# How to handle incarceration

Being in prison or jail is a psychological battle more than anything else:

- You're receiving punishment because you at least [appear](image.md) to have broken the [law](people-rules.md).
- You'll be surrounded by the least-agreeable people in society, who *also* appear to have broken the law (and many of them being experts at it).

From the moment you're arrested, the police and law enforcement are *not* on your side:

- Your best chance of survival comes through compliance with the prison guards, alongside making [friends](people-4_friends.md) on the inside.

Until the sentencing is finalized, don't panic:

- Sometimes your lawyer may find a loophole that could get you out of *any* time served.
- The sentencing in many Western nations is a bit more lenient than it sounds:
  1. The sentence will be given for a set time (e.g., 5 years).
  2. As soon as someone is admitted, their sentence is cut in half (e.g., 2.5 years).
  3. Typically, people will receive ~1.2 additional days for each day of good behavior (e.g., 45.45% of the 2.5 years or 22.72% of the 5 years).
  4. Anytime before that, the convict may be eligible for parole to bring in new convicts.

Making friends is a different experience:

- If your imprisonment was unfair, expect more mixed reactions from the guards and your cellmates.
- You will be *heavily* defined by your charges/conviction among your cellmates.
  - You carry more weight with significant offenses (e.g., murder) than less important offenses (e.g., petty theft, drunk driving).
  - If you've been charged with something like child endangerment or pedophilia, expect no grace (and possible threats to your life) unless you have a legitimately good story (which must either be true or [impossible to disprove](people-lying.md)).
- To avoid arguments, stay out of frivolous conversations with other captives (e.g., politics in government, street, and prison) and focus on topics that sharpen everyone (e.g., spirituality, history, business/legal issues).

If you're a nice person, dial it back:

- Trust is scarce while incarcerated, with everyone.
- Usually, nice people will often be branded by inmates as pedophiles.

Do *not* take your incarceration personally:

- Beyond the [moral violations](morality.md) you may have committed, prison is partly a system-wide mechanism to separate [unpleasant people](personality.md) from the rest of society, partly a [fear](mind-feelings-fear.md)-maintenance system for most society, and (sometimes) partly a means of fulfilling a private/public [organization-sized contract](people-contracts.md).
- Most legal systems make money per day for prison terms, so your sentencing is likely to maximize the amount of money the prisons can make, with probation/parole granted to free up space for other convicts.
- At the same time, their punishment can change based on what you do, and it is *never* too late to change [habits](habits.md).

By keeping yourself compliant and relatively unimportant, you'll avoid most of the misery that could injure or kill you:

- Find a straightforward daily [routine](habits.md) to pass the time, and consider [self-improving](people-changes.md) with what you can while you're waiting out your sentence.

Stay busy, even when you don't have much to do:

- Spend time reading just about anything, since it expands your [understanding](understanding.md) and can often give answers to *many* domains of thought you never thought you had.
- Find small skills you can build that interest you (e.g., diction, throwing cards, philosophy).
- Whenever you can, get out: go to the yard, medical, the library, anywhere you're allowed to go.
- Whatever you do, *do not stay in your cell more than you have to*.
  - Staying in your cell can provoke more anxiety and stress.

The prison guards may try to antagonize you:

- They may cut your shower or yard time off early, give you responsibilities you don't want, cut off food rations, or physically harm you.
- If you get angry, they're *trying* to make you angry, which can get you more time, often in solitary confinement.
- Take it in stride, exercise in your cell, and tend to your thought life (especially your [faith](spiritual-exercises.md)).

As much as you can, stay in touch with the outside:

- When you can, write letters to everyone:
  - Loved ones
  - Ministers in your faith
  - Organizations that send literature to prisoners
  - Courts, regarding the unfairness of your trial
- If you have phone call privileges, stay in touch with everyone willing to speak with you.
  - Ask how *they* are doing, since your life is boring and awful compared to theirs and will eventually drag them down with the misery you're experiencing.
  - If you need emotional support, you need to find it with your friends on the inside.
- Your letters and calls *will* be intercepted, but writing allows you to [exert your will](language-writing.md) upon the world.

Don't be afraid to complain to the guards about legitimate issues:

- File grievances about everything that can be an issue: frayed wires, dripping water, broken plumbing, etc.
- Prison administrators hate paperwork, so your official complaints give them more work, and they may even release you early just to get rid of you.

When you're placed on parole/probation, you are *not* free to do whatever you want.

- Most convicts abuse their time on parole, which often exposes them at the worst possible timing.
- Do everything they tell you to do, [get a job](jobs-1_why.md), and wait out your time.

If you've spent time incarcerated, you'll likely have trouble with re-entry:

- The [culture](people-culture.md) outside of prison will be a shock for months.
  - Do what you can and focus on each day.
  - Take any help you can get, but avoid anything that might *appear* to be illegal or pseudo-legal.
  - If you're on probation or parole, don't even *think* about doing anything that might appear [illegal or barely legal](legal-safety.md).
- Take the routine you had when locked up and find a simple rhythm outside again, irrespective of what the rest of the world is doing.

Try to find groups that help with re-entry:

- People have been through your journey before, but you have to seek them out.
- You'll likely face distrust, and you're responsible to demonstrate that you have morally changed, even if you *don't* earn their trust.
- Even when other people socially reject you, that's not your responsibility.