Prison

[Polished]

So what for you would be the worst thing about being in prison mid to long term?

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

That i had done something illegal to end up in the court system to start with

 

[missy]

This is conjecture on my part as I have never (and hope never to be) been in jail.

Loss of freedom.
Loss of your future.
Missing loved ones.

The more years inside prison the harder to rebuild your life when you get out.
Life lessons and experience are frozen in time when you are in prison so the longer you are there the harder to get your life back when you get out.
You are in limbo and the world continues to spin.

And I am sure I wouldn't like the unclean conditions. Or the food. Or the other prisoners.
I am also thinking the days might feel endless and be boring. If you aren't scared for your life due to violence. Prisoner violence and Guard violence.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

The other people in prison

 

[Made in London]

The worst thing for me would be being separated from my DH my animals & my home

 

[dk168]

Losing my freedom and being separated from my fur kids for short period like a couple of weeks is bad enough, let alone mid to long term!

DK

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Bringing shame to my family and our heritage.
I would not survive that.

 

[Skyjems]

Never thought about it, but I am with Mellow Yellow, the other inmates...

If it was an American prison, it might be wildly hilarious like Stir Crazy... But probably not.

 

[redwood66]

Hmmm. Well there is nothing fun about prison, not one bit. Everything is terrible. The food, the sleeping arrangements, the guests, the smell, the loneliness, etc. I don't recommend it.

 

[Tekate]

no food choice.

 

[nala]

Lack of privacy.

 

[Rhea]

The inability to adapt to daily tasks we all take for granted upon release.

I currently work with a population who often have spent time in prison. I nearly cried recently when one of my clients and I left his temporary accommodation to go somewhere together. He forgets to let himself in and out of doors. He stands in front of them and waits for them to open for him. He also regularly locks himself out. He'll adapt quickly though so far it's the slowest I've witnessed which worries me, but he gets very embarrassed about it, it shows he was in prison.

 

[AprilBaby]

Super Max. 23 hr a day isolation.

 

[LemonMoonLex]

My family has worked in the justice
system for as long as I can remember.
That now proudly includes my beau (:
Some of them worked inside prisons, & I can tell you that it's everything.
You are not spared any freedoms in there. You are always reminded to feel that you are an animal in a cage.

 

[pearlsngems]

Literally everything, unless one's life is so wretched, and so without resources, that the free food, housing and medical care (such as they are) are an improvement.

 

[chrono]

If I had to do something so horrific that will land me in prison, I’d rather commit suicide first.

 

[AGBF]

I do not think one can say unless s/he experienced it. The horror stories I have heard leave me sure I, at least, cannot imagine it.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

We lived in (a very nice suburb actually) that at one end housed a female prison so we often had stories relating to the prison in the community newspaper and then Camilia thr Dutchess of Cornwall visited it.
I remember one story where one of the guards talked about some times locked in that cell at night is the first time a particular lady might have ever felt safe

in NZ you loose the right to vote while incarcerated so i guess that would be the thing that would be worst for me

but you know we have to have deterrent and also consequences for our actions, someone is in prison because they have done a bad thing and there is almost always a victim who is suffering because of what was done by the person now in prison

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

I have people in my family that have been in both state prison and federal prison. You'd be surprised how "little" it takes to earn a sentence. The one in state prison was a violent youth offender who subsequently committed non-violent crimes to make money (he couldn't get a job otherwise), after a few trips back he finally managed to stay out although his life has never come to much and he relies on other people and the government for support. The federal was more like what Martha Stewart experienced, nothing "terrible" and more like a boot camp. Again, the restrictions on what you can/can't do AFTER were worse than the actual sentence. Thankfully they had an understanding employer and were able to keep themselves afloat. I have MANY opinions on the "system" and what happens to people "after".

 

[partgypsy]

I was also going to say, everything but loss of privacy, loss of freedom, potential for violence top 3.

 

[Polished]

Thank you all for giving your perspectives on this. I’ll include in the list, a poor mattress!

Rhea I’d never thought of the difficulty a former prisoner might experience coping with the practical aspects of living on the outside.

For some reason a particularly heinous crime that was committed 30 years ago in Australia entered my head last week and it gave me the heebeejeebees. Forgetting about these lowlifes is the way to go but given that we don’t have the death penalty here in Australia it made me wonder what sort of life they’d have experienced in jail. They are not people who would ever feel remorse for what they had done so the best thing that can happen is that they dislike the consequences that occurred as a result of the crime. It seems as though this has worked, their thoughts are that they have done their time and would much prefer to be out of jail. Clearly they don’t like jail. It would appear these prisoners are moved around regularly so they don’t form “bonds” with other prisoners, they also are not given work anymore so this reduces interaction with other prisoners. No work, limited human interaction (they’re a risk for reprisals by other prisoners), the same environment over and over again. What a dull and meaningless life.

“The more years inside prison the harder to rebuild your life when you get out.
Life lessons and experience are frozen in time when you are in prison so the longer you are there the harder to get your life back when you get out.
You are in limbo and the world continues to spin.”

Missy this is true but in addition if you came from a past where you were living a useless and violent life and a very bad family background it would only compound this problem. There’s little to draw on to lift you out. In fact I do wonder whether the discipline imposed by jail (where there had been none on the outside) might actually slightly improve character. Apparently these creatures (I won’t dignify them with the title of “men”) have all been model prisoners.

 

[OreoRosies86]

Corrupt guards, no family/friends, you could get sick and die. I used to work with a girl who went to jail. She was bipolar and no one would get her the medication she needed. She ended up dying from a seizure due to withdrawal on the floor of her cell. Our prison system and it’s employees are atrocious.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

We (the tax payer) need to spend more time, money and energy patching up the lives of the victims of some of these crimes

 

[Yelena]

I would like to add that children living in poverty and families suffering the stress of poverty, mental illness and addiction does not help children grow into young adults with a lot of skills and options. Sadly a lot of people in prison have untreated mental health conditions which they often self medicate with drugs/alcohol which then assists them in their road to prison. Prisons are there to make the average person who doesn’t know about the prison system think that we are doing something about criminals. The reality is that it turns into a revolving door for too many because the underlying problems aren’t identified and treated. It’s such a waste of money and life to do things this way.

I suspect that this is how it is for the majority of prisoners, however there are some people who should be incarcerated and never allowed out into society again because their brains are not wired in a ‘normal’ way. I am thinking largely of paedophiles but there are murderers who also fit that bill.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

This is sad on so many levels
I've never heard of any one being in prison for so long

Stuff

i.stuff.co.nz

 

[kenny]

I think living in prison would be so infinitely different that it's impossible to imagine, let alone predict what would be worst.

 

[monarch64]

I’d never get past missing my child’s milestones and just daily behavior. That would kill me for sure. I had one child, deliberately, and I intend (have always intended) to stand by and support her and help her thrive.
It would break me to know she might not be experiencing that outside my walls. That’s it.

 

[missy]

I would like to add that children living in poverty and families suffering the stress of poverty, mental illness and addiction does not help children grow into young adults with a lot of skills and options. Sadly a lot of people in prison have untreated mental health conditions which they often self medicate with drugs/alcohol which then assists them in their road to prison. Prisons are there to make the average person who doesn’t know about the prison system think that we are doing something about criminals. The reality is that it turns into a revolving door for too many because the underlying problems aren’t identified and treated. It’s such a waste of money and life to do things this way.

I suspect that this is how it is for the majority of prisoners, however there are some people who should be incarcerated and never allowed out into society again because their brains are not wired in a ‘normal’ way. I am thinking largely of paedophiles but there are murderers who also fit that bill.

Completely agree. There are some who will never be nor can never be rehabilitated. Pedophiles being one group.

We need to do better by those who do stand a chance of being able to go back into society and become a productive member. Those people deserve better. As you write, children living in poverty and crime need to be given a chance in life. There are reasons they grow up to commit crimes. And yes there is much mental illness too. We can and need to do better for these people.

 

[missy]

So what for you would be the worst thing about being in prison mid to long term?

Orange just isn't my color.



Sorry, just wanted to add a bit of levity to what is going to be a challenging day for many of us.

 

[Polished]

I hadn't thought of that missy. Shapeless uniform, no bling! That would do my head in.

Thinking of you all tomorrow. We will be watching over here in Oz with interest.