Prisoner plastic surgery was free for nearly 90 years in the US until a public outcry stopped it

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Plastic Surgery News

Cosmetic Surgery,Recidivism,Prisoners

Rehabilitation and racism both played a role in the decades-long program in the US that saw half a million prisoners receive plastic surgery for free.

In 1932, American plastic surgeon John Crum wanted to demonstrate his belief that changing someone's face could, in some way, reshape their personality.

Between the 1920s and the 1990s, around half a million US prisoners underwent state-sanctioned plastic surgery, Stone says.In the early 1900s, prior to the World Wars, plastic surgery was "not very well regarded", Stone says. At some prisons, healthcare came to be seen as a rehabilitative aid and cosmetic surgery fell under that banner. Since the early 1930s, at New York's maximum security Sing Sing Prison, for example, plastic surgery was included in the medical care provided by the prison.

"The majority of prison plastic surgeries were performed by white men on white male prisoners, despite the diverse prison demographics. The Daily Tribune reported in 1961 that this "convict" had his "parrot nose ... straightened" and "receding chin built up".Soon, after securing government funding, Dr Lewin and his team were attending the prison to perform surgeries including facelifts, scar and tattoo removal and nose jobs.In the 1960s, a Rikers Island study sought to gain data about the impact of cosmetic surgery on prison inmates' lives after their release.

Nonetheless, in the mid 1990s, despite occurring in around 44 US states and a number of federal prisons, programs offering prisoners plastic surgery eventually stopped, for "a combination of reasons", Stone says.

Cosmetic Surgery Recidivism Prisoners Late Night Live Zara Stone Killer Looks Sing Sing Rikers

 

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