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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He should be able to keep the tablet since he is still DOC system.
Read moreCalhoun Correctional Institution is a medium-security prison and is not considered a "camp". The prisons in the Florida Department of Corrections are no picnic. Medium security means restricted movement and it's a state prison which is not the best place to do your time.
Read moreYes, you must relinquish your grillz, your hair extensions, toupees... anything not attached to your person must be removed before you are designated to a permanent housing location.
Read moreProbably not, inmates have a tendency to overstate their treatment to gain sympathy from the outside world in the pursuit of money being placed on their commissary. We encourage adding a little money to their books from time to time, but they need to be straight with you, too
Read morePrison sucks. Prison is reliving the same day over and over like the movie Groundhog Day. Prison is dismal and replete with boredom. You have to find a routine that can take you through the days without getting into a depressed state. The inmate motto is, "Do your time, don't let your time do you."
Read moreYes, you can, and you have some good reasoning behind wanting to do so. We encourage you to write using our Letter Service, it keeps your personal address anonymous. If he wants to write you back, he can do so to our address and we scan the mail and place it in your Account Dashboard under "Letters from Inmates".
Read moreInmates can and do get most anything smuggled in. Drugs and liquor are available inside and outside, therefore you have to stop worrying because if you cannot get him to stay sober on the outside, he will be spending a lot more time inside. The user has to want to quit, your "wanting it for them" is just complicating your life.
Read moreUsually after orientation which occurs in the first week. Soon thereafter, the inmate will have privileges like phones, commissary and visits
Read moreIt's no picnic. After about 48 hours, you could go crazy from boredom. Not worth getting in trouble.
Read moreThe depends on where they are incarcerated. In federal, the inmate adds their own numbers into the system, there really isn't a restriction. Some places require approved phone lists. IF they do where your co-defendant is, you might not be able to.
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