To ask about prison?

[Peanutbutterjelly1]

Hello everyone.. Just started watching orange is the new black... Me and my husband love it!!!

I've always been pretty fascinated by prison whenever I come into contact with anyone who has been inside I'm immediately interested and always ask what was it like? My own mum was born in Holloway in the 70s as my nan was in there for a string of petty crime.

So my question is have any of you ever been to prison? What did you do? And what was it like?

I know this is a weird question but it's a genuine post. I told my husband the other day that doing time is on my bucket list he thought I was crazy and he is probably right. I think its because prison hasn't changed much in the last 50 years and i am always really interested in anything that has remained the same. I remeber when i started high school it was the same school my dad had attended 25 years before it was the same apart from a few licks of paint he once came to a parents evening and he was pointing to classrooms and certian areas in the corridors and telling stories about his school days i thought it was amazing.

I can understand the fascination but think the OP is coming across as insensitive and naive.

Never been to a prison but went through a phase of reading books about people incarcerated for drug smuggling which fed my curiosity, such as the one by Sandra Gregory. Or watched banged up abroad which is still available online.

Suggest you do that OP and take actually being imprisoned off the bucket list.

I used to be a prison officer in a cat b male prison. Would never do it again and wouldn't wish prison upon anyone. The fact that doing time is on your bucket list shows how utterly blinkered you are about what prison is really like. It's not fun, it's dirty, it's dangerous. It is the most soul destroying place I've ever been unlucky enough to spend time in. There are enough documentaries on Netflix about real prisons, I suggest you watch a few of these.

Wow, I have read everything now!! ......

Speakout, that must have been the longest 8 months, sorry you had to endure that, it's not something you'd wish on anyone. Hope you are OK now?

I've worked with offenders and been in prisons in a professional capacity. I'd say the majority of offenders (especially in women's prisons) suffered from significant mental health issues, often having had abusive childhoods and difficult lives. Self-harm, drug usage and suicide attempts were common. People desperately struggle with the fact that they have family on the outside that they barely see, or sometimes children that they don't get to see grow up. Bullying is commonplace. And most people will say the boredom of being sat in a cell for hours every day is soul destroying.

I also think it's pretty insensitive to ask people you meet that have been in prison what it was like. I know a couple of people that have been inside and they really don't like talking about it, and it's a subject I'd certainly avoid.

I see the OP hasn't come back...

I can't believe someone would legitimately say that going to prison is on their bucket list. If you're still desperate OP it's not that hard to get in.

I have the utmost respect for prison officers- a very difficult job.

And I have a great deal of sympathy for inmates- especially in women's prison- who have ended up in prison mostly though circumstance.

God, what a naïf. I dread to think what else could be on that bucket list. Crushed by falling masonry, bankruptcy, get raped to see what it's like?

My DH is a PCSO and every day he comes home uninjured I am thankful for. He has cut people down from hanging themselves, watched a man ten years younger than himself die of a heart attack (after performing CPR until the paramedics got there, he had councilling over the nightmares caused by that incident), been taken hostage in a cell and broken fingers restraining prisoners high on drugs.

I'm confused. PCSO'S don't work in prisons. At all.

Agree with what others have said.

If you have a real interest in this area why don't you study criminal psychology or something similar?

@ShutUpBaz also curious as to why a PCSO is inside a prison? How bizarre. I worked as a prison officer for years and never once saw a PCSO come through the gates!

Terrence I presume the PP with the PCSO DH means he's seen these things on the street. Seems like quite an unlucky PCSO - I'm a PC and ours never get involved in those sorts of things, maybe it's our force.

I see OP hasn't come back, and I hope they don't. As I said, I'm a police officer and custody is bad enough. Hope you've learnt your lesson OP.

Maybe the OP has been...locked up!

Dreams can come true!

My dad was in prison in my early teens. He was moved between 4 different prisons and I visited them all. One was high security and was awful, absolutely awful, it was classed as a holding prison for the county where people are sent before they are moved to their long term prison. Lots of drug withdrawal, lots of drugs, lots of mental health issues. My SIL also works at this particular prison now and nothing has changed, it's an awful prison rife with violence, suicide, drugs, mental health issues.

He moved to two lower catagory prisons which were less awful, but the prisoners were generally worse. I remember visiting and being asked to move seats by my dad. I later found out that a pedophile had been staring at me throughout the visit (I was around 13 at the time). But I remember being very happy at being able to treat dad to a KitKat from the vending machine during the visit.

He was finally moved to an open prison which was so much nicer. Everyone was nearing the end of their sentence, there was an air of anticipation of freedom. Everyone had a job to keep them out of their cells for longer. They gained a lot of privileges. The unit had family days where you could visit the cells etc. They had a communal area with sofas and a large TV, DVD library and a Playstation, they had a gym. It's easy to see why the papers report prisons are like holiday camps if that's the only view you have with no personal connection. But it was still a basic prison. Still in cells 16ish hours a day. Recreation was limited to an hour outside of work time. Food was dire unless you could afford to buy extras. My dad often bought tins of tuna and bananas to supplement the food as they were cheapest.

But throughout all of the prisons it was clear, even to me at 12-15 years old that prison was not somewhere you ever wanted to be.

"Bucket list..." Being sent to prison for something I didn't do is a fear of mine - precisely because I know it's horrendous.

I used to do public service which involved visiting police custody suites and that was awful enough - and the detainees were only there for up to 24 hours.

I have visited people in Holloway, Brixton and several mens and women's 'open' prisons around the country.

The London holding prisons are cramped, chaotic, noisy, frightening, and utterly depressing places. The number of small children visiting their parents was incredibly sad.

I know a lot is reported about prisoners having access to drugs, PlayStations, phones etc but that wasn't my experience and this was only 10-15 years ago. Yes, they got a TV but it had to be 'paid for' by doing jobs or attending classes.

There is also a massive level of uncertainty around where you'll be the next day or week - even in the open prisons, people are moved regularly and without warning to prisons all over the country, making communication with relatives and visitors harder.

Then any education/training you may have been doing is abandoned as it's no longer available, your clothes and belongings don't get moved at the same time so you only have the clothes you move in. Getting information about home detention curfew, release dates, etc is like getting blood out of a stone.

I don't mean this to come across as "poor prisoners, so hard done by", but this 'bucket list' nonsense has hit a nerve.

OITNB makes prison look like a crappy summer camp. I doubt I’d reflects the reality 🙄

@shortgirlfromessex I think a lot has changed in 10-15 years. UK prisons especially are absolutely rife with mobile phones and drugs, and when I say rife I mean that in a bad week we would seize 5-10 phones in a week and drugs from at least 10 prisoners/cells! It is also rare for a prisoner to not have a tv.

They are unlikely to move someone who is half way through an educational or vocational course unless they have been severely disruptive. This was often a reason for people not to be moved as it isn't cost effective.

I'm not saying 'you're wrong' as this may well have been the case 10 years ago however it's a very different story now.

I work in one. And it's nothing like it's portrayed on tv trust me. I'd remove it from your bucket list.

There's no punishment quite like standing still while the world is moving around you.

I worked for two years in a CatB male prison. It bears no resemblance to anything I've seen on TV.
The first time you walk on to a wing and feel the very real tension and intimidation would cure you of ever wanting to spend more than minutes there.
Prisons are harsh, dirty, noisy and prioners have to watch their backs 24 hours a day. There are many tragic stories in prison - to see it as some kind of theme park passes comprehension.

I suggest you get hold of some downloads of Wentworth the Australian updated version of prisoner cell block H. It’s fantastic viewing and “juicy” Lucy the huge lesbian rapist with hepatitis C will be a real turn on for you and hubby.

I know a family who were detained several times in secure units for people about to be deported. This was a vulnerable family with young children, an abandoned mother and one child suffering from a very serious chronic disease. Although different from the prisons you might be sent to if you are convicted of a crime it was terrifying. The lack of hope and the despair was overwhelming. They were given little information and at least twice were driven to the airport, put on a plane and then removed back to the detention centre. They were eventually given indefinite leave to remain.

Going to prison is on your bucket list? WTF! A pp calling you naive and insensitive is putting it mildly. You sound down right crass.

Bucket list? You have no idea, you really don’t.

My uncle spent a year in Brixton for GBH - he never talks about it.

I'm kind of hoping either the sun had got to OP's head or she'd had a few too many. Otherwise there's no excuse for starting this thread.