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States such as New Jersey, Arizona, North Carolina, Alabama, Wisconsin, Kansas, Alaska, and Texas have begun to pass No Frills state laws that prohibit weightlifting and many recreational sport programs including basketball; luckily for the inmates' hopes of rehabilitation, no federal legislation has been passed through Congress, but proposals continue to be submitted to ban these "leisure" activities. Weightlifting has provided a healthy environment for inmates to release pent up aggression and frustration, same as other sports that are played. Exercise and recreation include beneficial qualities such as development of stress relievers, self-esteem boosts, identifying person needs and new ways of addressing them, and also a development of new interests and hobbies (Robertson, 2000). It has been proven by researchers that regular physical activity reduces psychosocial stress and rates of depression, and physical activity can even help treat individuals who are struggling with substance abuse (Williams, Walker, & Strean, 2005).
When states passed legislation to remove weightlifting equipment and ban recreational activities, the prisons have become more dangerous because inmates were angrier, more aggressive, and inmates even began rioting against correction officers in Alabama prisons. Correction officers in a Kansas prison do not support the No Frills state laws because they believe recreational activities kept the inmates preoccupied, but when recreational activities and televisions were banned, the inmates began causing more trouble than before. Many correction officers felt safer when the inmates were preoccupied with recreational activities, and they found weightlifting, sports, and recreational activities were positive incentives because inmates had to practice good behavior to participate in the activities. Now that some states are banning these activities, inmates no longer have any incentives to look forward to, so instead they have begun fighting one another along with the correction officers, making the guards' jobs even more dangerous than before (Schmalleger & Ortiz Smkla, 2008).