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Much of what we think we know about prison comes from movies and the media, often reduced to clichés that paint a one-dimensional picture. But there’s so much to it that rarely gets acknowledged.
So, one curious Redditor asked former inmates to share what most people aren’t typically aware of when it comes to life behind bars. The question sparked plenty of responses, and we’ve gathered some of the most intriguing ones. Find them below—you’ll likely learn something you didn’t expect.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
You've heard of for-profit prisons, but it starts well before and ends well after prison.
Everything has a cost: parole (you pay a parole fee), community service (you pay a community service fee), court costs, you owe the state for part of the cost of you being in jail. Restitution (paying back the people hurt by your crime). Ankle monitor, on your tab. Can't pay? Parole revoked, back to jail with no chance of re-parole / you must serve your full sentence because you violated conditions of your parole.
The biggest scams are the halfway houses. They were about $1500 a month in my town to share a dormroom with, well, another ex-con. Can't pay? Parole revoked, back to prison.
And remember that you're supposed to be paying all this on whatever job you can get **as a felon**. Do you know how many jobs, like Wendy's or even Kroger, tell you to GTFO when you answer that you have a felony conviction? I couldn't work at a *library*. What, you think I'm going to steal a library book?
If you have a substance-related conviction (and sometimes, even if you don't... eg me), you have to do regular d**g testing. You're paying for that, of course. Can't pay? Back to prison. It was like $128 a month for 2x month d**g testing. And again, my conviction wasn't d**g related.
My roomie did have a d**g-related conviction, so he had to do three random d**g tests a week (that he had to pay for). He almost got sent back to prison (2 of 3 strikes) for testing "dilute"; that is, his urine was too watery. He was walking home in 95* heat (can't have a car at this halfway-house) and was, you guessed it, drinking water.
I did the math and I owed about $2200 / month in mandatory court expenses, that if I did not pay I would go back to jail. That was something like 200 hours of work / month, *before taxes and not even considering food*. And I had a fairly good job, *especially* for a convicted felon.
But the best part was the judge that sentenced both of us **owned the halfway house**. He was a partial owner. Talk about cash 4 kids.
The system is absolutely, 100% designed to send you back to prison. There is simply no way a normal ex-con can get out of the "cycle" on their own.
edit: this was in one of, if not the most, progressive towns in the country. I cannot imagine what it would be like in the Sheriff Joe Arapaio places of the world.
Blue Bunny of Happiness 5 hours ago
And now (as a Brit) I understand why the USA has such a large prison population
RELATED:
#2
Here in Wisconsin, there’s a volunteer organization that trains guide dogs. All guide dogs in this program are housed at a prison an trained by an inmate for a portion of every dogs puppy raising process.
newsgroupmonkey:
In many prisons in the UK, dogs, particularly cute ones, are allowed in prisons as therapy dogs.
Apparently you can often take the hardest, most manly prisoner and they'll become an absolute softy around a cute dog.
On the other hand, the security dogs, don't muck about around them.
talliloo 10 hours ago
this should be a program offered to prisons on a regular basis. there was a study that was done regarding having inmates having pets, in this case, cats. it was found that the aggression levels came down and there were less altercations. however, it was also noticed that the inmates became very possessive of the pets and some had acted out if their pet was mistreated by another inmate. actually, i can relate to that as i would definitely put someone down on the ground if my babies were messed with.
#3
Not a former prisoner, but used to work in a job that involved the prison system:
1) The sheer volume of paperwork prisoners do every day. Everything they do, everything they request, almost every little interaction with the facility involves paperwork.
2) How *normal* a prison can feel, almost like any institutional setting — hospital, university, etc. — with people hanging around, shooting the s**t, going to work, going to class, until suddenly it very much doesn’t.
#4
From my husband/ best friend :
"From the color of the uniform to the color of the walls, every detail of a prison was thought about and placed to keep your mind numb and institutionalized".
#5
Can only speak for Australian prisons, but the food can be incredible if you're lucky and they let the prisoners cook.
Every chef is on d***s and will eventually spend time locked up, so you can have the entire kitchen of a prison be top class chefs.
Seriously, the best crumbed chicken I've ever had in my life was in Pentridge in the mid 90s. So crisp and full of flavour. 25 years and I've never had anything which has come close to how nice it was. Wish I know who cooked it so I could visit their restaurant, lol.
Manana Man 4 hours ago
'I spent four years subsisting on a thin gruel in a Viet Cong tiger cage. I've nearly gone mad trying to find it here in the States but no one can get the spices right.' Seymour Skinner
#6
A lot of people don’t realize how much trading goes on inside. It’s not just cigarettes everything has value, from ramen noodles to stamps. The barter system is huge, and sometimes it feels like an economy all on its own.
#8
Never went to prison but got arrested before and spent a few days in jail. Chained next to a guy that was a repeat offender and taught his GF, who also got arrested with him, sign language. Neither are deaf; they use it to signal each other in between cells. I always thought that was pretty interesting.
#9
Lifers get more perks than temp prisoners. They have nothing to lose really, so they are kept happy. (Ireland)
#10
Women’s prison is a pettier, gayer version of middle school. I got pretty much molested daily my first 2 months. Prison definitely helped me to have a backbone. They are nice to you if they can tell you’re not from the lifestyle. Most of the time I escaped the drama because my character and heart saved me, so if someone did try to start something the other girls would usually step up for me.
Everyone is allll talk and if fights do happen they’re not that serious and usually about prison gfs or mutual dudes on the outside. Yes it is as gay as it is the media. 90%, married or not, no matter how straight they claim to be, engage in sexual activities or heavy petting and hand holding lol. Even more definitely get into a weird emotional/romantic relationship even if they never cross the physical activity line. It’s boring.
Depending on the program you’re in there’s mandatory wake up at either 5am or 9am. I was in the 5am and you get written up if you’re caught laying down. It’s super hard to actually have any s*x unless you’re roommates especially in a smaller facility the guards really have no lives so they police even sharing headphones. I got written up once for letting my roommate use my mayo at cafeteria for dinner.
You get reallyyyy comfortable having to strip down and spread and cough. I had to do it usually at least 3x a week. Most women gain a minimum of 30lbs, everythinggggg is processed and any gym time you get is limited and has time constraints based on units. The food sucks so most of the time you have to rely on commissary. I’m a chef and the facility I was in had a toaster oven so the girls loved me because I taught a lot of them how to make some good food haha, but also the ones that have done a lot of time know how to get creative. It’s crazy. We had girls making egg rolls and Alfredo haha. No matter how nice the staff might be you will still always be put into place and reminded/treated like a subpar human being.
#11
Cell phones are extremely easy to get, and contrary to popular belief, it’s not just the COs bringing them in. That’s actually less common than you think. Not a lot of people want to risk their job and benefits for their family for a bit of money. And inmates don’t want to risk being thrown in the hole for trying to proposition an officer. They also don’t want to be seen talking privately to an officer and looking like a snitch. There’s other ways contraband can get in.
Drones dropping contraband into the yard is common nowadays. There’s also the old walking up and throwing it over the fence. My spot let inmates drive cars for certain jobs, sometimes even off prison property. We also had windows that opened, and could be taken completely off by unscrewing some bolts.
Every night after count, a group of inmates would go out the window and grab alcohol, cigarettes, cell phones, and the big one was actually food. Usually dropped in a huge duffle bag in the woods behind the prison. A lot of them got picked up by their wives/girlfriends and hung out for a few hours. I know someone who got their girl pregnant while doing that. When COs noticed she was pregnant during a visit, he was put in the hole and investigated. Not sure what happened after that.
Eventually someone snitched and 4 of them got caught. Here’s the news article.
#12
You can make eyeliner from pencil.
#13
How creative every one is. People invent the craziest s**t to do mundane things that we take for granted.
I don’t wanna burn out the real creative stuff, but first thing that comes to mind is tv stands made of toilet paper and tattoo guns made of dismantled cd players and guitar strings.
JudgeJuryEx78:
My son's father made some really cool beads out of plastic bags and sent me a necklace and a bracelet. I've never worn them but I kept them. It's impressive.
talliloo 10 hours ago
i taught a class once a month at prisons-kind of like a specialty class. the clerks for the regular instructors were lifers and i got along well with them. one rule is you don't accept gifts from inmates or do favors for them. one of the clerks had overheard on one visit that i had had a birthday. the next month he presented me with earrings he had made with my name. i thanked him but refused to accept them due to rules. he said he understood and left it at that. a couple of weeks later i was cleaning out my briefcase and there in the bottom were the earrings. i guess he slipped them in when i wasn't paying attention. it's been over 20 yrs and i still have them.
#14
The most support in prison I got was from the other inmates.
Most people in prison don’t need to be there.
There is no rehabilitation
The worst part of prison is the system and under qualified staff who are there to mainly move human traffic.
Most people leave prison worse than what they went in due to lack of support.
For every person in prison there is a family going through the sentance too.
Volunteers them at come into the prison are angels!!
I met 3 of my best mates prison. Only people that can empathise with my journey and can talk too.
Today life is good but the greater community is so ignorant about prison and its mechanics.
Thanks for this feed.
#15
There are a lot of nerds in prison. Like regular DnD campaigns, magic the gathering battles, we played tons of board games, occasionally got awarded a game system for cleanest unit. (Only Madden and Forza tho, no shooters).
#16
The California department of corrections and rehabilitation is almost self sufficient. They make almost everything they use, food, clothing, all that.
#17
If you're on the spectrum it's gonna be hella overstimulating. The fluorescent lighting, the celly that won't shut f**k up, the texture of the scrubs you gotta wear.
#18
Oh my God the corruption of the guards is SO prevalent!!! It's right out in the open clear as day. Watching female guards crying when certain inmates were leaving. Female guards when serious bling all pretties up at work. Female guards disappearing into cells.
Respect is a joke. No one gives it. If they think or say your p**o, your f****d. Doesn't matter if your paperwork shows you're not a p**o. The inmates will say you made your paperwork and it's fake, they got people on the outside saying you're a p**o. I spent 4 1/2 years fighting because they said all that and that I looked like p**o.
EVERYONE snitches.
Inmates believe if you're doing the f*****g or receiving head, your not gay. We all heard a guy who was married with kids being released in a week. Raping his cellmate every night
Guards don't give a c**p about you. A guard walked into the shower room and caught a bunch of inmates gangraping a small white inmate. The guard walked out and did nothing. It wasn't until 2 hours later another guard found the inmate barely alive covered in blood.
#19
How much just 1 year inside will change you. I spent one year in, and now my anxiety has tripled. I can't deal with large groups of people, even if it's family, and I catch myself always watching people, especially at work.
#20
It’s smelly and loud, the TV is fought over, but we all sang along to the commercials, the water is either way too hot, or ice cold. The food sucks a*s, I had like 3 pieces of fruit the whole time I was there. It made me not want to ever go back again, so I guess I learned my lesson. There was little to no mental health support, and half of the people in there just have undiagnosed mental illnesses.
#21
There are good education opportunities in prison if you avail of them. Some inmates even get limited access to laptops to do open university courses etc (no internet). (Ireland)
#22
There are a lot of talented people in prison. Artists who can draw sexual pictures are popular.
#23
Most of it has been said already, but a few off the top of my head. Im in the US:
If you dont have money or someone sending you money and you dont have a hustle, you are going to be hungry. The food is a*s, and will not fill you up. In my state you only get two meals on weekends.
Having a hustle is a good idea in general. Some folks write letters, make art, sell items they stole from whatever job they have(Clean/brand new clothes, bleach for washing said clothes yourself-in the sink so they don't get mixed in with the ones with s**t stains and stuff, any sort of items used to make a tattoo machine are highly valuable, food from the kitchen smuggled back.) Any job where you have access to certain things and aren't scared to steal can net you some good pull and money.
#24
Trusted prisoners often work as counselors and get training by The Samaritans. They save lives by helping prisoners cope, especially new prisoners. S*icides happen maybe once or twice per year. (Ireland)
#25
Things are settled with surprisingly respectful fights. If someone goes down you let them back up. It's settled in a very old school "manly" sort of way. Even small disagreements get settled this way. Neither party may even be mad, its just what you have to do "handle business" "get your paper" There are words that will always lead to a fight "b**ch" "h**" "punk" (theres some nuance here because punk is also a title so if you actaully are one, its not going to be a fight) where I was at, just saying "whats up then?" meant a fight you could not back down from.
If someone uses those "fighting words" or disrespects you, you must fight them win/lose/or draw. Its more about standing up for yourself than winning. People respect you if you stand up for yourself.
Upon entering certain races may approach you and test you, and you may need to fight immediately this is called a "heart check" its to confirm whether you're a b**ch or not. If you do not fight, you will have a bad time, as no one respects you and if someone wants to take advantage of you no one will give a s**t. On that note, there are absolutely predators, and you learn who they are and you just don't fuck with them.
Everything is racially segregated to an extent. Its just how it is. If a riot pops off even if its gang related, most gangs are based on race, so if youre a certain color its doesnt matter if you're solo, you're a target(hence the heart check, "if it goes down can I count on you to have my back?")
#26
It's a lot more relaxed than people would guess, common knowledge of prison has come from media that dramatizes the conflicts and violence. There is conflict and violence, but unless one places themselves in a position to be targeted, it's unlikely they will be.
#27
Prison is mostly boredom, trading items to get by, and staying alert to avoid trouble. The mental toll and overcrowding make it harder than people think.
#28
Not ex prisoner but my buddy is one. Don’t tell lifers about your life outside of prison especially of people they know.
They don’t want to remember they’re still in while the world outside passes them by. They aren’t mentally the same anymore and become a shell of their former self. Their temperament is way more unhinged due to the lack of self preservation for the same reason.
#29
French prisons have all the d***s, all of them. The guards know it, the director knows it, the government knows it, they don't try to stop it, stoned prisoners are easyer to manage.
Also everybody has a phone even if it's forbidden, it reduces the pressure on the parlor wait list.
French prisons are horribly overcrowded.
#30
When I went to jail(LA COUNTY) the first thing I noticed was how respectful cordial and polite everyone is to each other. If there is a problem(between races) you respectfully approach the leader or shotcaller of that race. And talk about the dispute like politicians no animosity or anger and it usually gets resolved. Sometimes it doesn't and you are very calmly told that there will be conflict and bloodshed and to be ready for war.
#31
The trope of prisoners being out of touch with technology and news is utterly ridiculous. Other than TV and movies being available newspapers get read cover to cover daily. And everyone will know what new prisoner coming in was sentenced for if the new prisoner on the block got even the slightest news coverage.
#32
I’m a CO, I will say that it’s interesting how a lot of inmates have their own “sky writing” sign language to talk to each other while we are in the block.
#33
There was a guy called Paddy who was a troubled chap. Nice fella, but self harmed a lot and always had his arms bandaged up. Periodically, he would do a "dirty protest", which was basically trashing his pad. He'd smear s**t all over the walls and windows toss all his belongings all over, wet all his tea bags, and then smear the leaves all over the place, squirt ketchup on the walls, etc. This happened about 4 times when I was there - first time they moved him to the seg (segregation block) whilst his room was cleaned. In the subsequent times they didn't bother moving him and made him stay in his pad for a week or more before sorting it out. They didn't let him out during social and we'd talk to him through his s**t smeared window.
#34
Not a prisoner, but I'm an officer in a UK jail, and it's shocking how normal it feels sometimes. Guys going about their day, going to work and education, talking to you like you would anyone else on the street. Sometimes it kicks off of course, but it's also pretty mundane. It feels like a community a lot of the time and it's definitely not as dark and depressing as they make it out to be in the movies. Can't speak for other countries, though.
#35
It's illegal to smoke in prisons in my country, so they have nicorette gum. They're sold in "sleeves", and go for $5/sleeve. That's inside currency. Transfers will cost you $90 for 10 sleeves. That's when they get someone on the outside to send money to your outside account, and you buy sleeves inside for them. (Canada)
Debby Keir 3 hours ago
In the UK, they can have vapes which you buy from the 'comissary' with any wages. If you don't work, or need another one, you get into debt. At times, those who owed other prisoners would request to go into the segregation wing (S*x offenders) so that those who were owed couln't get at them.
#36
And the name of the game is patience. There's certain things you can put in requests to purchase, like Discmans and a fan. Expect to wait 3 months. They'll order it in a few weeks, it'll arrive a week after, and it will sit in V&C for 2 months before they open it and give it to you. Harass them, they'll put it in property, and you can have it when you're released.
#37
There are genuinely nice, decent people in prison who just did stupid things.
talliloo 10 hours ago
i mentioned in another comment that i taught classes in prisons leveling from 2 to 4. during part of my classes i would always comment how 85% of them were in there for stupid things ranging from addiction fueled actions to acts of desperation-it didn't mean they were bad people but bad at making decisions and poor impulse control. however, the remaining 15% are there because they should be and should never get out. of course, the response would be loud and defensive. when it calmed down i would simply say that they lived with each other and they know who and what i was talking about and there were me some agreement.
#38
Some prisons have Netflix etc. No choice as to what they put on, but still...
Some prisons even allow old xBox 360 or PlayStation 2 consoles. (Ireland)
#40
That the illegal d***s that most prisoners are convicted for are introduced into the inmate population by the correction officers themselves more so than people flying/throwing packages over the fence.
#41
COs wont treat you like a human. Some of them are sadistic f***s who will do everything they can to get an inmate to lash out so they have a reason to legally beat them black and blue.
It is absolutely boring as f**k.
#42
Not prison, but I did some months in county jail and toothpaste is the go-to treatment for almost any skin issues.
jessipepper27:
Toothpaste is also a good adhesive. The amount of times I've escorted prisoners to fix up smashed up cells and there's toothpaste being scrubbed off all the walls because they've used it to stick up photos and whatever else. No wonder they go through it like there's no tomorrow.
#43
Guards get to do whatever they want. You think cops are bad? Imagine getting held down and pissed on just for talking back.
#44
I found it pretty relaxing to not have to think about what you are going to do for the day. Also no pressure to achieve something. Yes, there were those walls and barbwire fences. But I flourished as a person in prison. And that’s something I do not talk about with other people. That I liked it there.
Yes, prison can be good for you.
Mother of Dragons 4 hours ago
I'm quite close with someone who says the exact same thing. I've also worked with quite a few clients who have told me the very same thing as well.
#45
I have a buddy in prison. He says he plays D&D about 6 hours a day 5-7 days/week. There is nothing else to do so they just sit around building out their world, running encounters, making characters, whatever. They use little paper spinners since dice are not allowed but even the spinners are technically contraband since they could be used for gambling. But it's sort of an open secret that guards won't harrass them so long as they follow all the other rules.
Apparently one dude joined the group and did some silly s**t in their D&D campaign and got a few of the other guys characters killed. He was shunned irl for a few weeks. They don't retcon deaths since it breaks the immersion / tension - what happens in the game, stays in the game, no going back.
#46
Inmates would use little plastic shampoo bottles to put on the shower heads to increase the water pressure. Also you had to push a button on the shower every 30 seconds to keep the water going.
#48
# Prison tattoo ink is made by collecting soot from improvised candles burning baby oil.
We made small oil burners from roll-on deodorant caps that were filled with baby oil. Any piece of cloth was used for a wick and to contain the lot we used the aluminum peel off lids from small fruit cups or single serve sherbert.
We were delivered commissary in brown paper bags like you would find at any US grocery store. The bag was cut down to be around half as tall as normal. The "candle/s" were lit and sat under the overturned grocery bag. The wick was optimally adjusted to create the darkest smoke rolling off the candle. The black smoke is caught by the brown grocery bag sat over top.
Once the candle's fuel is exhausted, you use an old playing card to scrape the soot from inside the bag. The soot is a very fine powder that will stain anything it touches black.
The soot is mixed with water and a small amount of toothpaste.
#50
You'll definitely get out with several bacterial and viral diseases (if only held for one day), and if you stay in prison for more than a month, think about kidney failure and respiratory diseases as well. Unless you end up in prisons that belong to countries with good laws that protect you.
#51
Cards are king. Canasta and Big 2 were the games of choice in one prison. The other one had a Bridge table i joined. (Canada)
#52
Many inmates abuse the medical system to get strong painkillers like Lyrica or other dr*gs which can give a high if taken in larger doses. (Ireland)
#53
The r*pe issue, while not non-existent, is way less IRL than in the movies. I was in for 2 years, and it never happened once, in either prison. There's the odd tale told by lifers about "this guy 10 years ago" or "i knew a guy in a different jail", but it's not common. (Canada)
#54
It's boring af. You take whatever tobacco a sex worker has smuggled in and you agree to only smoke it once an hour. But that hour takes like 48 hours.
#55
There are already many many answers here so no one will probably see it but I once hat a weekly seminar in a prison for uni (in Germany tho) and we talked a lot with the prisoners there and also visited the prison. I read a lot here about american prisons and just wanted to give you a few examples of the differences between the countries because not every prison is like american prison.
In Germany, every prisoner has a TV. Every prisoner has a phone (illegaly tho). Every prisoner has a seperate bathroom in his cell (but this has recently changed, before they just had a toilet in the room) and the cells are quite big. Everyone has access to education, they can take courses at a uni that offers courses for people who cannot come in presence. They have no internet access tho. They can be part of a theater group or other things, there are a lot of offers. Also, from what I saw and I know I probably met the nicest/most interested or open ones from the prisoners, they had a pretty good relationship with the guards. Also, there were a lot of female guards and I was only in an all men prison. Most guards do a good job in my perspective. But we had one experience where they wanted to show us a cell and the guard asked us if we wanted to see a dirty one, a normal one or an empty one and we said we wanted a empty one to not disturb the privacy of the people and he just said they don't decide about that and if we want it they make it happen. That shocked us. So not all clichés are just clichés but I still believes it's getting better, atleast in Germany.
Also, there are a lot of s*icides no one talks about. They told us they had two in one week once and it was a total of around 40 per year which really is a lot. Even tho every prisoner has to work unless they are not able to there are a lot of prisoners who are always staying in their rooms, just watching TV and not doing anything else. It's really hard to get into a special program for mental ill prisoners. For example there was one very young one who came into the program because he was seriously anorexic, but he knew a lot of others who had very serious mental health issues and couldn't get in. If you do, for instance you can get more time on family visits and you get therapy.
That's my take, I can not grant that this is the case in every prison in Germany, I just saw one. Also, of course, I was only a visitor. But we had a lot of time to speak to the prisoners in private and that's what they told us so I think the picture cannot be completely wrong.
#56
All gays/bie, etc are separated from the rest to avoid contamination since the majority of then have std like sida or hepatitis, etc. I purposely avoided saying I'm bie in case there was issues so I guess I did right.
Binky Melnik 10 hours ago
Are AIDS and hepatitis considered STDs in the US? Serious question; I know both can be obtained via sex, but it’s not the only way, and for all I know, it’s not even the predominant way, so this post made me wonder. (Thanks for answering and not downvoting!) (Hey! Undo the downvote!)
What do you think ?
Ace 4 hours ago
More than 30 years ago I did a few months in UK prison (for driving offences) and I think one of the things many people, from the more privileged end of society don't realise is just how much the threat of violence is always there. You have to be on your guard all the time to not offend anyone and it's often a relief when it's time for the cell doors to be closed so you can relax on your own. I've often seen comments about how easy it is in prison, from people who either thrive in that sort of environment or from people who've never been there. It really is a horrible place.
Binky Melnik 10 hours ago (edited)
I watched the documentary TV series about prisons around the world (on Hulu, I think?), and I’ve never seen so many horrifying places. In Thailands and its environs, the men sleep chest to back like sardines. The most extraordinary, though, was Finland, where the jail is like a hotel (much nicer than a Motel 6!). Everyone has a phone, DVD player, TV, and can come and go as they please. Many have jobs and drive off to work every day, and some are allowed to go see their girlfriends after work! The COs are people they grew up with, so they’re treated like friends because they are! I’m not kidding that I’ve thought about going to Finland and doing something bad to get in there except I don’t remember having seen any women in the prison. I also remember seeing Reza Mahdadi (MMA fighter who participated in a designer handbag burglary) in his cell in Sweden in a YouTube vid and I had the same thought: his cell looked cozy and comfortable, and was full of books and a TV. Jails and prisons in the US are closer to Thailand that Scandinavia. 😞
Captive 2 hours ago
Yes I watches that too. Truly horrific prisons around the world!
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Ace 4 hours ago
More than 30 years ago I did a few months in UK prison (for driving offences) and I think one of the things many people, from the more privileged end of society don't realise is just how much the threat of violence is always there. You have to be on your guard all the time to not offend anyone and it's often a relief when it's time for the cell doors to be closed so you can relax on your own. I've often seen comments about how easy it is in prison, from people who either thrive in that sort of environment or from people who've never been there. It really is a horrible place.
Binky Melnik 10 hours ago (edited)
I watched the documentary TV series about prisons around the world (on Hulu, I think?), and I’ve never seen so many horrifying places. In Thailands and its environs, the men sleep chest to back like sardines. The most extraordinary, though, was Finland, where the jail is like a hotel (much nicer than a Motel 6!). Everyone has a phone, DVD player, TV, and can come and go as they please. Many have jobs and drive off to work every day, and some are allowed to go see their girlfriends after work! The COs are people they grew up with, so they’re treated like friends because they are! I’m not kidding that I’ve thought about going to Finland and doing something bad to get in there except I don’t remember having seen any women in the prison. I also remember seeing Reza Mahdadi (MMA fighter who participated in a designer handbag burglary) in his cell in Sweden in a YouTube vid and I had the same thought: his cell looked cozy and comfortable, and was full of books and a TV. Jails and prisons in the US are closer to Thailand that Scandinavia. 😞
Captive 2 hours ago
Yes I watches that too. Truly horrific prisons around the world!
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