{Last week I went to Prison...}

True story.

First, are you ready for your vocabulary lesson? Good. You can impress your friends with this one. There is a difference between "prison" and "jail."

You go to jail generally while you're waiting for your court appearance or your verdict. You also go to jail if you are serving time for less than a year.

You go to prison once you are sentenced to serve more than 1 year.

Yes, I went to prison this last week. It was for my Crime, Justice, and Corrections Sociology capstone. It was way fun.

Going to the men’s prison was a very different experience for me. To say I was not nervous would be a lie, but I was very excited at the same time. Walking through the huge fences with multiple locks was intimidating and the check-in process was tedious. Though not the most pleasant check-in process, I was impressed with their thoroughness and care they took of who they let in and out of that building.

                As we moved into the visiting room and had a chance to visit with the guard I became very intrigued with the inmates that we were going to meet. The guard talked about the inmates with great respect and care and even said that they refer to them as residents and not inmates because it’s not as derogatory. The prison we went to and the group of residents that we visited with are part of a special program that has classes and activities to help reduce recidivism [being sent to jail/prison again once released. The norm is that 7-8 out of 10 people released from prison/jail will be rearrested and sent to jail/prison again. Through this program it was only 2 out of 10. That's great!]. Because these residents have to apply and have a desire to turn their lives around I’m sure our experiences and observations in the prison with the guards and residents were much different from what it’s like in a normal prison situation. While the relationship between the guards and the inmates were congenial and respectful in this prison I’m sure that is not the norm.

                As the inmates were coming out to join us in the visiting room I was surprised at how normal they looked. They were average Joes. My sociological mind knew that all along but my popular perspective did not. When I told friends and coworkers that I was visiting the prison they were worried about my safety, made jokes about me being kidnapped, and asked why I would even be interested in going there at all. Once I saw the inmates I had a mental sigh of relief to know that what I have learned in my sociology classes and what I logically thought was correct. These men were not monsters or psychotic (granted, there are extreme cases but those are not the norm and should not be thought of as the norm. It's an unhealthy image and will not help the situation change.). There were five men that we met with. Besides all of them being involved in illicit drugs, 2 were in prison for robbery, 2 for aggravated assault, and 1 for manslaughter.

Many of these men landed in prison because of situations and experiences that they had as younger children and the environment they grew up in. Some of them got involved with drugs at an early age and that led to delinquency some got involved in crimes because they hung out with the wrong group of friends. Hearing their stories and trying to fit it in to the things I have learned in my sociology classes it seems as though sometimes they were set up for failure based on their family situation and socioeconomic status.

When they were answering questions they would joke with each other and with the guards but you could sense a real support system between them and the desire for each other to succeed. In most prisons it’s the norm to not call someone out or to “snitch” on them but at this prison it’s normal and they are encouraged to do that. They are their own support system and by keeping everyone honest then they have more of a chance to learn and grow and stop negative behaviors. This program seems to be very effective in helping the inmates take responsibility for their actions and to learn better social skills so that they will not repeat their same mistakes once they are released. 

As they answered our questions and shared their point of view I couldn’t help but think how similar they were to me and people that I know. These inmates all knew what they did was stupid, they knew that they were headed in the wrong direction; they knew what their problems were they just didn’t know how to get out of it. They just made stupid mistakes just like everyone else in this world, just on a larger scale. They had hopes and dreams and aspirations to become better fathers, better husbands, creative writings, chefs, and little league coaches. They wanted to change their life and make a difference in others. I got teary-eyed a couple of times during the panel thinking about how hard their situation must be and how hard they are trying to turn things around.

They all talked about their sentence and when they get to meet in front of the board again to determine whether they will be let out early or if they are in there for a few more years. They all expressed desire to be let out early but they understood that the things that they did were horrible and that they need to serve time for what they did.

It was a very eye opening experience to visit the prison and I was glad I was able to go and learn so much while I was there.

[oops this was long..... :) if you read the whole thing you get 14 points. Good job :) ]