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.

@SeperatedSwans I did a degree in Addiction Studies and part of a module was working with sex offenders. I knew that I could not work with a cohort such as with unconditional positive regard as I’m not experienced enough and do not believe they can be rehabilitated without serious time money and expertise following from America where their rehabilitation programme is much more intense. I was an anomaly amongst my peers most students believed they could I fear they were deluded.

I don't see how they can be rehabilitated. It's like saying hetero or homo sexual people can be rehabilitated into fancying the other.

The only answer is voluntary chemical castration, then surgical if they won't comply/offend again. Zero tolerance. Or put them all on an island together, with no internet, anyone remember that Ray Liotta film 'The Colony'? Leave them to get on with it. Actually, two islands, one for women and one for men. No risk of them having their own children then.

Some sex offenders can be rehabilitated. Some absolutely can't. There are many different reasons why people commit sex offences, so many different paths forward.

I think it depends on the sexual offence

A man jailed for raping his wife/partner having been bought up to believe a man has a right to sex with their wife/partner - absolutely no excuse but I do believe they can change if they want to and open to learning how to respect women as equals

A young person who has been through foster care and homes and has been sexually abused by older children and they then becomes the abuser - yes I believe they can change will take a lot of time and therapy and support

Someone that spends time grooming a family to gain trust that allows them to get close to children - no I don’t believe they can change as I don’t believe they want to the grooming is all part of their enjoyment. Sadly they are likely to have been that child abused in similar circumstances

One thing that has occurred to me about our "internment" is that even though we hope it will be quite short compared to many prison sentences, we don't know when the end will be. In a way, that makes it much harder to handle emotionally, which makes it difficult to plan. I have heard that for many prisoners, having a definite end to their sentence helps them get through it. Of course, this isn't always the case in prison, but it is for many.

I once visited one of the old Victorian prisons and was shocked at how barbaric it was. The punishment is supposed to be loss of liberty, not being subjected to poor conditions. There is an internet blog called Prison Bag written by a prisoner's wife that makes for interesting reading, especially the earlier posts.

I know someone who did 4.5 of his 5 years, spanning across the time the reforms came in. Said it changed overnight and 3 of the prison staff were suddenly joining them in cells because of the level of their attacks on inmates. He went in at 17 on joint enterprise, with a weed habit and petty crime; came out a serious drug addict and involved in serious organised crime. So that worked well.

He quite liked it in an odd way. After the reforms anyway; said it was barbaric before and doesn't like to talk about it. He had many broken bones from prison staff though. His main view was that the incentives for good behaviour were a punishment in themselves. Once you have something, it can be taken away, easier when there's no privileges to begin with, so it doesn't matter what you do. He was always quite keen on a fight though, which I imagine makes it easier.