I just watched the Shawshank Redemption last night for the umpteenth time, and a question popped into my head (TV can actually make you think from time to time?!).
Are real jail/prison inmates really as chill, and maybe even friendly, as they were in the movie? The majority of the prisoner characters, while exhibiting tough outer shells, generally seemed like big softies on the inside – the “Sisters” (a happy gang of buttrapists) being the exception, perhaps.
Sure, they’re trapped in an environment – “institutionalized”, as Red describes it – where they’re powerless and forced to be meek, but I would imagine that the inmate population self-selects for traits like aggression, anti-social behavior, etc… wouldn’t this manifest itself in more, well, unsociable behavior overall?
The lunch scene with the old librarian and his bird, for example, caused me to wonder if it wouldn’t have been crushed and stuffed into his mouth (or worse) in real life. Likewise with the scene on the roof where they all sat around sharing beers.
They’re people, individuals, just like anyone else. Some are violent sociopaths, some are just average joes who want to do their time and get the fuck out. I’ve known a number of ex-cons (including a close relative); unless they actually told you about it, you’d never guess it just by looking at 'em.
Movies and television make it seem that all convicts are mad dog, hyper-badass toughguys of the first order; but for every one dangerous, shank-wielding, crazed maniac there are three small time thieves and two misfits.
It also depends on where they are doing time. Some prisons are just tougher than others. Pelican Bay comes to mind, a very rough and dangerous prison. A prison here in Delaware, Sussex Correctional Institute (SCI) is pretty laid back but Gander Hill (in New Castle County) is much tougher. SCI is located in the southern part of the State, which is know locally as Lower Slower Delaware and is much more rural compared to Gander Hill, which is located in Wilmington (urban, city life).
Not that I have any personal experience but criminals are people too. Some are quite engaging and some even post occasionally on message boards! After they have been reformed of course. The point though is that they are going to vary quite a bit…and it’s going to depend a lot about what they are in for and also what race or other sub-group you are part of and what any given criminal is who you are trying to interact with. There are some other things, but those are the ones that are key.
BTW, in the movie it was set at a different time in the US, before (I think) prisons became so internally segregated. There was probably still a caste system of sorts, but it was nothing like it is today.
I have an adjunct question. What is sex like in prison?
Popular culture would have us believe that it’s brutal, controlling, and always some form of rape. But surely there must be some consentual sex going on. I would bet that on at least one occasion, someone said “Hey Ned, those are some mighty fine prison-issue shoes you’re wearing. Can I buy you a prison bitch*?”
*1.0 oz. Amaretto
2.0 oz. Cranberry juice
2.0 oz. Orange juice
1.0 oz. Triple sec
1.0 oz. OVAL Vodka
I’ve asked this question in the “ask the prisoner/guard” threads and the answer seemed to be that there are enough people who’ll willingly give it up to not need to forcibly rape people (I think there’s even a term for it). I don’t know if this is true though.