Get Hard
This week we’ll be talking about prison life. In other words, we’ll be learning about others’ experiences of being incarcerated. Which brings up an interesting question: How does one prepare for a long prison/jail sentence?
Well, you might/might not be surprised to learn that there is a wealth of information on the WWW about preparing for prison. WIKIHOW (click HERE) has one. The US Bureau of Prisons has published an entire booklet on the topic (click HERE to check it out). and the website motherjones.com has also posted 8 Tips for Easier Prison Stay (click HERE). These were just a few hits from a simple google search.
And of course there are movies (Get Hard, Orange is the New Black, etc.) that address the issue of preparing oneself for prison (not sure I’d use these to prepare for my prison stay, however.)
QUESTION: What 3 things would you do to prepare for prison and why. Let’s assume you’re gonna be transferred to a medium security prison similar to RCI.
The three things I would do to prepare for prison and why:
1) In pure desperation, find a last minute attorney who had an inside track with the presiding judge. Hopefully they could reach a better decision on the back nine, so to speak. I say this because court room actors have interworking relationships and “deals” are not always worked out in the courtroom. Some attorneys have a better and closer relationship with certain judges, and I would seek out the “right” defense attorney to sway my judge for a better deal. Of course, this would be a long-shot, but you never know, all it takes is the right amount of money.
2) Next, I would try to get in shape. Every little advantage helps. I would work a little more cardio and weight lifting into my daily life just to be ready for anything, or as ready as possible. I would hope bigger biceps, etc. would send a message to not mess with me–hopeful thinking!
3) Lastly, I would spend time with my family and get all my personal things in order. This is critical so that I leave on good terms and do not burn any bridges, especially if I had responsibilities like children, was in a relationship, and onward.The last thing I would want is any fall out by way of my family and friends because they would be the ones I need most to get through my sentence.
Obviously a hard question to answer as I would not see myself receiving a prison sentence and such mentality is not within me to conceptualize such a question.
I don’t ever see myself going to prison so trying to think about what I’d do to prepare myself is not easy. First of all I think I would try and make a amends with those closest to me and reassure them that I’m not a bad person. I would do this so I don’t leave everyone asking questions and so that I could receive some visitors so I wouldn’t get so lonely. Secondly, I would get all of my financial business taken care of. If I’m going to prison for several years or even jail for a couple of months, I would like to let some people know that. I would put my credit cards on hold, cancel my car insurance, and of course I would let my boss know everything that is happening. Lastly, I think I would mentally and physically prepare for the dangers of prison. The truth is people can get seriously injured and even killed in prison. I would go in facing potential realities. On the physical side I would try and get stronger, faster, and bigger just to show others that you wouldn’t want to pick a fight with me.
Personally I liked Wiki’s helpful tips for prison. I think that first I would do the first thing on their list and talk to my employer to explain what had happened. That might make it a little easier to maintain my job when I get out. Next I would want to get into shape because when I finally have all the time in the world why would I not want to better myself physically. It would also hopefully give me an advantage if other prisoners tried to mess with me. Lastly I would want to read a lot because I believe that knowledge is power. Plus my mind would be excercising itself by reading. It would help to take my thoughts off the long sentence and maybe if i am lucky i might find a loop hole in my sentence and get out early.!
After reading all these websites about preparing for prison, It deters me even more than before from going to prison. However, if I had to go, I’d make a list of a couple things I’d definitely want to do before.
First, I would definitely talk to my employers, as work and my resume are extremely important to me. While the stigmatizing label of being an inmate would already set me back, I would like to be on as good of terms as possible with my employers before being away for some time.
Secondly, I would definitely get a routine in the gym and perform them without machine. The reason I would perform without machines would be so I could get used to the feeling of working out without machines. I think getting in a routine would help me be more likely to keep that routine in prison and help me cope with the time I would be doing.
Lastly, I would try to get involved in a magazine subscription or a book series. I would do this so that I always had something to look forward to when I finished the previous magazine or book. I would read to keep my mind off the situation, to pass time, but also to better myself in such a horrible environment.
1. From the great words of Will Farrell, “keistering” is the key to surviving in prison.
2. Socialize, but don’t “associate”-I took this off the WIKIHOW website. I think this is a super interesting thought and idea. You want to socialize with people so you get along and are not hated, but you don’t want to associate yourself with certain people or groups. In a sense socializing is just the common form to keep you low key, but if your associating then its as if you are a part of a gang. And we all know how gangs can refute each other in the prison system.
3. Financial status- Before entering prison I would do everything I could so my family would be fine without me. I would try to figure out financially how they can be well off without my income in the household, and how I can use some money in the prison system for myself.
4. Lastly, I would find out if I can still maintain contact with my family. If they will still be involved in my life and if they are willing to come visit. Sitting everyday wondering if they still love you and are willing to be with you would drag on the sentencing even longer. It would need to be cleared up beforehand so your mind is more clear when going into the sentencing.
The first thing I would do before I go to jail is take care of any finances I need. This being and payment plans, any charges, any cards, or anything that costs me money dropped until my release. As stated by WikiHow, many prisoners now a days face bankruptcy due to the lack of care of finances before entering prison. It is also important that I transfer money into my jail or prisons bank account so I can buy things within the jail or prison. Secondly I would study up on the prison; its culture, and history. The actions in prison or jail that I enact may have positive or negative repercussions. Figuring out the guards and how the facility operate is important in obtaining or doing things to maximize one “pleasure” and minimize and “pain”. Lastly I would learn how to workout within the prison. Being active and giving off a tough persona may help me in any fight I’m in or trying to prevent. It’s important that you do not let others take advantage of you but it’s also important that you are the one people want to be “friends” with.
QUESTION: What 3 things would you do to prepare for prison and why. Let’s assume you’re gonna be transferred to a medium security prison similar to RCI.
The first thing that i think i would do to prepare for prison would be to tell my family,friends, and my work that I’m going to prison and why I’m going. This would be important to me because I wouldn’t want my parents to wonder why I’m going to prison if i am going although i most likely would have told them i was going to court long before i even had a court date. I would also tell my friends so they would know that i would be gone for a long time and why. I would then also tell my employer so they would no why I wouldn’t be showing up to work though I would think you would get fired if you were being sent to prison especially for something serious.
The next thing I would do is that I would look at what services the Prison has that I would be able to do while I’m in prison. I wouldn’t want to be lounging around while I’m in prison not doing anything. I would hopefully be able to get a job that could teach me a new skill that could help me later on in life. If I was able to do this I feel that my time in prison would have been well spent as I would come out knowing more than when I went in.
The last thing I would do to prepare for prison would be to act more friendly. I think often times I give off a negative vibe even if that’s not how I’m feeling at the moment. So it would be beneficial for me to work on changing my appearance to make it appear that I’m not always upset at something or someone as looking at people the wrong way in prison is never a good idea.
First I will get information about the institution that I will be serving my time at. This is really important because you will have to learn a whole new way of living rules to a different society. You don’t want to go in blindsided. Not knowing and thinking about the what if’s. This will make my time served easier.
But some things that I will do to prepare myself are:
1. Letting my friends, family, job, and others know that I will be going to prison and tell them why. I do not want them wondering, questioning why i have to go to prison. I want my family to be secure and prepared for this especially if I am the financial stability within my family. Let my friends as well know how so they can be better prepared to be with out me physically, and emotionally. Help them come to terms with it before it happens.
2. I really need to work on my attitude so i would need to lose it- i will need to prepare myself for this because it will get me into a lot of trouble within the prisons walls, sometimes it might be good to have but most of the times it will do me no good. The last thing I would want is to be enemies with my cell mate. Prepare myself to be more social and not too friendly. Don’t socialize too much with the wrong people. avoid being seen as being apart of a “gang” make friends and less enemies.
3. figure out how money works, this is very important to me because i need to have money so that i can get the necessary things that i need. I need to make sure i keep track of how much money I have; how i keep it in a account to make sure people do not steal it. I need to know how i could get access to this as well and when i will be able to get access to it as well. And also how i will be able to deposit my money into if i have a job or if family members would like to put money in it, or before i enter if i could put money in their myself that i have saved.
4. need to learn what constitutes “good behavior”. So that I can do everything to get out early and not have to serve my full sentence. This is what i mean when i need to check out the place ask the prison a head of time to see what specifically they look for. This is good to know because it will help me try to avoid getting into any altercations related to drugs violence or anything.
The first thing that I would do to prepare is work on my attitude. It will get my ready for the prison life and I will learn how to adjust to my cell mates. The good ones and the bad ones. The second thing that I would to prepare myself is tell my family and friends. They play a huge part in my life and they will need to know what I’m about to face. That’s why I will Change my attitude first because I will need to let them know in a strong way that I’m about to leave them for awhile. I would just want them to pray for me and guide me to a better path. Lastly the third thing I would do to prepare myself is just read books. I would just read anything to get my mind off of prison. Reading is something that I could do in prison to help my ease the pain of me being there. Knowing that you have to pay for your actions can be hard on you, but after you have forgiven yourself for what you did, you will get closer to being strong every time you attempt to do anything.
Three things that I would do to prepare for prison are:
1. Assuming that I would be in jail for a couple years, I would sell a couple things to get some money to put into savings accounts and CD’s. I would try to have more money than what I had when I entered jail. This also goes along with making sure that all my other financials in line before I left for prison.
2. While I was getting all of my finances in order I would look for self-defense classes and I would work to get in better shape.
3. I would be focused on getting a good lawyer that could get my sentence lowered or moved to a lesser level of prison security. I think that I would try to get to a low level security prison.
As soon as I found our what prison that I was going to, I would try to learn as much as I could about that prison.