by T.A. Feldwebel
A good way of setting a mood in a prison scene is strip searches of a prisoner upon arrival. This is a standard procedure upon the admission of a prisoner to a military stockade but can be modified slightly to enhance the effect in a scene.
When bringing your prisoner to the place of confinement, an area should be set aside for his processing and examination. This should be relatively bare and utilitarian, and should contain a flat table. The prisoner is released from any restraints, directed to empty his pockets onto the table and to remove all clothing or other objects worn on his person and place them on the table. Each item should be searched for concealed materials.
When the search of each item is completed, it should be sorted into items which the prisoner is permitted to retain (which should be kept as limited as possible – usually only the barest items of clothing) and those that will be kept in the control of the captor.
Examine the clothing with care, particularly seams and other areas containing folds or more than one thickness of material. During the search , the prisoner should be required to stand in a rigid, constrained position.
Variations include being spreadeagled facing the wall with hands, toes and nose touching the wall. Foot, hand and nose positions can be taped or painted on the wall for this exercise. He can also be required to stand in mid-floor on painted or taped footprints or lines with his hands clasped behind the back of his head.
Any movement in these or any other positions should be countered by physical or verbal abuse from a guard. This is also an excellent occasion for abusive comments concerning the naked prisoner’s appearance, such as his endowment – or the lack thereof.
Having examined all personal effects, you then move to the prisoner himself. Military regulation requires the examination of all areas of the body, particularly the scalp, underarms, pubic and crotch areas, and body openings such as ears, nose, and mouth during strip searches. By regulation, strip searches do not include body cavities such as the ass. If one suspects something hidden up the ass, a doctor is supposed to be summoned to carry out this part of the operation. In a scene, there seems to be no reason to deprive both parties of this little pleasure. A nice touch, if you and your prisoner are into degradation, is to search the ass then search the mouth carefully with the same probing fingers.
During a normal processing, prisoners are showered, making sure all hairy areas are washed to eliminate narcotics, which are sometimes hidden in powdered form in the hair. This can be modified to a hosing down. This is also a good occasion to shave your prisoner, or any part of him that you see fit.
After he has been searched in his intimate parts, washed or hosed, and shaved, he can be placed in whatever clothing he is to be allowed to wear. If this should be his own clothes, they should be minimal. For a realistic scene, khaki uniform pants and shirt, or work clothing from SEARS or some other outlet is preferable.
While such practices are no longer permitted, the captor might want to emulate the practice of the Navy in the early 20th Century and keep his prisoner ironed. In those days, leg irons were basic. Prisoners who were to be punished were placed in what were referred to as ‘double irons’. This meant he was kept handcuffed and leg ironed at all times, including when he was locked up in a cell.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Harold Cox, aka T.A. Feldwebel specialises in interrogation scenes and has given many demonstrations and written numerous articles on this topic (notably for DungeonMaster magazine). For many years, Dr. Cox taught both interrogation methods and search and control techniques to the military. He has edited SM magazines for all sexes and sexualities, including Checkmate and DungeonMaster, and his writings on the subject are frequently published in BDSM literature. Dr. Cox is currently the university archivist at Wilkes University.
This piece first appeared in S/M Perspectives (Vol 2, Issue 3), independently published in Vancouver by Rainfall Press in 2004.