When I began serving my sentence in 1987, I didn’t know anything about confinement. I didn’t know the difference between jail and prison, and I certainly didn’t know anything about security levels. I began serving my term inside a high-security penitentiary. That was a volatile environment, as I’ve described in books I’ve written and articles available on www.criminal-indictment.com. Most new prisoners, however, serve their time inside less volatile prisons.

Despite the environment, I was able to serve my sentence inside the high-security penitentiary and inside lower-security prisons without a single physical altercation. Some prisoners are not so fortunate. Yet I would estimate that more often than not, prisoners can serve their time without violence. The choices a prisoner makes will have the most influence on his adjustment pattern.

In my case, I thought the essential choice was to work toward clearly defined goals. As a consequence of the goals I wanted to pursue, I knew that I had to minimize my exposure to situations that could disrupt my progress. To that end, I was courteous and respectful to other prisoners, though I was careful to minimize contact. I chose not to watch television with a group, not to play team sports, not to engage in any table games. I did not use drugs or drink, and I did not gamble. I gave the prison gangs a wide berth. Those decisions kept me away from a lot of activities that have the possibility of erupting in violence.

Despite the long sentence I was serving, I was willing to focus on how I would emerge from prison. That meant I had to accept a lot of solitude. In fact, I searched for niches within the penitentiary that would give me space alone. For example, I found a work assignment in an office. While I was working in that office, I was separated from the general population. I worked as many hours as possible there; when my duties were complete, I focused on my school work. Besides the office job, I volunteered to work as a suicide-watch companion. That job allowed me to spend several hours each day in the infirmary. For several years, the only time that I was in the general population of the prison was in the early morning, and I used that time to exercise alone.

By staying to myself and focusing on my goals, I felt as if I were in the penitentiary, but not of the penitentiary. I created a niche that allowed me to study and work toward goals without disruption or interference. Anyone who made the level of commitment could adjust in the same way. Most prisoners, however, struggle with confinement. When they adjust inappropriately by forming alliances with others, they sometimes invite disruptions and problems.

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Many people in society have heard the stereotypical myths regarding prison life. Today’s reality television depicts chaotic environments where violence prevails. I lived for years in such environments. My imprisonment began more than 21 years ago, and during that time, I’ve learned a lot about living in prison.

My experience has been that prisons extinguish hope. Rather than governing through the promise of incentives, prison administrators rely exclusively on the threat of punishments. People who live inside prisons have no mechanism through which they can work toward redemption. Although numerous classification techniques exist to measure bad behavior and to raise a prisoner’s security level, there are no paths a prisoner can pursue to improve his classification. The only way to reduce his security classification is to avoid trouble while watching calendar pages turn. That is a problem in the system because it fails to motivate people. Rather than striving to reconcile with society and preparing to emerge as contributing citizens, many prisoners focus on enhancing their power structure while living in the abnormal world of prison.

Prison rapists do not consider themselves gay. They may refer to their prey as “bitches,” “punks,” or other pejorative names. Yet their primary motivation is to cultivate a reputation as being powerful and feared. They demean those whom they “turn out,” and in no way respect them as a man may respect a woman. The victim is referred to as a female, though gender is not so much a factor. The victim is really dehumanized and demoralized.

When a rapist develops his reputation, he may continue to engage in sexual relationships with other males, yet the rapist never considers himself gay. To him, being gay is equivalent to being a sissy. Prisoners who were strictly heterosexual in the real world may engage in sexual acts with other males in prison without raping them, yet many of them also deny that they are gay. All homosexual activity in prison is considered a weakness within the general population, as prisoners are notoriously intolerant.

Administrators could lessen the perils of prison atmospheres if they were to govern these institutions more like America, where people can advance their standing through merit and good deeds. As long as prisons extinguish hope, they will continue to breed failure and hostility.

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One reader of the book wrote to ask how such a sexual orgy was possible in a high security prison. The reader felt as though someone should have been on patrol to help the weaker prisoners. She questioned how prisoners could get away with such behavior in a high-security prison.

High security prisons are dangerous places. They are dangerous because more than 1,000 prisoners are locked inside concrete and steel human warehouses, and administrative policies extinguish hope for the men inside. Administrators rely on surveillance cameras, metal detectors, locked gates and doors, as well as correctional officers to maintain security in the penitentiary. Yet the prisoners are locked inside the institutions for years, or even decades at a time. They know where the blind spots are. They know when the officers will make rounds and the prisoners develop a sense of who is weak and vulnerable. Like any predator, they can spot the easy prey.

Prison policy makers can post memorandums that encourage weak inmates to seek assistance from staff. Yet those platitudes miss the dynamics of penitentiary life. Prisoners who seek assistance from staff in high-security penitentiaries risk retaliation from those in the prison community who adhere to the tacit convict code. Once a prisoner is saddled with the snitch label, other prisoners will ride him for the duration of his sentence. Prisoners who are forced to serve their sentences in high security prisons should accept a viper pit, and use all of their creativity to persuade administrators that they are worthy candidates for reductions in their classification status.

I served longer than 16 years in higher security prisons before staff members transferred me to minimum-security camp. My disciplined adjustment enabled me to thrive through my prison term and avoid a single altercation with others. Whereas the two victims I described in my book engaged in activities that made them vulnerable, I recognized that the dangerous environment of prison required that I avoid interactions with those who courted trouble. Living a goal-centered adjustment enabled me to prepare for release while simultaneously avoiding problems in prison.

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