What’s it like in prison?

[Redhairgreeneyes]

I know lockdown is nothing like prison, but it has made me curious.

How long do prisoners typically spend in cells? What do they do in them? Do they have to share, or do they have their own space?

When they leave their cells, what for? Gym, work, church, food?

Just curious. No plans to go to jail.

I’ve been watching the prison documentary series ‘Orange is the New Black’. It’s quite an eye-opener.

That’s America though, isn’t it?

It's grim, I did my NHS job in a prison for some years, men's prison.
They spend a lot of time shouting. The volume is off the scale.

prison documentary series

😁😁😁

You mean the prisoners spend most of their time shouting?

There are a lot of elderly men in there who need round the clock care, some single, some double cells, all very small. Stuck inside for hours on end, like the lockdown only in a small bedroom.
It's either boiling hot or freezing, sometimes they are locked in 11 hours a day.
A lot of them lose their shit because they can't cope and just start screaming.
They have "work", food breaks, they can come down for medical appointments but it's dull. They do the things anyone else would, read, watch tv, talk to the others, some of them have hobbies and sometimes they turn on each other.
I think the riots are mostly from boredom.
Anyone who says prisoners live in luxury with everything provided for them is a fucking idiot, daily mail reader. They don't.
As they are usually a complete mental mess and usually a physical mess too from years of drugs or deprivation they are not able to entertain themselves very well and have little concentration. They either give up or start being hyper and aggressive.

Prison is still on 4od I think OP - it's a pretty good representation of female prisons.

I very rarely go into prisons these days, but the one I do go to is very pro mental health and keen to get everyone out of their cells and doing some sort of work or activity or working with pre release closer towards the end of their sentence.

It varies. In cell: watch TV, read, read/write letters, colouring in, homework for educational, rehabilitation groups or therapy. Some prisons allow well behaved prisoners to buy in games consoles, but they can't be ones that connect to the internet.
Unless there are health issues, prisoners where I work are generally expected to work , study or go to rehab groups full time. Those that do these types of activities are typically paid £9 to £11 per week. Jobs include cleaning, catering, making garden furniture, training in trades.
There are opportunities to go to religious services, library, visits, exercise and a small amount of "rec" - mixing with other prisoners, playing pool etc for 30 mins a couple of times per week.
Some prisoners have their own cell, usually related to risk or mental health or sentence length when there us capacity. Otherwise they share, bunks in a room approx 8ft by 6ft.
All this is normally, obviously things are highly restricted right now.

Aprently, there's an EU rule that prisoners can't eat in their rooms because they have loos in their rooms and so the UK pays a fine every year to the EU for it because the fine is cheaper than actually changing the system.

I’m told it’s usual to be left a tray at dinner which also has breakfast food and they eat in their cells.

Yes and this with bells on: "Anyone who says prisoners live in luxury with everything provided for them is a fucking idiot, daily mail reader. They don't."

When a prisoner comes into prison they go on something called standard level . If they behave, go into some form of education , work etc they may go on enhanced which gives them extra privileges . If you are a trouble makeshift in prison you go on basic, where you will not have association ( time out of cell to interact with other inmates )
You are allowed a certain amount of money ( held by the prison ) to buy items. This could be because your family has sent it in or you have earned it by working or attending education. It's not a great deal . You can buy things like paper, stamps, some toiletries ( as those supplied are rubbish ) some food i.e. chocolate , tuna ( for extra protein ) This is known as canteen.
In my prison they eat all meals in their own cells. They collect from a hatch / line which is called servery by fellow prisoners.
They wear ( again in my one ) blue t shirts and grey joggers. This is supplied by the prison as well as pants and socks. You do not keep the same ones. Each wing has its weekly laundry day where it is collected and clean given out.So you are wearing pants etc that anyone would of work the week before.
At the moment because of the virus there is no education or library because these are not run by uniformed staff, there is also no association. Any other questions ?

And no visits from family.

According to the person I happen to know who's been in, it's utterly shit. Really shit. They've said they never thought it would be as grim and soul destroying as it was because of all the 'luxury in prison' bollocks.

I've been thinking a lot about this recently as I used to work for a charity within a men's prison... I left a couple of years ago.

A lot of new prisoners struggle, but it's amazing how adaptable people are and it becomes a new normal for them.

With staff shortgaes the men would often find themselves locked up 24/7, with no notice which always rattled things... they were used to their routine - breakfast picked up at tea the previous evening and eaten in their cell.
Released for work at 8.30 - 12.00.
Lunch break 12-2 (given about 15 mins 'free time' of socialisation and the rest locked up again)
Released for work again at 2pm - 5pm (or earlier in the Winter so they weren't in the grounds after dark)
In between they would be allowed out of work for medical appts, religious services and if lucky - the gym once or twice a week. They had to have a signed chit to allow them to be in the grounds going to and from places - you never let a prisoner through an internal gate until you had seen they were supposed to be there!

As a civilian charity I got to know a few men pretty well, we weren't seen as part of the system keeping them there, but as there to help them. Some men were only interested in scoring drugs and beating the system in any way possible, some just wanted a quiet life and kept their heads down. Most were a mixture. They made some amazing things. One guy would make the most amazing inlaid boxes from matchsticks in his cell to kill time. They could order the rescources through the shopping list they got to choose from each week - if they had the money!
Others made amazing paper-mache roses, some just read anything they could get their hands on and used the prison library all the time.

But - it was the most awful, grim, dirty, macho environment. Yes they shouted between their cells ALL day. Some had inconsiderate neighbours who played 'music' at full volume all day (and these weren't usually the kind of people you would ask to turn it down) and there was a threatening atmosphere on the wings.

Yes, I've been thinking about it a lot and compared to prison our lockdown is a doddle - and like them we can also adapt to a new temporary normal!!

Orange is the new Black is not a documentary!
There is a series where members of the public go 'undercover' to prison for 3 months. It's horrific. Can't remember the title,

I’ve been watching the prison documentary series ‘Orange is the New Black’. It’s quite an eye-opener.

'60 days in' on Netflix shows the reality of US prisons but there are obviously differences to over here, a good series to watch though all the same.

I have been into an open prison as part of my job a handful of times, I found it to have the most bizarre atmosphere.

A friend of mine was in a women's prison a few years ago. They spent all their time in their cells (one person cells) unless for work or visits. Visits once a fortnight for an hour. All meals in their cells.
They were given very basic bedding but could have nicer stuff sent in if there was anyone to do that for them.
Certain category prisoners could have a TV but you could only get 4 channels.
Everyone could have a radio but only a certain kind.
3 women committed suicide whilst she was there.
I visited every time, it was a horrible place. Anyone who says prison is like a holiday camp is talking utter bollocks.

i am close contact with scotland inmate.they are dubbed up.single cells have bunks.if "declare symptoms"are moved to isolation.hes in the under 45s(days)says they droppin like flies.is incubator.but some guy full of legal high wearing spiderman pjs took over rec hall.its madness.if wasnt full of junkies and lasyy bashers would kick off

Interesting thread, particularly for someone who has never set foot in a prison in her life.

A question for those familiar with prisons, if you don’t mind : Do you encounter many ‘white collar’ prisoners, ie middle-class professionals? How do they cope? I imagine they must have a particularly tough time, because they would be very conspicuous for their accent, vocabulary, manners etc.

I too find prison morbidly fascinating. The closest I've been to it is sitting in a cell in a custody van, when a crown court had an open day, and despite my fascination, I have no intention of entering a prison for real.

Read Jeffrey Archer's "A prison diary"; just about all your questions are answered in there. I'm no fan of Jeffrey Archer, but when I started reading that one, I couldn't put it down. It was written in about 2001, but I doubt if much has changed since then. It describes in detail the daily routines, how Britain pays a huge fine to the EU because they eat near their toilets as @Hileni says, how drugs are smuggled in, window warriors (prisoners who yell out of their cell windows), the way prisoners barter and do deals with each other, and very sadly the way that impressionable young inmates (who might only be remanded for shoplifting) are swiftly educated in the ways of crime.

Also, remember the TV series "Porridge", with Ronnie Barker? Not the modern version, but the original from the 1970s. I'm not sure how realistic it was, but from what I heard, the programme was incredibly popular in prison when it was first broadcast, so it must have had some realism. I'm not sure how realistic was the gangster "Harry Grout", a genial smartly-dressed elderly prisoner whom all the other convicts were terrified of, because he had contacts in the right places, and lived a life of luxury being waited on hand and foot by the other prisoners.

@AgeLikeWine Here's a little scene from "Porridge the Movie", which might give you some idea about white collar prisoners.

(There is a hold up in the dinner queue)
Fletcher (cheerful long-standing prisoner) It's the defrocked dentist having a go at the cuisine again.
Banyard (posh-talking prisoner, ex dentist): This food has no nutritional value, we have certain rights.
Fletcher: No we don't, we're in the nick.
Another prisoner (to Banyard): Just because you went to a public school, you think you deserve better than the rest of us?
Banyard: On the contrary, I'm used to this sort of food, I went to Harrow.
Fletcher: It's good advert for public school, it prepares you for the nick. Of course, it's harder for you, as a professional man, further to drop, you see.

AgeLikeWine you'd be surprised... they often help other prisoners with their legal stuff, drafting letters etc. Most just keep their head down. If they are in for white collar crime - fraud etc, then other prisoners have no truck with them - it's those that owe money or are in for sex offences etc who will have the hard time.
Prison can be a great leveller!! It's about how they behave inside that counts - not their accent!