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.
Related InmateAid Services
Subject: Survive prison
The beginning of her bid will be the hardest, getting used to being told where to be and when. Once she gets used to her daily routine, it becomes a lot easier to deal with. All of the inmates are looking for the same thing, and trouble in a women's prison is not something that happens as much as you would see on television. If she is easy-going, she will make friends and get into her own groove. The good-time...
Read moreSubject: Survive prison
If you have not heard from your cousin in a long time, the first step is to confirm where he is currently housed. You can do that using the Bureau of Prisons inmate locator, which will show his facility if he is still in federal custody.
Once you know the facility, your options to check on his wellbeing are limited but there are a few things you can do:
Call the facility and ask for the unit team or case manager. They...
Read moreSubject: Survive prison
It is possible, but it requires consistent effort and a deliberate approach from day one.
The most important thing your friend can do is control what information about himself he puts into circulation. Inside, information travels fast and people are always working to figure out who someone is, what they did, and who they are connected to. The less your friend volunteers about his past gang affiliation, his charges, and his history, the less material there is for anyone to use...
Read moreSubject: Survive prison
Classification decisions are made by the state or federal department of corrections based on a combination of factors, and the profile you are describing creates a complicated picture.
A child pornography conviction places someone in one of the most scrutinized categories in the correctional system. Sex offenders, particularly those with offenses involving children, are often housed separately from the general population for their own safety. The general population does not treat these charges neutrally, and facilities are well aware of the...
Read moreSubject: Survive prison
This is the struggle that every inmate faces every day of incarceration. Inmate's toughest time is the first six months of being locked-up. The adjustment of being told what to do, when to do it and where to be at certain times are not easy to adjust to. One of the main reasons that InmateAid was created it to allow the people on the outside to help their loved ones on the inside. Getting into a suitable routine is the...
Read moreSubject: Survive prison
Smoking is banned in all federal correctional facilities and in the vast majority of state and county facilities across the country. The ban covers tobacco products entirely, including cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and related items. Tobacco is contraband in most prisons and inmates found with it face disciplinary consequences. This has been the standard for many years and is not likely to change.
On gang activity at Boonville specifically, Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron and the Boonville facilities in Missouri are state-operated...
Read moreSubject: Survive prison
If your family member was involved with a gang on the outside, the likelihood of that affiliation continuing inside is significant, particularly at higher security state facilities. Prison gang structures are largely extensions of street gang networks, and many of the major prison gangs have direct organizational ties to their street counterparts. Someone arriving with a known affiliation will almost certainly be recognized by people already inside who share that history.
In practice this means the expectation of continued affiliation often...
Read moreSubject: Survive prison
Federal prison is not worse than state prison, but it is prison nonetheless. The child pornography charge is not going to make his bit any easier. They send most of these type inmates to a facility in Arizona known for this. They tend to be safer among like-charges inmates. RDAP is a fantastic program if your inmate has put his substance abuse in the record with the Pre-Sentence Report prior to sentencing. This is the ONLY way to qualify. Plus,...
Read moreSubject: Survive prison
For a first-time inmate and their family, knowing something about the facility before the experience begins can provide meaningful reassurance, and Jenkins Correctional is a reasonable placement in that context.
Jenkins is managed by CoreCivic, the company formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America or CCA, which is one of the largest private prison operators in the United States. Private facilities operate under contract with state government, and that contractual relationship creates an accountability structure that tends to produce more consistent...
Read moreSubject: Survive prison
The concern behind this question is exactly the right instinct. Inmates who maintain strong outside connections during their sentence have measurably better outcomes, both while inside and after release. Staying engaged, staying present, and letting him know he has not been forgotten is not a small thing. It is one of the most powerful forces working in his favor.
Idle time is the enemy inside. Without something to occupy the mind, the hours stretch and the environment takes over. Magazine subscriptions...
Read more