I think one of the first feelings a new prisoner will have is that of shock - the realisation that they are actually in prison may take some time. They will experience isolation, being separated from family and friends will be hard and their relationships often suffer as a result. They will be very lonely and are often confused and the statistics are really alarming. 91 prisoners committed suicide in 1999, that's a 90% increase since 1989.

But the inmates are also able to write letters to their family and friends but in some cases of maximum security they are censored by the prison staff, which means that the prison staff opens the letters and read what’s inside of it.
Moreover there are also card phones inside of the prison, which each prisoner can use.

By Chri

Nevertheless prisoners are required to work in prison. This helps by reducing the cost of the prison system. It can give a small wage and in some cases useful work experience for taking up a job when someone gets out. Some prisoners also do work in the community.

The young prisoners who are under school leaving age have to do at least fifteen hours education in a week. The older prisoners are also able to study. As well as opportunities to study inside the prison where there is usually an officer responsible for education, it is also possible to study by distance learning. Some prisoners choose to study by correspondence at universities and colleges, others study at the Open University or other organisations designed specifically for distance learning. “A recent study by NACRO has shown that education and training in prison can reduce the reconviction rates amongst offenders by allowing them to take up opportunities they may have missed before. The study found that 64% of the offenders surveyed had left school before the age of 16”

Furthermore, there is a system of discipline in prison which is administered by the head of the prison (the Governor) and by a group of people from outside the prison, called the Board of Visitors. Discipline can involve things like increasing the time a prisoner spends in prison before he gets early release, taking away some of someone’s privileges, putting a person in a special unit if he is violent or disruptive and even taking him to court if he has committed a serious crime. The disciplinary procedure must be fair and in some cases the prisoners may have a right to legal advice and representation.

Nevertheless a prisoner can't protest his innocence to the media but he can write general letters to the media about life in prison and issues about the system.

The prisoners have several other rights:
Generally they have the right to write and receive letters and make telephone calls. They also have privileges which are having a personal radio, books, periodicals and newspapers, watching television, making purchases from the prison shop with money earned in prison, recreation and eating with other prisoners.

Each prison has to have the Prison Service's public policy statements about race relations clearly displayed. It is a disciplinary offence for a prison officer to use racially abusive language. Each prison has a race relations liaison officer, who deals with complaints from prisoners about racial discrimination and with problems or oral fights of a racial nature. A prisoner can also complain to the Commission for Racial Equality.

But there are also other illegal things in prison like drugs. Drug use in prison is well documented. There has been a lot of media coverage of the use of hard and soft drugs by prisoners. Although, many people go to prison for drug related crimes, it has been reported that 1 in 10 prisoners claimed to have first tried drugs while being inside.

Information: http://www.youthinformation.com/infopage.asp?snID=474

by Chri