I was in prison in my early twenties, AMA

[Lexibletheflexible]

I was in prison about 18 years ago, between the ages of 19-22. I now volunteer with charities supporting female prisoners. AMA

Yeah. Party drugs mainly.

do you manage to find work after this?

No. They dropped charges against her pretty early on.

Not "wrongly". It was true that I was the tenant of the house the gun was found in and they made that clear at the time that would make you liable for possession of said firearm. So it wasn't "wrongly". I just would have never had that guy so comfortable in my home, even if i was sleeping with him.

Brilliant thread! Do you think that prison works as a deterrent? Is it good at rehabilitating offenders and turning them into law-abiding citizens?

Do you think prison sentences are generally the right length?

Yeah. I did get a job pretty much as soon as I got out for probation purposes but switched to something self employed ASAP.

No.

No

What do you think of how people are treated in prisons? Well? Badly? What are the staff like?

I dont think the CPS cared if I knew or not. It was my flat and they either felt that both of us (the women) were protecting the guy or that I was and she was innocent.

How did your family react when you were sent to prison?

how would you make prison a more effective deterrent and better at rehabilitation?

So are sentences too long or short? By how much?

Badly.

Prisons staffing is toxic overall. So even the "good" ones end up participating in toxic practices. Sort of like how heathcare staff become jaded over time and before you know it, they are writing off women's pain too.

Both. The whole system needs an overhaul. A lot of people should not be in prison but need some sort of enforced but therapeutic social rehabilitation to make up for the horrors and deprivation that occurred in their childhood. More hospital than gaol.

Yeah, fine.

what do you think about how prison is portrayed for TV

ie
Waiting for the Out - based on a true story

Time - Jimmy McGovern

Are you really saying you got put in prison for illegally subletting….???

so probation office help you find a job
but after that was it difficult, is this why you are self employed?

There are some good educational opportunities. Some people do find their calling in jail.

I don't know if it was difficult to find other jobs, I just didnt want to have to work hours I don't choose myself. I suspect at that time, it wouldn't be as difficult as it is now.

No, because I was the tenant of a home where a gun was found after a planned police raid for drugs and guns.

I liked waiting for the out. (That's the philosophy one, right?)

I don't know the other.

I liked OITNB but that is very American, of course.

But you weren’t living there…. So …. Seems odd

What was your childhood like? Did that have anything to do with why you got involved in criminality?