How to Survive Prison?

FOREWORDS

Since this book is dedicated to Americans who have to go to prison perhaps “A Guide for Americans Going to Prison” would have been a better title. We have manuals, handbooks, references and ‘do it yourself’ on practically everything – with so many Americans incarcerated – it is fair to say a guide to prison is long overdue.

You may be one of those Americans who had already lost at trial or admitted guilt in a plea agreement and is now waiting to be sent to prison for the first time. You are dreading the day of your sentence; you are dreading the day when you’ll actually be taken to prison. You have conjured up an image: all those movies, the TV, the newspapers, all that Hollywood. Forget about them! They are all wrong. Despite what you have seen or heard before you have no idea what’s waiting for you, but you will after you read this book.

(On the other hand) you might be the one who has never been in trouble with the law and never been arrested, perhaps you never even had a parking ticket. You are not a criminal, you don’t intend to be one hence you don’t think you need this book. Well, you are sorely mistaken. Please hold your laugh and contempt, this is not a tongue-in-cheek statement: You yourself may need this book sooner than you can (ever) imagine.

While this book is aimed at first-timers, second time offenders could still benefit from its refreshment. Third time around and beyond guys are reading the wrong book; they should be reading the Bible since nothing else can help them.

Anyway for those who laughed at my earlier statement, for those who think (that) this book is not for them, herewith some sobering facts:

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, as of January 2005 there were 2.3 million persons incarcerated in the United States of America. Some statistics claim/predict that this number will exceed 2.5 million by the year-end of 2010. In other words 2.5 million Americans are behind bars in various state, county, federal lock-ups, jails, prisons, and penitentiaries. According to USA Today (Oct. 24, 2005) the U.S. incarceration rate was 724 per 100,000 – 25% higher than that of any other nation. In addition to this there are an approximate 5 million Americans on parole, probation, work-release, work-camp, halfway-house, boot-camp, house-arrest, ankle bracelet, community-control, juvenile detention center, drug-rehab program and so on and so on as part of their sentence mandated by the courts. This is a staggering 7.5 million people, 2.5% of the entire population. This is more than the population of some European countries; like Sweden, Denmark, Norway or Switzerland. This means that one out of every fortieth Americans, one out of every 40 persons, out of a total population of 300 million are either incarcerated or under some kind of prison or jail control. When we deduct children (aged fourteen and under) from this number we end up with an approximate population of 170 million. In this case the percentage jumps up to 4.4% meaning that every twenty-third American over the age of fourteen is locked up, or under some kind of legal supervision, which are essentially extensions of prisons.

In the same time the average percentage of incarceration for the 27 member European Union is 1.03%, in other words approximately one out of one hundred European is incarcerated. The highest incarceration rate occurs in Britain with 1.4%, in Asia the worst is Indonesia with 1.6%, in Africa Nigeria with 1.8%, in Latin America, Colombia with 1.7%, while Australia and New Zealand compares the best with a combined average of 0.9%. There is no data available for Russia and China – might as well because to equal our 2.5% incarceration rate China would have to have at least 32.5 million of its people locked up. By all account we all know that is certainly not the case.

In Europe and perhaps in the rest of the world imprisonment is incidental (or accidental). In America incarceration is part of life. Our prisons not only house criminals, some of our social problems are also behind bars. Besides punishing the guilty and incarcerating lots of innocents our justice system has evolved (developed) into an industry, and unfortunately into a very profitable industry. There are substantial forces in the United States whose vested interest keeps prisons going and growing.

If you are fortunate enough not to be part of the prison statistics surely you know someone – not so removed from yourself – who may benefit from this book. Bear in mind that sooner or later every twenty-third adult American will end up in jail or prison. It could be your friend, a friend of a friend, a relative, a family member, an acquaintance, a colleague, your boss, a fellow worker or perhaps yourself. To paraphrase Bobby Brown who perhaps intended his statement as a joke, he says that since he’s been to jail, he is a real American. Sadly he may – unintentionally – have captured the essence, since sooner or later you may not be a ‘true’ American unless you have been to prison or jail. If you think of it, indeed more Americans served time in prison than in the armed forces. You can argue that serving time will soon be as American as apple pie and baseball. So you see you’ll need this book. You can give it for birthdays, Christmas and Thanksgiving, for anniversaries, graduation or even as a retirement gift. You can buy it for friends and foes alike, you can give it as a surprise, a hint, a warning, or ju