What Would Life in Prison Be Like?

In my experience of reading the text, Behind a Convicts Eyes, I have learned many things about prison life. It has in fact changed my perception of what I thought prison life was like. Prison is in fact a fight for survival, and the weaker inmates will be used and abused by the stronger population. To clarify what I mean, many of the weaker prisoners are sometimes expected to pay for protection from other inmates, or they join prison gangs to be safe.
According to the text, it would appear that the inmates actually have more control over their existence than I would have thought that they do. When I use this term, I mean it in the sense that the inmates use the system to their advantage, or at least those who know how to work the system. According to the text Behind the Convicts Eyes, p. 20, it describes the process in which inmates will actually manipulate the tests and clinical physicians to obtain medication in which they can then use to get "high" or sell for profit.

Another factor that changed my perspective on how inmates live within prison was the economy which surrounds their survival. This is focused primarily on "food, water, cigarettes and survival, also known as the basics of life." (Behind a Convict's Eyes, p.22) The primary focus of inmates is based upon the inmate economy. Some of these issues include things such as being on a set budget. The text spoke of living on a set amount of $130.00 per month on average. This amount of money would be considered far below the poverty level in society but with the consideration that the inmates do not pay for housing or other expenses that people in the free society do, it would seem like it would be enough. For those who do have a limited amount of money, they use the bartering system. (Behind a Convicts Eyes, p. 73). Bartering can be used to obtain almost anything that that you need during your stay in prison. Some of the things that were traded were leather belts and buckles, tobacco, food and laundry services.

In fact many things that we as a society take for granted are very significant in the lives of inmates. Many of us take for granted that we have privacy in our homes, which we can eat when we are hungry, and can decide what we want to eat. We also have our freedom to come and go as we want. After reading chapter nine in the text Behind a Convicts Eyes, it truly gave me the impression of how few freedoms people in prisons have. The inmates were especially excited when they cooked a chicken for Christmas Eve. For most people, this would not even be an issue, because many of us celebrate the holidays with large feasts and surrounded by our loved ones.

One of the prison strategies used by Anonymous was the technique such as "minding your own business." He felt that by staying out of matters that did not pertain to him he was able to avoid conflicts. Anonymous also referred to the term prison proper. He discussed how learning the prison language was an ongoing experience, but also the importance of knowing the language. The language was essential because without it he would be unable to communicate effectively with the other inmates.

Anonymous also learned that using the word "punk" was a queue to fight with another inmate. This was also tied into the prison language, and the term of spreading your wings, which meant the willingness to fight. (p.25) It was important that Anonymous as well as the other inmates were aware of this terminology because they could get themselves into a lot of trouble otherwise.

The inmates maintained a façade of strength because being manly is far more important than showing emotion, which is a sign of weakness. (p.28). There was a continual discussion throughout the text about the importance of a reputation. The reputation was said to "make or break you" and the worst type of reputation to have was that of a "snitch". (Chapter 4) Anonymous realized the importance of having a credible reputation and therefore was never a "snitch".
A bad reputation could cause serious problems for that inmate, causing all of the other inmates to turn against them, and possibly certain members of the staff. The inmates as well as Anonymous referred to prison as being a career, which makes perfect sense because based upon your reputation would be the severity of your life or career in the prison system. For instance for those that have bad reputations especially those known as "snitches" they would be less likely to have people trust them, or want to associate with them. This type of reputation could even cause others to be violent towards them. Those that had earned a credible reputation would be able to ask for favors from other inmates.

In Voices from the Field, there were some similarities as well as differences. One of the main similarities was that there seemed to be an invisible racial dividing line among the inmates. In both texts, it discussed how the black inmates and whites primarily stuck with their own. The survival methods in both Voices from the Field and Behind a Convicts eyes were similar. The main focus was avoiding conflict but being able to get their needs met. The façade of strength and defensive measures existed in both texts.

The economy was also very similar in both texts, as to how the interaction with other inmates could be beneficial in acquiring their needs. They used the bartering system to obtain goods or services. The factor of reputation was extremely important in both of the texts, and this could at times be a problem because of confidentially issues within the prisons. This was similar in both texts.

The need for respect, hope and safety contribute to correctional policy in the following ways: the ability of the staff to provide protection to the inmates to the best of their ability, and occurrences that are not seen are not known about, and contraband such as drugs and weapons are not allowed within the inmates possession. It is hard to say how each aspect directly applies to the policy of the corrections facility. Due to the fact that the inmates have far more control than people would like to believe. An example of this is that inmates do not want to be considered a "snitch" if they see someone attacked by other inmates, the likeliness is that they are not going to report it because it would ruin their reputation. Even though this may be a policy within the facility to report such crimes, it does not mean that it will be adhered to.

While the facilitators and staff would like to believe that they are doing their jobs to the best of their ability, the inmates always seem to have a hidden agenda. The rules established in correctional policy are meant to protect the inmates, privacy and self respect. However, inmates have their own ways of finding things out, about a person's past or what their charges are. This can greatly impact a person's safety during their time in prison. As for respect towards the inmates, they are only given a portion. As the texts both correlate the fact that strip searches, being referred to as a number and use of intimidation tactics by the guards are not means of respect. (Behind a Convict's Eyes, p. 65) It would seem that the system is hypocritical within itself.

The changes within the facility of Anonymous N. Inmate would be that the guards are not allowed to use intimidation tactics or measures of force to enforce petty rules. This should be especially true when a verbal warning would be sufficient. I do not agree with throwing someone in the hole because they did not have their shirt tucked in. I think that there are far less drastic measures that could be implemented. I would suggest that starting with a verbal warning, then writing the inmate up, such as a demerit system. After these two events occurred it could mean possible restriction of going to work, or losing recreational time outside of their cell. I think that by taking their personal freedom would be more effective than locking them up in solitary confinement. It would be a way for the inmates to feel that they have some control in their behavior and consequences.

I definitely agree that the possibility exists of people who have become criminals can be related to a toxic shamed identity. The pure humiliation of being incarcerated would be enough to break any person down. The fact that when people are incarcerated they lose their identity of who they were, they are no longer referred to as a person, they are now a number within the system and possibly a statistic.

The text further describes toxic shame, not as an emotion but as a state of being. Being incarcerated is a sever punishment and the toxic shame that is attached can be detrimental to the emotional well being of the inmates. They begin to feel that they are truly bad people and that they deserve what they get. I am aware that people do not go to prison for good behavior. However the prison system appears to remove all autonomy from the lives of the inmates, because now they are just numbers in a prison. The fact that toxic shame is a very powerful state of being. It has the power to make the person feel worthless, and not even human. The treatment of inmates is definitely a large factor in this because they are in a very vulnerable state when entering the prison system. Toxic shame is a potent state of being; having the inmates weaknesses exposed in front of others is not healthy. I am not sure that Toxic shame is an avoidable state for inmates. Due to the fact that there is no transition period as to the reality that they are about to encounter, they have no chance to emotionally prepare.

The other aspect to look at is the possibility that the inmates may carry the Toxic Shame even before they step into a prison. They may have been abused all of their life and feel completely worthless about themselves. This could explain why they would have no conscience as to why they have committed crimes. They may have been through traumatic experiences in which they never received any therapeutic treatment for, which then only allowed the Toxic shame to grow.
In conclusion, I was very surprised by some of the information that I learned about being incarcerated. It seems that it is a very traumatic experience which can be emotionally detrimental to some people. It would seem that there should be more services offered within the prison system to help inmates cope with the issue of Toxic Shame.