#1 Guide For An Inmate To Survive When Incarcerated In 2021

Going behind the bars, is something we all want to avoid. Are you or someone you know facing a sentence in the jail? For the most part, it can be a tough and scary time for the prisoner, their family and loved ones.

In this article we offer definitive guides to life behind bars. Here we have compiled some practical advises and answers to common questions asked by those who are about to face their prison sentence for the first time.

How to Prepare for Federal Prison

The first few weeks inside the prison can be the scariest and the toughest. You can face fear, despair, frustrations, and even loss of your mental balance.

As you might have seen in various movies and TV shows, spending time behind the bars can be beyond scary. Here are some important tips to help alleviate your concerns, as well as help you prepare for your time in prison.

1.

Educate yourself first.

Serving a sentence in jail can be both daunting and overwhelming. One of the best things you can do to put yourself together while facing your sentence is to prepare yourself by learning as much as you can.

Reading articles such as those readily available on the web, like this prison survival guide, can mean a whole lot of difference. You can also talk to someone you know who’s got a firsthand experience of being jailed in the past, so you can gather some ideas on what to expect and what not to expect behind bars.

2.

Get your finances altogether.

While this may be one of the last things you would want to think of as you are about to face your sentence in jail, settling your finances is an important thing for you to consider while you are still able to do so. Create a financial plan that should consider your financial responsibilities outside of the prison and your financial needs while you are in prison.

Appoint someone you trust, a family member, a close friend or a lawyer, to manage your finances on your behalf while you are inside. This is specifically important if you have a family you need to support. Or, you have a car, a real estate property, and miscellaneous bills that you’ll need to be taken cared of.

Additionally, if you can, arrange for a regular money transfer that you can use while you are inside to buy items at the commissary, for your telephone bills, and the little luxury like the MP3 music files that can somehow help make your stay at the prison a bit more bearable.

3.

Research as much information about your prison.

In some cases, the person who has made some violations to the law can self-surrender to a designated prison. Inmates under self-surrender status may have a few benefits including reduction of security points. This way, the individual also have better chances to prepare himself for prison.

So, should you plan to self-surrender, it’s a good idea to research about your designated prison and get to know about the prison facility’s specific admission rules and regulations as well as find opportunities the facility may offer to inmates such as further education, trainings, and recreational programs. Fortunately today, most of the prisons already participating in nationwide inmate & prison search platforms where you can conduct your research beforehand.

4.

Get your medical and dental check-ups done beforehand.

Although federal prisons generally provide medical and dental services for the inmates, the services are often very slow and substandard ad shouldn’t be relied upon for long-term health.

Before you submit yourself to prison see to it that you have resolved all the medical issues you have while you can still take advantage of the quality of medical care outside of prison. Get a full physical check up. If you need to obtain new glasses or prescription eyewear, do so. The same goes with your dental health. Set up an appointment with your dentist to resolve any dental issues you have before going to prison.

5.

Be in your best physical shape.

By all means do what you can to see to it that you are in your best physical shape before you go to prison. As they say, being in prison is like being at war, so it is important to prepare yourself physically much as you would like to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally.

Let’s face it fights and violence are relatively common in prison. You might want to arm yourself with skills in self-defense for your own protection. Fighting is never a good idea and it’s best to avoid them at any cost. But at the same time it is never wrong to keep yourself prepared all the time.

6.

See through your purpose behind the bars.

Time can either be your greatest friend or worst enemy at the jail. Without much to do, you will have plenty of time for yourself while you are serving your sentence inside.

You may consider this arduous amount of time as torturous or you can use this time to make yourself better. Choose to channel your energy into meaningful things and find the meaning of your purpose in life. Now is the best time for you to make a list of the areas in your life that you need to change so once you’re able to serve your sentence you can get out of the jail with an improved version of yourself.

First Day in Prison: What It Is Like

The first time you set foot inside a prison facility will very much likely be one of the memories you will never forget. The fear can be crippling and you will find your self overwhelmed with emotions.

Arriving at the Prison Facility

When an inmate is turned over for the custody of the federal prison, the inmate will be taken first to the R&D or Receiving and Discharge area. Generally, the new inmate will undergo the following:

  1. Their possessions will be reviewed to determine which possessions they have are permitted. Otherwise, the items will be confiscated.
  2. The inmate will be issued an identification card.
  3. The new prisoner will be photographed and fingerprints will be taken as well.
  4. The inmate will be handed a set of prison clothes.
  5. The inmate will also meet the prison officials from different departments as they go through the Admission and Orientation Interviews.

What Can I Bring Inside Prison?

There are not too many items that you are allowed to bring inside the prison facility. Some of the items that you can bring into prison include:

  • Prescription Medications
  • Small address book containing the addresses and phone numbers of your family, friends, and legal team.
  • Plain underwear, no buttons allowed
  • 2 Pairs of Eyeglasses ( Metal or Hard Casing with hinges are not allowed)
  • Personal or Legal Papers

As part of the processes an inmate undergoes during admission, his possessions will be examined. For those items that you are not permitted to keep, you will have an option to have them mailed to your home address, have them donated to a local Goodwill or get the items destroyed.

Is Stripping In Front of the Correctional Officers Required?

Searches or shakedowns are typical parts of prison life. This happens when prison guards – either routinely or randomly- search an inmate for contraband such as weapons, drugs, alcohol or even stolen food.

Federal prison guards will also conduct cell searches several times within a given shift. This is to ensure that there are no contrabands illegally taken into the cells by the inmates. They often do this kind of search when everybody is out for lunch.

Full body searches including strip search are also done occasionally. Or, depending on which correctional facility you will be incarcerated, sometimes it can be done once or several times a week.

Strip search can feel invasive, humiliating, and even traumatic at first. But, as time goes by you will eventually get familiar and get used to this type of body search. You will be expected to disrobe in front of a watchful correctional officer, who will also check through your hair and ask you to raise your arms, open your mouth, lift your tongue and cough. Other times strip searches can go as offer as the officer checking an inmate’s genital or anal areas for a close inspection. The purpose of this type of inspection, also called as visual body cavity search, is to ensure that there are no weapons or illegal drugs and other contrabands that are able to enter the cells discreetly. Hence, although this can feel intrusive, these searches are reasonable under the circumstances to ensure your safety and the other inmates’ safety as well.

What Housing Options Do I Have?

Once the intake process is completed, you will be assigned to a specific housing facility to serve your sentence.

Generally, inmates will go through a security classification screening and risk assessments to determine where they will be housed within the prison system.

Where you will be placed will largely depend on various factors including:

  • Inmate’s personal history
  • Nature of the crime committed
  • Past criminal record
  • Time remaining in sentence
  • Security level needs (e.g. when an inmate is considered dangerous, disruptive or will likely try to escape from the facility)
  • Mental health status

In many ways, prisoners will be sorted inside the cell to attain an orderly and secure prison environment as much as possible.

Understanding the Five Prison Security Levels

Inmates will be confined to a specific level of prison security level as follows:

1.

Minimum Security Level

Otherwise known as Federal Prison Camps, this is where inmates charged of non-violent crimes are assigned.

2.

Low Security Level or Federal Correctional Institutions (FCI)

This is where inmates that have less serious history of violence are confined. Inmates with less than 20 years remaining on their sentence will also be eligible for low security admission. The dormitory-style housing is surrounded with fences but staffing levels are lower compared to medium level prisons.

3.

Medium Security Level

Violence can be more serious and prevalent in medium level prisons. Inmates who have a history of violence are typically admitted here and the area is surrounded by multiple fences along with stationed armed perimeter vehicles.

4.

High Security Level

Inmates confined here have a significant violence history. Known for being one of the most violent prisons in the United States, gang fights and other forms of violence are quite common in higher security level prisons where a record number of inmates die.

5.

Administrative Security Level

This caters to inmates that require serious medical attention or those that have severe mental issues. Federal Detention Centers where pre-trial detainees are confined also belong to this level.

Will I be provided with My Basic Necessities?

Correctional facilities will provide the inmates with their basic needs before they are sent to their respective housing units or cells, this includes the following:

  • Blankets
  • Bed Sheets
  • Towel
  • Toiletries (Comb, Toothbrush, Tube of Toothpaste, Shampoo, Bar of Soap, Deodorant)
  • Socks
  • Slip-On Shoes or Plastic Sandals
  • Wash Cloths

These supplies can last an inmate for a few days. During your first day at the facility, you will need to head over to the jail’s designated Laundry Services area where you will be fitted for your jail clothing. At this point you will be provided with everything you will need for your clothing, bedding, and personal hygiene. Moving forward, you can buy any additional clothing and other items you want from the prison’s commissary.

Can I Smoke Inside the Jail?

This is a common question from would-be prisoners who are addicted to cigarettes. For your own benefit it is advised that you start disciplining your self to quit smoking before you start serving your time in the jail.

nd smokeless tobacco or those that are consumed by chewing or dipping. However, there are some jails, specifically some county jails that may not be very strict concerning smoking.

Otherwise, inmates that are caught smoking in a prison facility which explicitly bans smoking will get a disciplinary action and will be subjected to sanctions where applicable.

How to Survive In the Prison

Prison time will be one of the most unpleasant experiences you would never have imagined in your whole life. But if things suddenly go far south and you end up facing a sentence in jail, it’s important not to lose hope. Read on and learn from our tips on how you can thrive in a prison facility and how you can make your prison stay less burdensome.

The Prison Commissary

Federal prisons have a commissary where inmates can purchase extra items that they may need while inside. Commissary is considered as a personal privilege so only inmates with money in their trust fund account can enjoy buying items at the shop. Typically, inmates can shop at the commissary on an assigned day once every week. There are also limits to the number of items they can purchase and the overall amount of spending they are permitted.

Items that inmates can buy in the prison commissary include the following:

  • Beverages such as tea, coffee, sodas, and other drink mixes
  • Packaged instant food items such as ramen noodles and canned tuna
  • Snacks, Trail Mix and Chips
  • Personal Items including shoes, clothing, soap and other items for personal hygiene
  • Writing items pens, paper and stamps
  • Other miscellaneous items such as playing cards, radio and MP3 players

While inmates are not allowed to possess cash, they utilize an inmate account or trust fund for purchasing transactions. Inmates can have money in their trust fund accounts from friends and family who will send them money or from the little income they can get out of their institutional assignments.

Communication inside the Prison

Communication to your family and loved ones outside is one of the most difficult challenges you’ll have to face inside the prison.

contacts. In most cases this will be increased to 400 minutes in the months of November and December only. You should also be aware that calls you make are monitored or recorded.

Other forms of communications include:

US Postal Mail

Inmates are permitted to send and receive postal mails. But of course there are regulations that apply. You will be asked to sign an agreement to permit authorized prison staff to open and inspect mails prior to delivery. This is to prevent contrabands from being sneaked inside via mails.

E-mails

In the US, prisoners have access to an email system called TRULINCS or Trust Fund Limited Inmate Computer System. This gives inmates a privilege to send emails to their authorized members (up to 30 approved contacts). The emails are heavily monitored and certain restrictions apply – plain black text only and no media or attachments allowed.

Inmate Visitation

Inmates are allowed to have visits from their loved ones. Every prison facility will have different guidelines when it comes to inmate visitations. Visitor information will have to be verified and authorized or there visits may be denied. Visits are also limited on designated days and there is an imposed length of visitation time that you have to follow.

Dos and Don’ts: Top Tips for Prison Survival

Life inside the prison is far from easy. Prison can be a lonely, boring, and unforgiving place. To help you thrive along inside, here are some tips you should consider if you are about to face a life-changing jail sentence:

Do’s:

1.

Be polite and respectful.

Always be polite and respectful to the guards, staff, and your fellow inmates. Don’t give them reason to hate you else they will make your life in prison harder than it already is.

Avoid doing things that can make the staff or prison guards feel challenged or intimidated. You wouldn’t want to face the consequences for that mistake. Treat the guards and prison staff with respect and make friends with them if possible. It will make your life inside easier.

2.

Mind your own business - always.

Pretty much prison systems adapt a live and let live type of culture. This means mind your own business and I’ll mind mine so we all can get along just fine, kind of thinking. Sticking your nose to someone else’s business is often the primary source of fighting and violence inside the cell. Respect your fellow prisoner’s space and at the same time never let them invade yours.

And, while you are at it, it’s also important to bear in mind that part of the jail consequences is a severely curtailed rights. If the staff tells you to clean the table even if it isn’t part of your duties, you might as well do it so as to avoid any arguments and thrive along well.

3.

Keep your mouth shut.

It is always safer when you keep to your self while you are serving time in prison. Steer clear from engaging in topics that involve politics, religion, or racial issues as these topics will often lead to arguments.

Choose the words that come from your mouth carefully. Anything you say can easily be taken out of the context or can be used to manipulate and hurt you. Do not discuss about your crime or flaunt whatever business you have outside as these things can be used against you by your fellow prisoners. In the same way, you should also avoid prying into others’ lives and always respect your inmate’s privacy.

4.

Work out.

Working out is one of the best ways to pass time inside the prison. Plus, it will also make you stronger. The more muscles you build, the bigger you appear to be. So, you will be less likely to become the target of bullying and violence inside. That’s essentially hitting two birds in one stone.

5.

Think Positive.

Positivity inside the prison can go a long way. Prison time is difficult enough and it could make or break you. The key is to always think positive and look at the brighter side of things. Consider jail time as your greatest life lesson and spend time in finding ways to improve your self.

6.

Show allegiance to your own race.

You might think that racial issues are obsolete as acceptance and racial harmony is widely promoted outside in this modern time. The thing is, this is still quite an extreme focus inside. While it’s all right to maintain friendship with people from other races, chances are people will end up sticking to their own race. If worse comes to worst, every race will need to depend on their own race for protection.

7.

Keep an open communication with your family and support system outside.

Time in the jail can be a taxing and traumatic experience for anyone. Now is the best time to maintain and keep your communication with your family, friends, and your support system outside. Use your available resources to communicate with them as regularly as possible. Talking to them can significantly ease out your burden inside and maintaining an open communication with them can also help you fare well once your sentence will come to an end.

Don’ts:

1.

Never associate with the punks.

Save yourself from a great deal of trouble by avoiding any forms of association with the punks in the jail. Punks are equivalent to the bullies of the outside world, often worst.

These opportunistic thugs will only make your life inside the prison more miserable. They are the individuals who will promise to take you under their wings or give you protection from other inmates. While the benefits, which are rather short-term, can seem very appealing, this will only lead you into the dangers of being pimped out, sexually harassed, or become someone else’s virtual slave.

2.

Do not discuss your crime.

One of the most important rules you should remember when going to prison is to never discuss the nature of the crime that you have committed to your fellow inmates.

This rule particularly applies for those who are convicted of sexual crimes. Prisoners convicted with these types of crimes are pretty much going to be the targets for rape and brutality inside the jail. The risk is even significantly higher when you have committed sexual crimes involving children.

If you or your loved one is convicted of a child-related sexual crime, it would most likely be best if you will immediately request for a protective custody. This will save you from being incarcerated to the general population of the prison facility, where you are highly at risk for being a target of brutality.

3.

Avoid gambling like the plague in prison.

Gambling is one of the surefire ways that would get you into serious trouble once inside the jail. It is the easiest way for you to get indebted to your fellow prisoners. Once you owe anything from your inmates you’ll end up having to pay for more than what you can afford. With tough luck you may also win but that will spring into another problem when you make the wrong people angry.

4.

You should never tell on your fellow inmates.

Remember how you and your siblings could often get into a petty fight resulting from tittle-tattles? Tattles are also no good in jail. People who tell tales about their inmates to prison guards will be hated by everyone and will likely become a target for physical attacks.

More importantly, avoid talking to prison staff and guards more than necessary or being seen talking to them in a friendly or accommodating way. Even if you might think that these are just innocent conversations, inmates around you may perceive them in a different way and may accuse you as being a snitch.

5.

Do not stare.

Staring at another inmate can be easily misinterpreted and can potentially lead you into big trouble. Staring can mean differently to people in prison. Some may interpret it as an expression of hostility or disapproval, as an invasion of privacy or alternatively, as a way of showing sexual interest.

6.

Do not use drugs.

Drugs are equivalent to trouble whether or not you are inside the jail. But the impact could very well be far worst when you are inside the prison. Drugs are illegal contrabands and getting caught would warrant you serious consequences. Using drugs can also make you draw in debts with your inmates.

7.

Do not become indebted to fellow prisoners.

Before you accept any kind of help from anyone inside, keep it mind that you can hardly trust anyone inside the prison. More often than not if someone is being nice to you, they come with hidden motives. Never accept any loan offers as they usually come with a hefty price or they may demand favors from you that can land you into trouble.

Things to Do Inside the Federal Prison

Time can move incredibly slowly inside the prison especially since you don’ have anything much to do. Doing activities to pass your time in prison is essential not just to keep you busy while inside but also as way to ready yourself when the time for your release comes. Here are some of the typical activities that make up a day in the life of a prisoner.

Inmate Work Assignments

As you undergo admission and orientation in the jail, you will also undergo assessments for your skills and experience to find an available job that’s suited for you. Medically-abled inmates are required to adhere to institutional assignments or work assignments. Jobs may include menial tasks and higher level ones depending on the skills and experiences of the prisoner.

Inmate Work Assignments include the following:

Janitorial Works – These tasks include seeping the floors, scrubbing the toilets, cleaning the showers, doing the dishes, wiping the tables, serving food and taking the trash out.

Skilled Works – This includes work assignments that may require time and effort as well as substantial amount of experience. Examples are welding jobs, teaching assignments, and operating fork lifts.

Clerk Positions – By far, inmates assuming the clerk positions are getting the highest payments out of all the inmate work assignments. They practically work in every major department and assist in processing and filing paper works or help in supervising fellow inmates.

Inmate payments are based on a pay-grade scale but for the most part, their wages are non-standardized and very nominal.

Education for Inmates

Although relatively limited, there are educational opportunities for inmates in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This is particularly true for lower academic levels. Inmates who lack a high school diploma or GED are required to attend GED classes.

For those prisoners who already have a GED or a high school diploma, they can participate in apprenticeship, ACE or Adult Continuing Education, VT or Vocational Training, parenting classes and other seasonal programs.

Inmate Recreation Programs

Federal prisons provide limited fitness and recreational facilities for the inmates. Prisoners have the opportunity to participate in a number of inmate recreation programs which include arts and crafts, musical instruments, gym and sports. Recreations play an important role in keeping the prisoners occupied.

Music

Inmates are allowed to buy and possess an MP3 player. You will also need to purchase the music files you put into your player from the commissary. It’s an additional cost but it is only a fraction you have to pay for what’s considered as a luxury inside that can significantly make your life in prison feel a bit more pleasant.

Library

Most prison facilities have library for the inmates’ perusal. Although relatively limited, inmates can take advantage of the reading materials in the library fro both leisure and educational reading.

Health and Wellness behind the Bars

Most federal prisons provide inmates with access to medical and dental care services. You can’t expect the services to be as competent to the ones you can avail outside though. In fact they are quite far behind and they rarely are provided in a prompt or timely manner.

Medical Care inside Prison

Inmates will have access to medical emergency care 24/7. What makes a medical concern an emergency is not that definitive though.

What clearly warrant immediate care are life-threatening health conditions such as stroke, hemorrhage and heart attack. Immediate care will also be provided if the medical condition significantly affects the inmate’s daily activities and if it is marked by chronic and substantial pain.

Prescription medicines must also be made available inside prisons. For other medical issues, inmates will have to endure long delays and at other times, with insufficient resources these conditions may not be addressed at all.

Dental Care inside Prison

Routine and emergency dental care services are provided to inmates. But for the most part dental care is difficult to obtain inside prison. You’ll most likely have to face delays and the long waiting game for non-emergency dental issues. Dental care may be provided at its best only on dental issues that can cause pain and affect the inmate’s usual activities such as eating and sleeping.

Psychological Services for Inmates

The unfavorable conditions associated with serving jail sentence give rise to or exacerbate existing mental conditions among the inmates. Prison facilities have a Psychology Department created to provide inmates with different mental health care programs and therapies. They also offer inmates with crisis counseling, self-help lending libraries, and they are the ones who will coordinate with the Health Services for psychotrophic medications where applicable. The same department is also responsible for monitoring and supervising inmates that display disruptive behavior and those that have high suicide tendencies.

Some of the mental therapy programs provided by prisons include:

  • Anger Management
  • Criminal Thinking
  • Sex Offender Treatment program both Residential and Non-Residential
  • Drug Education
  • Smart Recovery Program

Most of the programs offered by the Psychological Department are optional. Individual counseling sessions are also only given for those suffering from extreme mental conditions, otherwise, only group therapies will be provided.

Special Prison: Important Tactics for Survival

Spending time in prison is already a punishment itself. The challenge can only get harder if you belong to certain groups of people who are more often than not subject to harsher treatments and violence inside the prison.

LGBTQ Life inside the Jail

While our justice system is now slowly striving hard to provide better protection and support systems to the LGBTQ members, unfortunately, majority of the prison systems to date are still unforgiving to the LGBTQ group. For the most part, jail time is particularly difficult for those who are members of the LGBTQ community. Often, they end up as favorite targets for constant physical harassment, verbal abuse and sexual harassments by other inmates in prison facilities.

LGBTQ individuals usually face harsh and unsafe treatment from fellow inmates and at times even by the prison’s staff. It is therefore common for them to feel like they are outcasts and to see them in solitude for their own protection. They also tend to suffer from the lack of access to comprehensive, supportive and competent health services inside the prison.

Considering all these, here is a few important tips to make your life inside the prison system more tolerable (and could even save your life) if you are a member of the LGBTQ community:

  • Avoid bringing too much attention to yourself. It’s a good idea to blend in to avoid drawing unwanted attention from inmates who tend to be physically and verbally harsh towards LGBTQ members.
  • If you fear for your life inside let the prison staff know without naming names for your own protection.
  • Make friends and form alliance with your fellow LGBTQ and those inmates that are accepting of LGBTQ.
  • Be wary of accepting offers from inmates who claim that they want to give you protection, chances are they have secret motives and you’ll end up becoming their slave and they will use and abuse you making prison time more miserable for you.

Prison Life for Female Inmates

Although men still make up the vast majority of inmates, the number of women landing in jails has also remarkably increased over the past few years.

Female prisoners are subject to their own sets of challenges inside the prison facility. Basically, female inmates have different needs compared to their male counterparts and most prison systems lack the necessary support for these particular needs.

Most of the women admitted to prison are charged with nonviolent crimes commonly substance addiction. These women are usually mothers who will have to deal with getting separated from their children upon incarceration. Considering how expensive telephone bills are, keeping constant communication outside is much difficult, leading to abrupt loss of communication and eventually leading to these mothers losing custody of their children.

A pregnant incarcerated woman will also have to make do with limited access to health care services for herself and her unborn child. While they have the opportunity to enroll in programs such as the Mother and Infants Nurturing Together, joining the program itself poses some challenges starting with eligibility requirements for the program.

In addition, women inmates are also more likely to be sexually abused and exploited by fellow inmates and in some cases the correctional staff.

Although there are already measures done to alleviate the prison conditions and provide better and gender-sensitive services for women, overall the current system is still way behind times and a lot of work still needs to be done.

Surviving Prison as a Sex Offender

If you are convicted to jail for sexual-related crimes, you will most likely face a tougher life inside prison. Those who commit sexual misconducts are condemned especially in cases involving children. Considered as the lowest of the low inside the prison, incarcerated sex offenders run the risk of being ostracized and are targets for various forms of harassments by their fellow inmates. They are also subject to more intensive monitoring compared to the general population of the inmates.

This is already a known fact as such the Federal Bureau of Prisons has established SOMP or the Sex Offender Management Program. This program aims to address the issues concerning sex offender management.

Under the program, sex offenders will have a better chance at thriving in prison without dealing with threats to their lives. They will be housed in a special facility where they will be monitored more effectively.

They’ll also be able to receive a Sex Offender Treatment Program which will tackle psychological issues underlying sex offenders. The SOMP program has two types of treatments available:

1.

Non-residential Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOMP-NR)

This is a moderate intensity treatment program, usually for the duration of 10 to 12 months, designed for those low to moderate-risk sexual offenders. First time offenders, those who have a single sex crime history and those facing the last phase (last 36 months usually) of their sexual offense sentence normally undergo this program.

2.

Residential Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOMP-R)

This is a high intensity treatment program totaling 10 to 12 hours per week that employs cognitive-behavioral techniques designed for the high-risk sexual offenders. Participants of this program typically consist of offenders with history of multiple sexually-related crimes and those with high level of sexual deviancy.

If you are going to be incarcerated for a sexual-related crime here are a few tips to consider for your protection and survival inside the prison:

  • Threats loom around for sex offenders but this become less of a concern the moment you are housed in a SOMP facility or low security federal prison.
  • The risk of assaults are higher if you are admitted to a high security prison, for your protection you might want to consider asking for a protective custody as you await for your transfer to ideally a SOMP facility.
  • SOMP treatment programs can give you the help you need but you should be careful about the things you disclose as they can be used against you.
  • Tough life almost always awaits sexual offenders, you can try to be a hard-man and avoid being a pushover so that hopefully others will treat you better.

Drugs and Alcohol in Prison

Drugs and alcohol seems to always find their way into prison. It is not uncommon for them to be smuggled inside the prison facility either by the inmates or prison staff alike.

To counter these illegal activities, prison administration will require searches and shakedowns among the inmates and their housing cells. A prisoner can also be subjected to random testing, breath test to monitor alcohol consumption and urinalysis for drug testing.

Obviously, people involved in these kinds of illegal activities tend to have more than their fair share of problems and it will be for your best interest to avoid them at all cost. If you are caught participating in drug-related activities or drinking you are going to face harsh sanctions and consequences – series of incidence reports, be on the hot list for at least two years, loss of some privileges for a specific period of time, and probably be ordered to a solitary confinement or the torturous hole as it is referred to in prison.

Violence and Sexual Assault in Federal Prison

Unfortunately, violence is a common part of prison life, and the risk is particularly high if you are admitted in higher security levels within the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Violence inside the prison can range from pure intimidation to physical attacks. Sexual assaults also seem to be a serious danger more common among targeted individuals. The most vulnerable subjects for violence include the sex offenders, LGBTQ inmates, and the younger prisoners.

It’s best to arm yourself with knowledge and tips to try and avoid being subject to violence. Although there can’t be any guarantee, you can do so much to help yourself from suffering from various forms of violence. Remember that you are your own protector while you are locked up inside prison. Here are a few tips you should bear in mind:

  1. One of the best ways to evade violence is to avoid being nosy about someone else’s business.
  2. Gangs are common as inmates will always find ways to form allies for domination or for protection, unfortunately this is where gang fights and violence spring from. Do yourself a favor by steering clear from these gangs which are rather troublemakers.
  3. Observe the prison culture and treat everyone with respect. The more you engage in respectable conduct, the more you can earn respect from people around you.
  4. Fighting is strongly discouraged but if you are ever assaulted fight hard and do everything that you can to protect yourself so that others may not follow suit.
  5. Don’t act weak whenever someone threatens you.
  6. Learning basic self-defense and acting swiftly can do so much for your survival in prison.