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 agree with madcatladyforever it really isn’t the Butlins it’s made out to be.
A friend of mine is in there now, there’s been no toilet roll for weeks, a lot of staff have gone sick so they’re locked up for 23/23.5 hours a day because there isn’t a safe staffing level to supervise, a lot of prisons are very old dilapidated buildings so hygiene is poor.
If the virus takes hold in prisons it will spread like wildfire because of the lack of hygiene/over crowding. It’s grim.

The prisoners who do get a hard time from others are the "nonces", including paedophiles, child murderers and rapists. They're usually housed separately from the other prisoners, for their own protection. Also the "grasses"; prisoners who whistleblow.

I also read a book called "the loose screw", written by an ex-officer, which described the way in which a handful of officers saw it as their duty to be as brutal with the inmates as they could get away with. He said that even on his induction visit, when they were observing what happens in prison, they were suddenly told to put their notebooks away, while several officers simultaneously pounced on a prisoner who had "looked at them wrong", before covering it up with their identical reports that the prisoner had punched them first.

Non sex offender middle class prisoners are rare. There is a massive link between poverty, deprivation childhood trauma and imprisonment. Adult prisoners are often very accepting of people of different backgrounds, younger ones can be a bit tribal.
There tends to be less unrest between sex offenders as they are already at the bottom of the pecking order, and are often on long sentences. Sex Offenders are more likely to fall out over individual disputes, rather than because someone is of a different background.
There are always exceptions to any of this.

They live in pure luxury at your expense.

No, it is hell on earth.

Watching o is the new b myself.
Not a good idea sometime on lock down ..but have enjoyed it in a grisly kind of way

Yes you do get ones that would surprise you . Mine is on the outskirts of London , a male b category.
We have had a well known sportsman, a 1990s major UK pop star , a mega 1970s boy band member , a husband of a reality star . Doctors, lawyers, priests, teachers , everyone one really.

Hopefully it's shit, especially now. After all it's shit for the rest of us and why should it be any different for criminals.

Yes, prickledgherkins, you can rest assured that prison is always shit, with high rates of mental illness, violence and suicide attempts. Now you can sleep soundly. 🙄

Good that's it's shit. Not good about violence and suicide attempts but every day life shouldn't be a bundle of laughs. As for sleeping soundly, I haven't had a good night's sleep for nearly two months.

There are suicides. My relative said it was very distressing.

Suicide is always distressing wherever it happens.

Bundle of laughs?

You will be pleased to hear, no doubt that we are well on the way to an American style of imprisonment. The cornerstone of our system was rehabilitation and we had the best probation system in the world. American prisons are about making money, which is why your average black kid who commits a minor offence will be locked up for decades.

Yay!

prickledgherkins - yes of course it is. I lost a dear aunt to suicide. But my relative in (other side of the family) prison had never witnessed it before and had to witness more than one.

@AgeLikeWine you might find this interview and book interesting - about white collar prisoners and a class system within prison:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/606730/

Prisoners are people too. Yes, they have done things that are wrong. The punishment is deprivation of liberty. There is a massive middle ground between unrelentingly shit and "bundle of laughs". It degrades all of us as a society if we don't aspire to this middle ground, instead revelling in the suffering of our fellow humans.

@VictoriaBun Re: the communal pants, how many pairs of pants are they given for the week? Are they given a pair for each day? I heard showers can be weekly, is that true?

Yes, they have done things that are wrong. The punishment is deprivation of liberty

Deprivation of liberty that we're all experiencing now to a certain extent.

I think if you look at Scandinavian prison systems it makes you realise just how inhumane and counterproductive ours are. There's a certain level of acceptance because it's a cultural norm we're raised with, but stopping to look properly it's barbaric and shameful.

The vast majority of people who pass through the prison system will be rejoining communities. How does institutionalising, degrading and traumatising those people benefit them or the communities they will live in? It doesn't.

The current restrictions we all face give massively more freedom than any prisoner could aspire to - as it should be. Dont kid yourself that there are any meaningful parallels.

Absolutely @user1353245678533567

Deprivation of liberty that we're all experiencing now to a certain extent.

I volunteered in a cat B prison for a couple of years. Trust me, your ‘deprivation of liberty’ is nothing compared with theirs. I’m no offender apologist; most people are in prison with good reason, but these people have pretty much nothing.

Also re the canteen where they can buy items, the prices are usually over inflated and they are only allowed to spend a set amount each week regardless of how much they’ve earned through work or family have sent in.

At the moment most prisons are on full lockdown, ie 23.45 hours a day, and no minimal choice of food in the canteen as there usually is, they are being brought their 3 meals on trays

Erwin James' 'A Life Inside' is interesting. He was a lifer who wrote columns for The Guardian towards the end of his sentence. The book is a compilation of his columns

most people are in prison with good reason, but these people have pretty much nothing.

Tell me the difference between a person in prison and a person out of prison who has no income, no family or friends and who is (at the moment) lives alone and is on self isolation for 12 weeks.

They can wear their own clothes.
The dont have to sleep inches away from a farting, wanking, mentally unstable stranger.
They dont have someone watching on CCTV if they need to scratch their arse.
They have privacy to wash, toilet and phone friends.
They can run or walk more than 3 paces at any time.
They can choose what to eat from the things they have.
They are unlikely to be assaulted at random.
They are unlikely to have their property stolen.
They can choose when to go to bed and when to get up.
When they go to bed, their sleep will not be assailed by a cacophony of shouts, screams and threats.
Shall I go on..... ?