Survive Prison — Ask the Inmate
Surviving prison, mentally, physically, and with your record intact, requires a set of skills and strategies that nobody teaches you before you go in. The adjustment is enormous, and how you handle the first days and weeks sets the tone for everything that follows. This section covers the practical realities of daily life inside a correctional facility, how to navigate the social environment without becoming a target or a participant in activities that will extend your sentence, how to protect your mental health during a long sentence, what the research shows about maintaining family connections and why they matter for survival, how to use the time productively rather than letting it use you, and what the people who come out strongest have in common. The guidance here comes from someone who served 66 months in the federal system and built a business around helping the people left behind. Do the time. Do not let the time do you. See also our sections on Prison Violence, Prison Discipline, and Re-entry and Rehabilitation.
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Yes to both
Read morePrisons are for long term detention. There are also many different prison types that serve different purposes. Prisoners are placed in a specific type of prison based on the security risk they pose. Your inmate's profile determines where the BOP designates his custody level. Normally, inmates are segregated in a way that assigns them based on the nature of their crimes, and for safety reasons. High security institutions, also known as United States Penitentiaries (USP), have highly secured
Read morePrison days are like "Groundhog Day". You wake up each day to the same monotonous morning, afternoon and nightly routine. It's hard to get used to. Once you finally get used to it you become institutionalized, which is not a good thing to fall in to. The goal is to get into some routine other than what is the minimum so that you can grow as a person. This is the hardest thing for inmates to establish. Inmates that can
Read moreWe are not able to give you an accurate answer without having some idea of where he is and how much time did he get? There are some state facilities that do not have air conditioning. The lack of soap or menu limited to potatoes sounds pretty minimal, and not within the norm - that is for sure. We would like to think that there is a bit of exaggeration to his complaints, if they are genuine, this is a
Read moreNO, none of those electronic devices are allowed inside.
Read moreAt least seven states including Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas now permit the sale of e-cigarettes in jails. E-cigs have quickly become one of the most sought-after items in jail commissaries. Since real cigarettes are banned in state and federal prisons, unregulated e-cigarettes are becoming a likely replacement.
Read moreFREEDOM! But until then, money on their books, lots of mail and plenty to read...
Read moreNo, smoking has been banned in all state and federal facilities. BUT, inmates still are able to obtain cigarettes through smuggling sources. They sell for an expensive "2 tunas" each and are surprisingly easy to get as long as you have a locker full of tuna. The other surprising thing is that most correctional officers are not diligent in punishing inmates for smoking and as long as the inmates keep it out of their sight, they are not cracking down
Read moreMaximum security federal inmates and most State prison inmates may buy TVs from the commissary for about $150. Inmates watch regular network TV shows, the news and are connected to educational and religious programming, too - no cable though. General population TV does have basic cable, no premium channels.
Read moreIt is generally something that is frowned upon. Inmates should not talk about their crime, especially if the crime is a societal taboo that would make the offender a target for prison justice. Inmates will start with, "How much time do you have?" ...which is usually followed by..."what happened?" Inmates can ALWAYS find out why a person is incarcerated. Inmates are smart. As in inmate, a person has nothing but time to think and gather information. I remember all
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