How have you learnt about what life is like for people in prison?

I visited Alcatraz once, but no one is there anymore, and I saw the movie the hurricane, based on the boxer...something Hurricane Carter.

different sources...... talking to people i know who have worked in prisons, films, books, newspapers.

Most of these... Also, I have flashed prisoners from the street

A friend of mine is a lifer....serving time for a crime I believe he did not commit.

I write to Hare Krishnas in prison.

Does he have any Hare Krishna books?

uh...nope
He's Native American and follows their spiritual beliefs and traditions.

My friend was in prison for his birthday. The cops thought he was someone they were looking for and stopped him while he was walking down the street. They were a little shocked to find about 8 knives and a throwing star on him. Luckily he had a Hare Krishna book on him too...

My friend was friends with a guy who was accused by a 9 year old boy of molesting him in the bathroom of a retail store. My friend was positive her friend was innocent and visited him often. I believed he was guilty, because of things my friend knew about his past that she didn't tell anyone except me. He told her guards were beating him and putting him in situations where he would be abused. (apparently child molesters aren't too popular in jail)..

My natural father served a long-term prison sentance. I've also seen fictitious tv shows involving someone spending time in prison.

What did he do?

I would prefer not to say.

Ok.

OIC!

My father was also in prison. In England, he was a theif when he was young and served a short term for car theft. He ran with a gang of baddies and was into various criminal activities, he also had a wicked drug habit. He was terribly handsome and actually viewed as sort of a hero in his peer group. They were teddy boys with the slicked back hair and women falling all over themselves to date them. He cleaned up his act after his jail term and went to work on the Wall of Death in Southend's Kuursal, where he rode an old Indian motorcycle up and around a wooden wall track with a gurlie on his shoulders. Brian La Brav! He wore his prison term as a badge of honor. He felt it made him seem more dangerous and exciting.

I own the book You Are Going to Prison by Jim Hogshire. I bought it out of curiosity, but now I really want to go (just kidding).
Also, I visited Alcatraz a few months ago and enjoyed it (the walk along audio program was great). Also, I used to watch "OZ", the series on HBO set in a prison. There's a women's prison in the town I live in. I've never been inside though. It looks like a mall on the outside (except for the barbed-wire... though perhaps all malls should have barbed-wire too, I don't know).

A prison for women that looks like a mall? Seems more like heaven.

Prison can be vastly different for different prisoners. Some are cushy, have cable TV, game rooms, and the prisoners don't even have to clean up after themselves. Other prisons are tough, sweaty hard labor under a hot sun for more than 12 hours every day. Some prisoners get solitary confinement for years, with no work, but no cushy perks either.

malls are prisons


think about it

Haha mandy, I guess they are, for some people

My brother was in prison. I have also visited a prison once to sing and spend time with some of the prisoners. It was one of those mixed sad and joyful days.

Learned a bit about inmate society in an anthro course.

I think it's easier to get drugs inside than outside, if you're small you become someones 'dog'. It's a bad idea to drop the soap. You have to lift your balls up and spread your ass to show you aren't trying to bring contraband in, unless you're a women, then you have to lift your bewbs and walk around like a duck. Each cell has a TV and air con. I know this from people who have had family members inside.

Perhaps, but how do you know what it's like for different prisoners?

I don't know exactly what it's like, but I have known people who were in prison, and I've seen documentaries.

http://www.spr.org is a interesting site to visit on this subject

I did that. That's where you lsten to the tape in the walkmen, and it tells you where to go, right? I thought it was very enlightening. The cells scared me. They were so small and dark, and I am claustrophobic. It was a really great experience, and even though the people were bad, it made me feel sorry for them. The only problem was that I got lost! lol

Other: I listened to "This American Life" on NPR this past Sunday. It was excellent. And harrowing.