that was made by these men in real time/life. To see them get to change their ways by their own decisions was an epic change for prisons. Men coming away from prison with many new abilities that will help them survive on the "outside" and ability to handle conflicts and life. They come out with skills and some pride in themselves. What a fantastic idea, this comes from a mom of an offender who would have loved to see him come home with a skill and a decent personality, and the ability to make good decisions and get along with people.

Congratulations to Arkansas facility and hope they can get started to implement this system.

Would have appreciated more background on the characters we are following through 8 full episodes. Multiple characters are shown in all 8 but never named, never explained. We follow them throughout the entire series with no information on their crimes, their time spent incarcerated already, their time left to serve.

Interesting idea but lacking the details. The personal details. The information needed to keep you invested in the people, the point of the series. Much left to be desired at the end as well as far as outcome. Seems a bit scripted in many scenes, definitely dramatized.

Better jail documentaries out there.

Unlocked: A Jail Experiment is a mini series that follows the inmates of a cell block in Little Rock Arkansas as they navigate and negotiate life in jail environment, but without guards and without locks on their cell doors. At face value, this sounds like an impossible concept to film given the immense risks involved with allotting such freedom to some of societies most unruly men, but here it is for your curiosity to consume. I was at first turned off by the overly dramatized style of the documentary, but the high stakes of the experiment and the personalities of the inmates drew me in. I found the episodes to be raw and emotional, making the human spirit the main character. I've never seen any show quite like this one simply for the natural unfolding of almost Shakespearean drama. The pain and shame of the individuals involved sets a silent overtone despite their overly masculine facades. The American prison system can truly be cruel and dehumanizing and it is only in its context that these men could possibly have taken this experiment as seriously as they did, desperate to maintain their suddenly acquired freedom. The line that will stick with me, in response to the added privilege of free phone calls for all inmates, was "this is paradise". This series can be truly heart wrenching, and it will show a side of humanity that we all can relate to, in the least likely of places.