Prison Visit. What should I ask for assignment?

Question

I will be going to a high security prison as part of our school assignment and will be interviewing prisoners. It will be 2 students to 1 prisoner.

What would be good questions to ask them? I don't want to ask things like.. what's it like in here? I think I'm a bit old for that..lol

Just for the record... I'm in Australia

Answer 1

Ask them what their daily routine is like.
what is the food like.
Do they have a job, if so do they get paid, or get good time for working.
How long is their sentence?
Do they regret coming to prison?
Is it their first time being incarcerated?
Do they have family/friends that visit regularly?
If so, do the visits make it harder or easier on them?
What is their custody status? high, medium, minumum
If they get paroled, what are their plans?
Do they have a GED/education? If not are they obtaining one?
How are they treated by the officers?

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Thank you for asking this question.
My only son, and child, has been in prison for 28 years in California, USA. It is vital that people in our societies not be "afraid" of people in prison, but instead learn from them and treat them as human beings.

Keep in mind that the majority of people in prison had a bad thing happen to them at one point in their life, and probably that was the only time or the last time anything like that happened. Most prisoners want to show society they are genuinely sorry for the crime that put them in prison, but the only way society will know is, if they listen.

A really good question would be this:

What specifically have you done while in prison that will help you when you are released to become an accepted member of the community in which you live?

Do you think there is a need for inmates, once they are released, to give back by talking with and finding other ways to help other inmates when they are released, to make sure they don't make another mistake and end up back in prison?

Do you have children? If they say yes, ask them how they keep in touch with their child, if they do and how they help the parent on the outside maintain a stable homelife for that child (i.e. discipline, explaining situations they may not understand, education) ...

Would you appreciate having a pen pal from anywhere in the world, who would just want to write a note to you once in awhile and say hi, and find out how you are doing, share what is going on with their life, and generally just converse by mail?

What one thing would you like society to know about people in prison?

Good luck, and once again, thank you so very much for this project. I always remember what my grandmother told me when I was a chiild: It isn't what we get from life that is what counts, it is what we give to those who least able to help themselves. And that surely means people in prison more than anyone else.

Answer 4

Thanks to the US Government's War on People (who use/sell/import/grow drugs that aren't manufactured by the greedy multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical giants who overcharge for their products and channel MILLIONS into the coffers of the Republican and Democrat National Committees and their respective candidates' political campaigns and action committees) and its IMPERIALISTIC ways having imposed this policy on other nations (lest they be punished with sanctions--or even invasion--for non-compliance) an EVER-GROWING percent of the world's (but ESPECIALLY the US) population are "criminals."

The US has the WORLD'S LARGEST population and per-capita number of inmates and EVERY YEAR it breaks its previous records--even though violent and property crimes have been in decline for YEARS..

As difficult as it may be to admit in our fraudulently labeled "Land of the Free," there are many, many people in prison who are ACTUALLY INNOCENT. This is due to the fact that agents and prosecutors are more concerned about raising their head-count by securing convictions than they are about actual justice. These people are VERY ambitious individuals with an insatiable thirst for power and many want to become politicians someday so the more people they lock up the more they can brag about making us "safer" before the election. And, as we all know, most politicians are crooks but where do you think they get trier start?

The below links lead to the results of studies with some every disturbing findings. Americans are so naive to think that their governments are run by honest and honorable people. There may be better justice in Third World military dictatorships--especially if "drugs".are involved.

http://postgazette.com/win/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/snitch/cases/aaron.html

``God bless America?'' WTF? Does anybody ACTUALLY believe the Almighty would bless an evil and UNHOLY union of quasi-totalitarian POLICE STATES?

So, in answer to your question, I suppose you can ask them how many of them were railroaded as scapegoats to become statistics for lying politicians to advance the American Holocaust (I mean "War on Drugs"). Also, you're a young person. Do you think the government is sending you the "right message" about "drugs" or do you think it would be better if they preserved our once-sacred Constitutional liberty from being destroyed by "cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men (and women)?" After all, they claim it's all about saving you but isn't it really your parents responsibility to teach you right from wrong?

PLEASE, e-mail me back with your findings and opinion. One of my best friend's daughter was once an unknowing, apathetic teenager who got snitched on in school for something she didn't do but now she's a Criminal Justice major about to graduate from college and pursue a career in fighting against these CRUEL INJUSTICES that are happening EVERY DAY in the "Land of the Free."

OH, I see the add'l note that you are not in the US. Lucky for you! I guess this doesn't apply so I suppose you could just as them if they feel prison is adequately preparing them to return to society.

Answer 5

Ask them if they had one thing to do over again, what it would be?

Ask, what they plan on doing when they get out in the free world (hint: don't ask this of a lifer!)

Answer 6

At what point in your life could someone have said something to you that would have kept you out of here? What would that have been? At what point would you have just not listened to anyone?