Introduction
It took my experience working inside a prison for me to be forced to look at how society and governmental officials treat, house and rehabilitate those behind bars.
This story is unfortunately, true and must be read with an open mind, as I am not implying that those who violate the law should be housed in club med. I also realize that there are hardened, repeat criminals who are a menace to society, and will never choose to change, no matter what is done for them. Statistics show that this group is about 30% of those imprisoned. For the purposes of this book Im going to focus primarily on the other 70%, who if are given the opportunity could change the direction of their life. As they are the ones who will ultimately be released back into society.
Times have changed since the prison days of rice, bread and water diets. Yet most people and I admit that at one time I was one of them, feel like the inmates deserve what ever they get for violating the law. You see, I have also been a victim of robbery, not once but twice. I know how it feels to be violated. But the more I observed and learned I began to realize that much could and should be done to reduce recidivism, save taxpayers money, and prevent crime, but most important of all change lives.
What do we call our prisons? Are they a prison or a correctional facility? If it is a prison, it is a place for inmates to be housed with the bare necessities to spend and serve time for their misdeeds. A correctional facility on the other hand implies or suggests that there is a process of teaching and changing ones lifestyle taking place while they are serving their time. The prisons in Florida where I worked were called correctional institutions, and you will see from reading this that there was little if anything that resembles an honest attempt to change lives.
It is my intent to share the circumstances as I saw them inside the fence of a male maximum security prison, and to also tell you what I learned about prisoners, their life experiences, and what it takes for them to change. For those who want another chance to prove themselves and are willing to change their life to do it I am compelled to write this story.
If this book does nothing other than to enlighten you then it will have served its purpose. If it gives you a new prospective then maybe you will be a part of the solution to our dilemma of over crowded prisons, and societys dismal failure to help its own.
In the end it is you and I that must answer for how we treated others, Gods other children, the uneducated, troubled, abused, forgotten, unlovable, the addicts and the sick. The answer is not to turn our back, and act as if they dont exist. It doesnt work, things just keep getting worse. Todays society proves it.
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