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I hope I’ll be welcome. I have been in prison myself, but please don’t think I’m a nasty convict. I had a horrible time in my life and did something I shouldn’t. I was in a women’s prison fir a few months just after COVID. I thought a perspective from being the one locked up might be useful.
Off to read the thread now
Off to read the thread now
Of course you’re welcome! You could share some insight of what it’s like the other side of things!
I’ve done a couple bedwatches for the female estate and some of the women I’ve met were so so lovely and just got on bad paths but I don’t think I could work in the female estate!
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I’m going out at 3 so I’ll probably be in bed by 9
Really interesting, thank you! Enjoy your day off!
He'd been sent down for putting his ex in hospital, then breaking the harrassment thing by contacting her sister.
OMG triggered! Ugh, I went out with this horrible coercive weasel for a couple of months. He cooked tinned mackerel curry every Thursday. I bet this was what he cooked in his four month stint I learned about once I'd finished with him.
He'd been sent down for putting his ex in hospital, then breaking the harrassment thing by contacting her sister.
Also mattress questions - no they get one pillow and one mattress but think of it like the blue mats you used to have in PE at school with a tiny bit of foam in… not comfortable at all!
The prison I was in, you can but clothes from Primark, but not often. Someone buys the clothes in store basically, and then there’s a little shop in the prison where you can look and buy. But you can’t go over your allowance of stuff. So if you’ve already got the maximum amount you can’t buy anything new. They are face value clothes.
There is a salon, prisoners cutting hair I think. It wasn’t open when I was there as was post-COVID. But you can borrow scissors if there’s someone on your landing who can do it for you. You have to hand over your ID card to the officer to be able to borrow scissors.
People can send money in, but you’ll only ever be able to have a certain amount a week to spend
We've just finished so thrown everything back at the kit guy and sprinted to the bar for a quick oneI’m going out at 3 so I’ll probably be in bed by 9
Ooh I love a day sesh 
Enjoy @eggfriedrice
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Whilst we're all confessing our 'sins'
Betina spent a night in the cells about 8 years ago
I got locked up for supposedly battering my then boyfriend in a hotel room.
Interesting considering I was the one with a broken nose, 2 black eyes and cuts and bruises
but because the hotel staff could hear me shouting and going mental they assumed it was me attacking him and I got arrested. Obviously I was hitting him back and shouting, but the custody sargent the next morning even said if I was the perpetrator why did I look the way I did and there wasn't a mark on him?
He got a taxi back home and I spent a night in the cells about 40 miles away from home.
It was a very dark time in my life. I'd never been in trouble with the police before and when I got to the police station I couldn't even get my words out I was crying so much (I was absolutely pissed as a fart as well
) so I just got put in a cell to sleep it off and interviewed the next morning. I got bailed and luckily for me no further action was taken, but I was terrified I was going to prison for assault and criminal damage (apparently the hotel room was pretty smashed up)
This boyfriend was supposed to be the nice guy after getting out of a horrible marriage. I stayed single for another 2 years after him
Enjoy @eggfriedrice
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Whilst we're all confessing our 'sins'
Betina spent a night in the cells about 8 years ago
I got locked up for supposedly battering my then boyfriend in a hotel room. Interesting considering I was the one with a broken nose, 2 black eyes and cuts and bruises
but because the hotel staff could hear me shouting and going mental they assumed it was me attacking him and I got arrested. Obviously I was hitting him back and shouting, but the custody sargent the next morning even said if I was the perpetrator why did I look the way I did and there wasn't a mark on him?He got a taxi back home and I spent a night in the cells about 40 miles away from home.
It was a very dark time in my life. I'd never been in trouble with the police before and when I got to the police station I couldn't even get my words out I was crying so much (I was absolutely pissed as a fart as well
) so I just got put in a cell to sleep it off and interviewed the next morning. I got bailed and luckily for me no further action was taken, but I was terrified I was going to prison for assault and criminal damage (apparently the hotel room was pretty smashed up)This boyfriend was supposed to be the nice guy after getting out of a horrible marriage. I stayed single for another 2 years after him
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I work in adult MH services, we assess lots of different types of people from people who are working in professional jobs to ex prisoners and everyone in between.
The majority of ex prisoners we see have had horrendous childhoods ( physical/emotional /sexual abuse/ poverty/ parents with substance misuse problems/Mental illness ) or been in and out of care or from a really young age have just gone from institution to institution or foster carer to foster carer. They get to 18 and are given a flat & struggle to manage running a home, bills etc. They usually haven’t got good family role models so muddle along and end up in prison. Lots then struggle when they’re released without the structure that it gives them and say they’re going to offend again so they go back.
I know this is generalising but this is my experience, there are arseholes out there too!
A classic example of Correlation ≠ Causation. I recently read an interesting study by Halle et al. (2020) who examined the link between Mental Health, Crime and Violence.
I’m a scientist so not exactly linked to the justice system, but I find it both fascinating and upsetting. I’m a huge advocate for prevention through education and reform, so I thank you both for all you do
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You’re amazing! Thank you for helping these people
Such an eye-opening thread. Much love to everyone contributing so far, from either side. Hope everyone's in a good place <3
I teach in a YOI, have girls as well as boys. Every single girl I’ve taught has a history of extreme abuse, it’s an absolute travesty. Many of the boys as well. They cycle through, see the same faces on repeat. I’d like to feel I make a difference but really it’s too late to change anything for them. We need to pump money into early years care and education to change things for the next generation I think.
Do the prisoners separate into different groups of “friends”?
Is it obvious when someone’s never been inside before or when someone doesn’t really live a life of crime compared to those who do?
What do prisoners typically make of your more “middle class” prisoner who might be inside for a non-violent crime like tax evasion or fraud for example, rather than a violent crime?
Is it obvious when someone’s never been inside before or when someone doesn’t really live a life of crime compared to those who do?
What do prisoners typically make of your more “middle class” prisoner who might be inside for a non-violent crime like tax evasion or fraud for example, rather than a violent crime?
Yeah, everyone had their friend group. I was in prison for fraud, in a mixed enhanced wing with fraud, murderers, people who’d been cultivating drugs and the like. The people I was friends with were similar to me - in for a few months, non-violent crime, a one off that will never ever happen again. A few of the murderers were perfectly nice though and we’d chat. I’ve seen documentaries about them since and don’t recognise them as the people I knew. I think I stuck out like a sore thumb, apparently I talk posh (I do not!) and am “too” polite.
Welcome!
I went to a rally recently and a woman who'd been in prison spoke.
She didn't talk about day to day life but she did talk about how she was locked up with male murderers.
It was in Scotland very recently.
She didn't talk about day to day life but she did talk about how she was locked up with male murderers.
It was in Scotland very recently.
What was her crime?
Just joining to say that someone close to me did a 4 month stretch in a UK prison well known for suicides last year. An older building. It was a shock, especially as nobody dealing with the case believed they'd get sent down and this person wouldn't put up much of a defence because they wanted to face their guilt, having done something very out of character.
There was a lot of boredom. Life was quite mundane. The worst thing was the 23 hour a day 'lock up' in a cell. No opportunities for playing pool or anything. The 'hour out' was for a walk round the yard and a trip to the library. If there was 'staff training' on a given day, they never got out of the pad at all. Short-term prisoners weren't offered much in the way of jobs that got them out of their pads and there was so little to do. My friend waited weeks to get on an art course, which only came up in the last few weeks of the sentence. That meant two hours a day release from the pad a few days a week. Time was spent drawing, making things out of basic implements and watching the very limited TV service. You had to be doing more 'serious' time to earn certain privileges. Mental health and opportunities for various forms of rehabilitation wasn't really addressed very well. First cellmate was a pain in the backside but there was the option to bunk up with another person in the last month, which improved things somewhat. The food was ok, if a bit bland for a vegetarian.
My friend, thankfully, took in their stride, accepting that they were there to be punished. They said it wasn't a time full of dramas, like you see on TV. There was the odd ruckus but it was usually diffused. Surprising, considering how long the inmates had to spend in their pads. It was awful for the family outside, though, because communication was limited and it took nearly a month to get any kind of communication at all, due to the various checks and procedures.
There was a lot of boredom. Life was quite mundane. The worst thing was the 23 hour a day 'lock up' in a cell. No opportunities for playing pool or anything. The 'hour out' was for a walk round the yard and a trip to the library. If there was 'staff training' on a given day, they never got out of the pad at all. Short-term prisoners weren't offered much in the way of jobs that got them out of their pads and there was so little to do. My friend waited weeks to get on an art course, which only came up in the last few weeks of the sentence. That meant two hours a day release from the pad a few days a week. Time was spent drawing, making things out of basic implements and watching the very limited TV service. You had to be doing more 'serious' time to earn certain privileges. Mental health and opportunities for various forms of rehabilitation wasn't really addressed very well. First cellmate was a pain in the backside but there was the option to bunk up with another person in the last month, which improved things somewhat. The food was ok, if a bit bland for a vegetarian.
My friend, thankfully, took in their stride, accepting that they were there to be punished. They said it wasn't a time full of dramas, like you see on TV. There was the odd ruckus but it was usually diffused. Surprising, considering how long the inmates had to spend in their pads. It was awful for the family outside, though, because communication was limited and it took nearly a month to get any kind of communication at all, due to the various checks and procedures.