•  MerchantsOfMisery   ( @MerchantsOfMisery@lemmy.ml ) 
    13•2 months ago

    For what it’s worth, most guys who’ve been in prison have little to no interest in revisiting their time inside for obvious reasons. There’s of course some (relatively) happy times but they’re largely outweighed by the bad, often traumatic times that many former inmates understandably downplay because they’re used to the "suck it up" attitude.

    Also, talking about prison with people who’ve been in prison is one thing but talking about prison to people who have never been in prison often just results in the same tired old questions, many of which come with a very morbid but almost gleeful curiosity. That said, most people who’ve been in prison aren’t too thrilled about talking about it even with other formerly incarcerated people.

    Obviously there’s some former inmates who love talking about prison but I think guys like that just want someone to listen to them more than anything. Those are also the types of guys who lie their asses off about their prison experience and were probably known inside as a bullshitter.

    There’s other exceptions, like inmates who are outspoken about their experiences specifically to open peoples’ eyes about how the supposedly “correctional” system is nothing but a sick form of traumatic retribution that only increases the rate of recidivism (and likelihood of people becoming victims of crime, I’ll add). So even if a person doesn’t give a fuck about inmates, they kind of should because the crueller and inmate is treated, the more likely he is to offend or re-offend in the future.

    Things like AMAs are rare because that requires verification which for a million opsec reasons is a horrible idea.

    •  Elise   ( @xilliah@beehaw.org ) 
      3•2 months ago

      I’m curious what you think of the Nordic prison system, in Norway for example. I once saw a docu about the head of such a prison visiting an American one and they just had such different perspectives.

      •  MerchantsOfMisery   ( @MerchantsOfMisery@lemmy.ml ) 
        4•2 months ago

        Funny you should mention that documentary…

        I’ll just say it was (and still is) very popular among inmates and many are outraged when they find out what the Nordic system is like, specifically in Norway. Guys were losing their shit when they saw the humane living conditions, especially when it was explained that yes-- even Norway has hardened criminals who are nonetheless treated with decency and the ultimate goal of reintegration/rehabilitation.

        I’m really glad you asked about that documentary. I’m guessing it had to have been the same one-- at some point they show the apartment-like living quarters and show the inmates living a very normal looking like, not even dressed in an orange jumpsuit.

        But yeah, a lot of guys felt a mix of emotions watching that documentary. Happiness for Norwegian inmates that they actually aren’t being treated like shit, happy that even the COs there seem to be genuinely rehabilitative-minded, but outraged and very sad that all this time we’ve been told all the "soft" approaches like Norway’s isnt effective and that Norway doesn’t have hard criminals like N. America (low-key racism is implied IMO), only to find out Norway does have hard criminals, many of which are able to turn their life around when they’re not dealing with state-inflicted traumatic retribution.

        Guys are more likely to open up about their prison experience if they know there’s a chance it could perhaps help guys currently inside. Not every formerly incarcerated person is open to this but you might be surprised.