Reply to: Has anyone been to prison?

[TimberWolf]

Kudos for a) daring to reply b) good post

WHS

[MrMark]

long post

10. Overall all, two bits of impression I'm left with are:

(a) don't go to prison if you can avoid it
(b) despite 10(a), it's not as bad as one might fear

* I'm still working - despite being benched for a couple of months on release - and I know that this is likely to upset some people.

Kudos for a) daring to reply b) good post

[TimberWolf]

OK so of those peeps who have been inside or know someone who has been inside, can we have a quick poll of which nick has the best drugs?

ta

I'd be more interested in the grounds and recreational facilities.

[Stan.goodvibes]

OK so of those peeps who have been inside or know someone who has been inside, can we have a quick poll of which nick has the best drugs?

ta

[cojak]

[SizeZero]

* I'm still working - despite being benched for a couple of months on release - and I know that this is likely to upset some people.

... as a doctor?

[wurzel]

Hairy armed blokes in the shower?

something like that

[TimberWolf]

Good for you - it sounds like you made the best of a situation that hopefully most of us will never find ourselves in. I for one wish you all the best in moving on.

A close friend of mine also found himself doing three months - unfortunately his experience was less positive than yours; he was at HMP Winchester which was severely overcrowded, and was locked in the cell for 23 hours a day - no education or work opportunities for 'short term' inmates and he was bordering on the suicidal. It did however have the desirable effect of making him never want to go back.

'friend'

(just kidding)

[TimberWolf]

So no gorillas in the mist then?

Hairy armed blokes in the shower?

[cojak]

Good for you - it sounds like you made the best of a situation that hopefully most of us will never find ourselves in. I for one wish you all the best in moving on.

A close friend of mine also found himself doing three months - unfortunately his experience was less positive than yours; he was at HMP Winchester which was severely overcrowded, and was locked in the cell for 23 hours a day - no education or work opportunities for 'short term' inmates and he was bordering on the suicidal. It did however have the desirable effect of making him never want to go back.

Yep...

[wurzel]

So no gorillas in the mist then?

[mudskipper]

Long post

Good for you - it sounds like you made the best of a situation that hopefully most of us will never find ourselves in. I for one wish you all the best in moving on.

A close friend of mine also found himself doing three months - unfortunately his experience was less positive than yours; he was at HMP Winchester which was severely overcrowded, and was locked in the cell for 23 hours a day - no education or work opportunities for 'short term' inmates and he was bordering on the suicidal. It did however have the desirable effect of making him never want to go back.

[chef]

now that's a reply I wasn't expecting..

[Menelaus]

Yes (as you all know)

I've spent an hour or so whilst at work* reflecting on whether or not to reply to this, and have decided that I'll bite, so here's a few bits of reflection:

1. It gives someone in there for their first (and only) time a chance to reflect on past misdeeds and to plan for the future. HMP Pentonville is not a holiday camp, despite what the media might say, and whilst cells contain a variety of "nice-to-haves" (e.g., TV, kettle) they are shared with other prisoners (typically) and the washing / sanitation facilities are basic, to say the least.

2. Helps if you can work whilst you're there - I was working there from the week after I arrived until the day before I left (although I was only there for 40 days) in the education wing, helping others learn how to use simple products like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access and also - in a number of cases - helping prisoners get ready for qualifications in maths and English.

3. If for whatever reason you can't work then you should be involved in education as much as possible. I met some people there through my work in education that I'd hope would not re-offend on release - by the same token, I've also met people there who I feel almost certain will re-offend

4. Someone mentioned segregation in the posts above? Segregation does exist with those prisoners who are being segregated receiving no association (e.g., being able to mingle with other prisoners) whatsoever. So at risk are those in the segregation wing that education is brought to them - rather than the other way around)

5. There are a lot of drugs in prison, and I was offered them on more than one occasion, turning them down at every opportunity. That having been said, random drug tests are performed on a regular basis (albeit on a voluntary basis, unless there's a reason for suspicion).

6. Punishment blocks within the prison exist for those caught with contraband: for example, a member of the education team had been caught with bits of a mobile phone during a "cell spin" (e.g., when a cell is searched by officers). He swallowed the SIM card and was held in punishment until he'd passed the SIM card.

7. The food's of average quality: the budget for feeding the guard dogs daily is allegedly higher than it is for feeding inmates. That having been said, who the heck wants Gordon Ramsay?

8. Staff are (with certain exceptions), on the whole, friendly and professional. They recognised (in my case, at least) that it was my first time and that it was a complete and total culture shock for me and that - without my medication at my regular dose - I was likely to be headed to the Maudsley (look it up).

9. Being on a smaller wing (in my case, B-wing) has massive advantages over being on a larger wing. These advantages are not so much to do with the geographical size of the wing but that the wing itself is segregated from the general population by being only those prisoners doing short sentences, in for their first time and likely to be leaving shortly. As a consequence it's the smallest general wing (half the size of the next smallest) excluding segregation and it's possible to develop a close working relationship with the officers there.

10. Overall all, two bits of impression I'm left with are:

(a) don't go to prison if you can avoid it
(b) despite 10(a), it's not as bad as one might fear

* I'm still working - despite being benched for a couple of months on release - and I know that this is likely to upset some people.

[Zippy]

So where are the "Who's been in rehab?", "Who's been in a loony bin?" and "Who's been a rent boy/prossie?" threads? You lot are slipping.

I used to be a rent boy and then I had the operation. I was robbed.