Have you ever been to prison?

[AhhhhThatsBass]

As an inmate, that is. Just that really. I was inspired by another threat I’ve been reading this evening.
What was it like, was it hell or was it bearable? I once watched a programme about a women’s prison and I remember thinking that it didn’t seem that bad, there was a good deal of support and camaraderie there but maybe I’m being completely naive.

(Nosy Me would love to know what you did but that might be a step too far)

My DP has been in Polish jail (we are English). I visited him in several polish jails and UK ones as he was extradited to Poland to face trial for a historic charge. Polish jails are really harsh conditions. I've been to Wandsworth men's which was a breeze by comparison.

TrickyD can we DM? The issue I have is that my name is known, so I can't really pretend.

My best friends DM is a prison officer who has worked in male and female prisons. She told me that the women’s prisons are worse than the men’s.

@MrsMaxwell do you mean Military prison? DP and BIL have both been in there (DP for AWOL after his Dad died, and BIL for assault after returning from Iraq when a sergeant joked about his friends being killed) and it’s honestly not that bad. Especially if he’s soldiering on and not getting out of the army after.

Don’t worry

I haven't, but a close friend has. She was very young and naive at the time and was forced to do things by her then boyfriend that resulted in a one year sentence for her.

She said it was fine but boring. She kept her head down, took all the training that we on offer and now has a brilliant career and owns her own home.

Mulberry I have heard women's prisons are harder as most women there have very sad stories and there is a lot of self harm.n Watched a documentary about a women's prison a few years ago, and the impression that came across was one of despair.

I have just been to prison today as part of my job. I go every week and its a real eye opener. Last week while i was sat waiting for my offender i was pondering writing a book about it. I do find it madly interesting and i love talking to the inmates and finding out about them and their lives. If you forget about the offences they have committed some of them are really nice blokes. I am in Australia so it might be different here. I work in a regional prison so its more laid back than the city but its a part of my job i absolutely love.

99 balloons, could you not just offer to visit a variety of inmates? There are plenty of highly intelligent and articulate prisoners in class A prisons who would probably welcome a visit to tell someone what their life is really like. Are you worried they'd exaggerate?

I've been in a YOI as part of my previous job. Cushy is not a word I would use for it. If my sons ever ended up there I would worry myself to death.

Also - very embarrassingly - the day I gave birth to DS2, a court bailiff showed up at my house with a warrant for my arrest! Long story short, the DVLA had fucked up and sent a penalty notice to my old address despite having my correct details. So I didn't pay it, got taken to court and fined, obviously didn't pay that either as the summons and notice of fine went to the wrong address... A year later a burly bloke arrives after they track me down. He thought it was rather amusing that I couldn't attend court due to being in theatre having a c-section, made a phone call and advised my FIL he'd get a new court date sent out instead (FIL answered the door and was a bit shocked to say the least ).

I got a court summons for six weeks later. Arrived and the usher told me I had to see the Duty Solicitor as it was an imprisonable offense - given I'd had to bring my six week old baby along, was a single parent and had no clue what had transpired I was absolutely crapping myself! It was all easily sorted (after waiting from 9am - 16.45pm with a newborn to be seen) but that was one of the scariest days ever. I couldn't imagine how I was going to tell my family they had to collect my breastfed tiny baby because I (a professional, middle aged woman with no criminal history ever) was being jailed!!! I did get an apology from the DVLA eventually but I was very upset by the whole thing.

I work as an interpreter in men's and women's prison. The men's prisons I've visited (mainly London) are depressing, angry and oppressive but YOI are the worst. I once had to translate for a young man and convey how many years his sentence was likely to be. It was a lot, and it was his 18th birthday.

My brother's foster daughter got a prison sentence for shoplifting (not her first offence by a long shot) and found out she was pregnant just before she went in. We were devastated.

I've been in lots of prisons as a professional.

It's certainly not a bed of roses all the time, but in some cases, the inmates might think 'it's not so bad really' especially if on the outside they have issues with debt, lack of money, homelessness etc. At least in prison you get a bed, medical attention and adequate food.

But there will be fights, bullying, intimidation etc. And like every other public service, resources are massively stretched, so that care and rehabilitation isn't what it should be.

In women's prisons especially, the inmates really suffer due to being separated from their DCs and worrying about if they are being looked after properly on the outside. There is a problem with self harming and suicide.

Both Vicky Pryce and Jeffrey Archer's books are an interesting insight into life in prison and the sorts of people who are in there and the crimes they have committed, which can be everything from hardened repeat criminals and truely evil people to otherwise good citizens who made a mistake, got tricked into crime by other people, or got caught doing things that many of us will have done without thinking too much about it.

For example, years ago an old boyfriend asked me to pick him up and give him a lift somewhere. When I picked him up, his mate, who I vaguely knew, was with him and they put some stuff in the boot of my car. We drove to another mates and some of the stuff was removed but some of it stayed there for a day or two, before boyfriend removed it and left it in his flat. What I didn't know was that stuff had been stolen, so obviously if I had been caught with it, I had been handling stolen goods, and that is the sort of crime that is mentioned in Vicky Pryce's book.

Also things that happen when people get a bit drunk and silly on a night out. You only need someone to accidentally get hurt or make a complaint and people are looking at a jail sentence.

@TrickyD how come Jessica Berens was able to write "Short Sentence: Three years in a Dartmoor Prison" do you think?

www.goodreads.com/book/show/33164726-short-sentence

It's a great book incidentally!

Some people even miss the routine of it and don't know how to readjust so purposely go back to prison. I've known some myself to do that.

I have worked with female offenders and for some life 'inside' is a haven. Their time is structured, they have 3 meals per day, no men knocking them around and they have the chance to get qualifications. Many of them struggle upon release and they just go back to their previous chaotic lifestyles and then get another sentence.

99 contact www.unlock.org.uk/. They will hopefully be able to help you.

My 2 year old DD's father has been in prison since she was 4 weeks old. I take her up to see him weekly.

I have visited 3 seperate prisons and the worst without a doubt was Exeter, which is a holding prison before inmates get assigned to where they are going. When he was in Dartmoor, he totally changed. He started weight training constantly, was totally withdrawn etc. He has since admitted he tried to end his life whilst there. There was multiple stabbings, murders, bullying, violence etc. He said he wouldnt wish it on his own worst enemy.

He is now in a D Cat which is 100 times better, particuarly for visiting children. Prison is not somewhere anyone would want to end up. Visiting is bad enough, sniffer dogs, pat downs, strict rules, prison gaurds barking orders at you, no toucjing and hands on table in Exeter. I am as even threatened with a strip search once as the sniffer dog took an interest to my fake tan! Terrifying!

99balloons - get in touch with UserVoice and they can likely assist. One possibility is for them to offer access to a released lifer if they can't assist with a current inmate

@mrsmaxwell

Colchester only has a military prison.
I've driven past it many times, there is a huge outside area which you can see. It looks ok from the outside.
Please try not to worry too much.

My nephew did five years in prison at the age of nineteen, and it damaged him for life. And a good friend of ours did two years in prison for fraud, he never talks about it, but from what his wife told me it was hellish at times. I get cross when people trot out "Ooh, they're like holiday camps....."

I've worked in 7 prisons including young offenders, women's, open prison, and with lifers.

The open prison was by far the nicest, unsurprisingly. Women's prison after that but still, not a pleasant experience for most. Very high occurrence of self harm.

There would be as much confidentiality and ethical issues relating to investigating people's lives in prison as would be if you would be conducting scientific research in there. So in fairness to you are trying to do it the right way.
Have you thought of the ex-offenders groups, or half way houses? However, there are issues about stuff going on in prisons that shouldn't be, so people will be reluctant to talk. The stuff the prison officers turn a blind eye to because at some level you need to give the inmates a little bit of control over some stuff in order to keep the emotions down.
Like the mobile phones and drink and drugs for example. So no inmate or ex inmate or staff member or even teaching staff are going to want to talk about that. You could try putting an ad somewhere and offering to pay people to talk anonymously to you on the phone or something.

Never - I don't know anyone who has ever been to prison as either an inmate or a visitor.

Visiting my close friend. She was in for four years. She wasnt badly treated or anything but it has had a massive impact on her psychologically. I remember when she first got out she was an absolute mess. She was scared of being out in the dark because she was so unused to it.

I think people forget that even if you have resonable food, a comfy bed, a bit of tv time.... at the end of the day you are locked inside somewhere (or let out for very brief periods) and that in itself is absolutely horrendous for most people. I personally wouldnt even want to be locked in a giant palace. And its incredibly depressing. My friend lost loads of weight she looked like a ghost whenever i visited her.
It was terrifying visiting so i cant imagine what it was like to actually be in there.

I haven't but a friend of mine was released from Wormwood Scrubs in London just before Christmas. He was exhausted because he had barely slept in 3 months, two people were murdered whilst he was in there, it was cold, dirty and very scary by all accounts.

An acquaintance of mine spent a few months in prison for a road traffic offence. He said it was hard being away from family & friends, but otherwise OK. He was lucky his employers kept his job open for him, so he was able to get back to normal quite quickly after his release

A client spent several years in prison for fraud. He said that he was polite and respectful towards prison staff, recognising that they were just doing their job, but other prisoners teased him for that (in a gentle way, I think, he laughed about it, and he said prisoners had warmed to him because he tried to help them to write to their families / their families)

A school friend was sent to Holloway Prison when she was 18 for theft and fraud when she worked as a bank teller. She was there for a month but kept her head down and was left alone. She’s never told me she was inside, I found out from another friend.