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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The SHU or Special Housing Unit is the area of segregation that has no time limit. Prison rules are set by and followed only by prison personnel and no other outside forces may weigh in. Inmates are not entitled to attorney representation or other rights afforded by regular citizens. When the BOP states "they are investigating", there nothing an inmate can do. They have to deal with the rigors of the SHU. Our advice is to send him a lot
Read moreThere are no segregated penal systems anywhere in this country. The men and women are never placed together at any point of their incarceration
Read moreStaying to yourself is not about being antisocial. It is a deliberate strategy for getting through a sentence without unnecessary conflict, and it works. The concept is simple: find a routine, stick to it, keep your head down, and do not give anyone a reason to involve you in their drama. That said, doing all the right things is not a guarantee. Some people follow every unwritten rule and still end up in a bad situation through no fault
Read moreThis is a question that is not for us to answer for you. You cannot let the silence convince you of one thing or another. If you confirm it, that is one thing but to break up "thinking it is someone else" might be a mistake. There might be another explanation since the whole prison-thing is about isolation. They might have phone privileges suspended, or he might not have funds to call, or maybe he thinks you are with someone
Read moreYes, you can send money, letters, books and magazines. Private prisons are owned by a corporation and work under a contract with the agency that supplies them with inmates. They are paid by-the-inmate, for each day of incarceration. It is a controversial but effective means of incarceration. The bigger problem is that these companies spend millions lobbying Congress promoting incarceration rather than rehabilitation. It's a onflict of interest for those seeking to reduce sentences and find a better
Read moreLockdown is something imposed for the safety of the operation of the jail. There are no limits to the amount of time they can keep inmates in lockdown. There are no statutes that require inmates to have any liberties, and lockdowns occur when the inmates have done something against the rules.
Read moreCounty jail is probably the most boring of the venues to do one's time. The days begins with a wake up, lights one routine. Inmates will then be brought breakfast. After breakfast there is a clean-up period where the inmates will make their bed and mop their cells. There are a couple of inmates that clean the general area. After the morning chores are completed, there is a period of time where inmates are all in one area of the
Read moreThere is NO jail, or prison, or detention center that has "co-ed" housing. Female inmates are segregated from male inmates, always. Inmates are allowed out of their cells for most of the day in the general population of the pod they are housed in (unless there is a group punishment). Inmates are in their cells for "count time" and sleep.
Read moreIf you have not been sentenced yet, you need to discuss guidelines and points with your attorney. There is a basic graph to the lines a judge follows unless you have some aggravation points. Jared from Subway was famous and that fame cost him at least 5 extra years. Federal time is easier to do than state time - our guess is it might be ten years. Most inmates do not talk about their charges, it's almost forbidden. But,
Read morePrison life is defined by the type of prison you do your time in. Maximum security prisons have the offenders with the longest sentences for the worst crimes. Those inmates have little to lose when it comes to imposing their will on other inmates in there. It can be brutal at times and there are some really violent episodes that occur. Generally, as the custody level lowers, so does the level of brutality but this is certainly not without exceptions.
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