I’ve only ever known one person that was incarcerated. He regaled me with stories of horrible conditions and abusive guards–he made it sound like a “Midnight Express” kind of Turkish prison. (Am I thinking of the right movie? Nevermind.) But 95% of the time, this guy was full of s*** so I can’t take his word for it.
The prison (minumum security) that was near my hometown had a farm attatched, where the prisoners did the farming, and grew all their own veggies and stuff. I think that was a great idea. I heard that getting farm duty was considered a privelege (sp?) by the guys in there…they got outside in the fresh air and sunshine, with the therapeutic/relaxing benefits of gardening.
But the conditions and treatment inside the facility? I have no idea.
Can any Dopers help me out on this one? I’m curious!
I can’t tell you from first hand experience but here is what I have heard from others.
A) Being locked in a large cell with 16 other men for 22 hours a day. With nothing to do but fight them off. All of them smoke and you don’t! But when moved to federal lockup things were a bit better.
B) A woman friend was locked up for Driving Drunk and had to fight off the male guards all the time. The food was so nasty rotten she almost starved to death.
C) My Mother worked in the city jail that was so overcrowded that men slept on the cement floor with too few blankets. There were not enough guards to watch them all and rape was common as well as other assaults. The sick (and there were many) got worse. The majority of these men were in jail because they were too poor to post bail awaiting trail. They had not been found guilty of anything!
There may be some places where the prisoners bask in the sunshine but don’t count on it!
Much depends on where and what level of security. Some generalities are, however:
Lack of privacy. Complete and utter. Everything you have can be (and is) searched, sometimes frequently. Your mail can be read, your phone calls can be tapped, some one can watch you in the bathroom (required if they’re doing a urine test), and you are also subject to strip search etc. That’s just the level of attention possible from the guards. The other inmates have lots more time on their hands.
Mind numbing never ending boredom of same stuff every single day. In some settings the amount of time you spend out of doors is very limited, so fresh air is something you don’t often get. No choices - the lights go on - you get up. you’re assigned to a cell, a lunch time, this is what you’ll have for lunch, this is the kind of shampoo you’ll be allowed to use, detergent etc. Comparison shopping? ha.
People know absolutely everything about you, since you’re surrounded by others just as bored as you, gossip is a primary method of communication.
Violence does happen. I had one guy tell me that running footsteps coming from behind=you’re about to get stabbed.
You’re surrounded by folks mostly of the same sex, roughly the same age group. No kids in general, no older people, no dogs, cats etc (sometimes there’s the drug sniffing dogs but that’s different). You don’t realize how odd this is until you’re back home, and realize you feel uncomfortable around pets, etc.
Lack of contact with family/loved ones. You can get mail (read by others), visits (limited time, expensive trips for them, no privacy), phone calls (limited time, VERY expensive, can be monitored). You miss out on milestones - birthdays, weddings, funerals etc.
Again these are generalities. I may come up with more later.
did a 2mo stretch -in jail- when i was 20. for several minor offenses(minor consuming alcohol). life stands still inside.you dont feel so much human as you do cattle. your told what to do and when to do it everyday. when to eat,go to bed etc.i cant tell you what its like about prison though. i can tell you what i have heard from someone who has been there .i was TOLD that prison is actually LESS violent-as far as the frequency in which violence happens.(but not the degree if that makes sense) a co-worker was telling me if you wind up in prison as opposed to jail. your there for the longhaul. and when he first got in prison. a group of inmates told him that most are there for the longhaul and dont like trouble(so dont make any). because if a something happened they usually had something taken away (like tv) in that section of the prison.he went on to say when voilence did happen in prison more often it was lethal or very serious. i know first hand fights happen alot in jail.and werent so serious. but as for what prison is really like. sorry cant really tell you. just hope you never find out first hand. jail for me was bad enough. never went back (31 now)…
