Life in Prison - Behind a Convict's Eyes

Life in Prison - Behind a Convict's Eyes

Crystal Fisher

Introduction

This paper is about the book "Behind a Convict's Eyes" by K.C. Cerceral. This book was written by a young man who enters prison on a life sentence and describes the world around him. Life in prison is a subculture of its own, this subculture has its own society, language and cast system. The book describes incidents that have happen in prison to inmates. With this paper I will attempt to explain the way of life in a prison from an inmate's view.

Understanding Prison Life

After reading the book I have gained a new understanding of what inmates think about in prison. Working in an institution, I have a certain cynical attitude at times with inmates and their requests. Working in a reception facility, this is a facility where inmates are brought in from the county jails to the state intake facility, we deal with a lot of requests and questions. At times, with the phone ringing off the hook from family members and inmates with their prison request forms, you get a little cynical and tired of answering the same questions over and over. As I read the book I begin to understand some of the reason for the questions. Inmate(s) now realize that the officers and administrative personnel are in control of their lives. They dictate with to get up in the morning, take showers, eat meals, go to classes, the need see people for different reason, when to exercise and when to go to bed. The lost of control over their lives is a new experience for some and they would like to be able to adjust to this new lost of freedom. Upon understanding this and in reading the book, I am not as cynical as I have been and try to be more patient in answering questions. So in a way I have changed some of my thinking and understanding more of prison life.

Describe Strategies and Compare with Voices from the Field

Some of the adaptation strategies used by "Anonymous" and the other inmates in prison where to use nicknames to feel more individual and unique. Being in prison can cause you to lose your identity as a person, most inmates are known by numbers. Another strategy was to conform to the schedule of the prisons. You can not eat when you want, shower, get up, go to recreation and go to bed. Everyone has a schedule and working with this schedules helps to learn how to cope. Also Anonymous and other inmates would take classes or vocational shops. This would help to alleviate the boredom and helps to adapt. Sometimes the inmates run scams on the officers. They would try to outsmart the officers to their advantage. This was a way to adapt to difficult correction officers. One other adaptation is to have associates not friends. This is for mostly self-preservation in the prison. There is a code of convicts which states "...do no favors and request none" (Carceral, 2004, pp. 122). Adhere to the code is expected of most long term prisoners.

In the Voices from the Field, most inmates are short term inmates. These inmates have very short sentences and tend not to become prison zed because they are released very soon after incarceration. Their adaptation is to get in, do the time and get out. Of course the book points about that these are normally first time inmates and the biggest adaptation was those that they survive and protect themselves. In this adaptation inmates try to make a "survival niche" (Schmid & Jones, 2001, pp. 187) which they rarely achieve before leaving, One of the biggest was the tactics was their perceived outlook towards the outside world.

Respect, Hope and Safety

Everyone wants respect and inmates look for respect. A lot of the complaints I have seen from inmates is that the officers disrespected them. They feel that the officer does not need to yell, "get in their face", and do complete strip searches all the time. IF inmates are treated with a little respect it goes a long way in an inmate being either a "model or a disruptive" prisoner. It also helps in the rehabilitative effort of the inmate. Hope is always a good thing for an inmate; inmates with hope have better attitudes and sprits and tend to be less disruptive. Of course an inmate who feels safe will be a better inmate. But for safety, there comes a price, which means searches. Searches can be conducted in reasonable manner. There is no need to destroy inmate property this is legal to have. An inmate who has respect, hope and is feeling relatively safe will be a better inmate and less disruptive to the running of the prison.

Changes in Correction Policy

Changes at the institution where Anonymous is housed are needed.