Considering 1 in 30 Americans will see jail time at some point, this isn’t as laughable as you might want to think. Hell, it should probably be a high school textbook.
Well it’s not a new concept, in any case. I believe the definitive text is still Jim Hogshire’s You Are Going to Prison, which is also the source material for a romantic comedy starring Wil Arnett and Chi McBride.
And good on 'em. It’s pathetic that the US concept of imprisonment includes beatings, rapes, and murders, but that’s where we are, and pragmatic advice along these lines is probably a helpful thing for people to have access to.
Most jails and facilities have inmate induction booklets and some of them are quite large. Seems reasonable to produce one on the outside geared towards the federal system.
Do they cover this kind of stuff?
Down Time was the book we used. The author, David Novak, was also our go-to sentencing consultant, if we needed one. Very nice guy.
Wow, look at those Amazon comments. I’m going to wish list this.
I’m glad this exists, prison terrifies me for a number of reasons, none of which involve me being particularly likely to wind up there.
H.
Says the expert marksman preparing to travel to Greece.
I can not WAIT for made for tv movie.
Says the expert marksman preparing to travel to Greece. To shoot guns. In pseudo-Europe. With a serious attitude and opinion about almost everything.
I can not WAIT for the made for tv movie.
It’s hard to appreciate or imagine the sheer terror that people feel about going to prison for the first time, particularly white-collar offenders (which Down Time is aimed at). Not just the major stuff like “Will I be attacked?”, but stuff like not knowing how anything works, what the rules (written and unwritten) are, how to navigate the official system run by the government and the unofficial one run by the inmates. Add to that knowing all the stuff they’re going to miss while they’re gone (God help you if you have non-adult kids)…it’s a huge psychological thing. Books like Novak’s go a long way to helping people feel like this is something manageable, something they can get through. It’s like finding out you have cancer, and then finding a support group.
I’m now imagining the holiday conversations in the McCullough household.
Note to self: stay out of prison.
No kidding. Part of me wants to read a couple of those books, part of me thinks that if I do, I’ll never go outside of my home again. Kinda like I felt the first time I watched OZ on HBO.
For anyone who has read these books or deals with the system, I think a question most of us guys have is: can you do time in prison and not be raped? How much is that aspect over or under reported? I could deal with just about everything else (I think.)
The pamphlet linked upthread is all about how to avoid getting raped with a high success rate: immediately start a consensual sexual relationship with someone who can protect you.
And people wonder why when faced with the possibility of jailtime in the US Europeans flee without waiting for the system to determine guilt or innocence…
And may occasionally pimp you out to a friend. But you know, that’s preferrable than gang rape or repeated beatings (followed by gang rape, I presume).
Reminds me of an old joke in a roundabout way:
Some guy out on a safari gets lost and ends up captured by some “natives”. They bring him to their village and tell him he has a choice of DEATH or UNGA BUNGA. Naturally, he asks: “what’s UNGA BUNGA” and the chief replies, “We tie you to pole and every man in village rape you, then you set free”. He chooses UNGA BUNGA.
Months later, another guy gets captured and brought to town. The question is put to him: “Death or Unga Bunga?” “What’s unga bunga?” The village chief replies: “We tie you to pole and ever villager take turn raping you, then we let you go”. The captive gulps, and not wanting to die, then says, “I’ll take the unga bunga”.
This is repeated for many years until one day, a prisoner is brought to the village and the question is put to him: “Death or Unga Bunga”? He get’s the same reply and anwers, “Oh hell no, I’d rather die a thousand deaths than be violated by the likes of you savages!”. Baffled after many years of the same answer, the chief huddles with the other village leaders who all have the same perplexed look on their faces and after a couple of minutes the village chief turns to the prisoner, and with a raised finger and a smug look says, “Death by Unga Bunga!”
Everything in that link is horrifying.
The expectation you’ll be raped in prison does seem to be a US thing. Not that EU prisons are nice places, and rape and violence are serious risks in there too, but definitely not to the point giving up preventively so you’ll have the ‘privilege’ of choosing your rapist is considered realistic advice. I wonder if it’s a cultural thing - has it became the expectation that being raped is part of the standard punishment, and not a big deal? - or if it’s just an unintended consequence of having to manage a much bigger inmate population. In any case it’s pretty appalling, and if it’s really as widespread as those sources suggest the whole penal system loses most of its legitimacy in my eyes.
I have a serious attitude? Moi? I always considered myself easygoing and cherubic, but that’s the internet for you. I’m a sweetheart in real life.
H.
Woops, that doesn’t come across the way I meant it too. Probably should have added a smiley.