Coping with Imprisonment: A Long-Termer's View

Introduction

This Guidebook is replete with opinions, perceptions, and suggestions that, theoretically, will affect long-term inmates. These opinions, perceptions, and suggestions are those of correctional staff, correctional consultants, and project staff. Clearly, what is lacking are the voices of the long-termers themselves. To broaden the perspective of this document, a long-term inmate was asked to prepare an essay that would give the reader an appreciation for the “inside” realities of long-term confinement.

The author is well-suited to this task, having served 16 years of a life sentence. Since 1971, he has collected everything about long-term confinement that came to his attention. Due to his interest in and knowledge of long-term imprisonment, he was selected to participate in a study of long-term imprisonment conducted by his home state; respect for his communication skills led to his being asked to author the study's final report.

This essay helps to personalize the issue of long-term confinement; to raise it above the mundane consideration of yet another correctional management problem. Long-term inmates are probably the most improbable group for which to engender concern and positive actions. Their criminal acts have shocked the public's conscience and their sentences reflect the magnitude of their deeds. They are not attractive targets for reform or innovation. However, they do evoke a need to devise an approach whereby the years spent in confinement are not wasted—for the long-term inmate or for the correctional agency. While long-term inmates' needs are very similar to those of short-term inmates, the length of their sentences exacerbates these needs until they may bear slight resemblance to those of short-termers.

Correctional agencies are often ravaged by deep cuts in operating budgets and strapped for resources. There is the potential for a reciprocal relationship between long-termers and correctional agencies, wherein both parties benefit. The achievement of this goal requires insight into long-term confinement. This essay is an attempt to provide the beginning of this insight. Also included in the essay are many [Page 42]recommendations for improving the management and programming of long-term inmates.

NOTE: Reprinted from Managing Long-Term Prisoners: A Guide for the Correctional Administrator (U.S. government document), Fall 1995, pp. 69–79, with permission of the National Institute of Corrections, Washington, DC.

The Most Critical Issue

The paramount concern of all prisoners is “When will I get out?” The lack of a firm release date constitutes the most difficult adjustment to confinement for all prisoners, especially long-termers. This uncertainty contributes more than any other factor to the debilitating effects of incarceration. For long-term prisoners, almost equal concerns are “What kind of person will I be upon release? Will I be physically and mentally healthy? Will I still have a family and friends to assist me on the outside? Will I have an opportunity to lead a meaningful and useful life?” If satisfactory answers to these questions cannot be found, attempts to cope with the problems of long-term confinement are likely to fail.

An optimum release time exists for the majority of confined individuals. When prisoners are discharged beyond that optimum time, their anxiety increases, despair and depression grow, and hostility and fear fester. As a direct result, those confined beyond that optimum time, the criminal justice system, and even the public may suffer.

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