Self-Surrender Checklist: Prison Acquaintances

Those who self-surrender to federal prison should exercise care with regard to their adjustment. While serving time in prisons of every security level since 1987, I have always been careful in choosing the people with whom I associated. Relationships in prison can have a huge influence on whether an individual makes progress toward preparing for the challenges that await release, or whether an individual gets trapped in a vortex of trouble with the criminal justice system.

In my book Prison! My 8,344th Day, I show readers the discipline I exercise to pass through a typical day. Although I have more than 23 continuous years of prison behind me, I still exercise caution every day. One of my strategies for growth includes minimizing the quantity of people with whom I interact. It’s not that I’m trying to be asocial. Rather, I have an obligation to my family and to those who support my work. The responsibility is mine to minimize my exposure to potential problems. I can control my own behavior, but since I cannot control how the hundreds of other federal prisoners in Taft federal prison camp behave, I limit my exposure to them.

The people with whom I choose to spend time embrace values that approximate those by which I profess to live. They focus on fitness. They focus on developing skills and resources that will transition into opportunities. They carefully evaluate all decisions, assessing the risk-reward factor of each.

Federal prisoners who live less deliberate lives expose themselves to altercation with other prisoners and to altercations with staff. Both can bring problems that I strive to avoid. If a prisoner focuses on how he wants to emerge from prison, then he must stay vigilant on minimizing his exposure to problems inside.

In other books I’ve written, like Inside, I’ve described the difficulties that have followed those who interact with less disciplined prisoners. They may feel pressured by prison cliques or prison gangs. Those types of relationships bring bad influences that frequently lead to behavior that follows a “group think” type mentality. It’s inconsistent with a commitment to success upon release.

I urge those individuals who are about to self-surrender to federal prison to educate themselves. They may find value in reading the books I’ve written or the daily blog posts that describe strategies for success. Prison recidivism rates offer ample evidence of the failure that these abnormal subcultures perpetuate. Each individual prisoner has a responsibility to overcome the bad influences that persist day after day. I’ve been resisting such influences for longer than 8,600 days now, and through the books I write, I strive to show other prisoners the reasons that they should resist such influences, too.

Success through prison does not come by accident. It requires deliberate decisions every day. One of those decisions concerns the acquaintances prisoners keep. I urge other prisoners to choose acquaintances carefully.