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Prison Life: 5 Things Men Should Know
You’ve seen prison life portrayed on TV and in film, but how close is it to what really goes on? AskMen spoke with a former inmate of the infamous Corcoran State Prison (home to some of the most famous and most hated criminals in the country, including Charles Manson, producer Phil Spector and serial killer Juan Corona) and the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison (SATF-CSP) to find out. And what Prisoner F3#### learned from doing time at both facilities may surprise you.
Here’s hoping that you won’t find yourself imprisoned anytime soon, but if you tend to skirt the law or know someone who’s looking at some hard time soon, these are the five things you should know about prison, according to Prisoner F.
1- Prisoners are segregated by sexual orientation, crime and race, among other factors"If all you know about prison is from what Hollywood portrays, then you’ll be really surprised. First off, the homosexuality is way off. Homosexuals are in protective custody," says Prisoner F. When you first get processed, "they ask you if you’re gay. They also do a full physical, AIDS test, hepatitis test, etc. There are a lot of men with sex changes (boobs, ass, etc.). If you’re gay, they classify you in the "SNY YARD." SNY stands for Sensitive Needs Yard. SNY consists of prisoners who may be endangered in the company of the general population, and it often includes gays, gang dropouts and child molesters. I asked one officer about the SNY Yard, and he described it as Jurassic Park. And people like Charles Manson and Juan Corona are in a place called PHU, Protective Housing Unit, because they are high-profile people, and people want to beat them up."
As for the general population, while prison officials would argue that the placement of prisoners in certain areas is an extremely complex process and that it’s more the prisoners who "self-segregate," Prisoner F claims that they classify you primarily by race: "When you go to classifications, they put you in with your own race automatically. They [the officers] do it to have the prisoners protect each other, because they have an understanding about each other’s race. It’s like, 'Hey, we’re gonna let you guys stick together to protect yourself.' It works better with the system as long as the system [read: correctional officers] doesn’t get hurt."
2- To survive in prison, you have to join a gang"Once you get to prison, you have to join a gang. You have no choice. The term 'gang' has a whole different meaning inside; only eight types of gangs exist. You got the Whites, Blacks, Native Americans, Southern Mexicans, Northern Mexicans, Piasa Mexicans, Bulldogs and The Others. Usually, you’ll join what race you are, but being as diverse as California is, you choose what group of people you hung around with in the streets. To make it easier on your decision, just stick with your own race.
"As soon as you walk on the yard, you meet with the shot caller, the person who calls the shots, the leader of the gang, and then what happens is he’s going to ask you for your paperwork, to make sure you’re not a piece of sh*t. They always give you paperwork when you go to prison because it has your rights, what you got in trouble for, whatever, this and that. You have to show him that, and if it’s bad, they’ll beat him up.
"You have to join a gang no matter what. Either the shot caller or his other associates will teach you the set rules and discipline you must abide by. If you don’t, or don’t join a gang, what happens is you become an outcast, and you leave yourself open for people to mess with you. Being in those gangs protects you from being messed with; that’s why you stay together. You can socialize and you can make business with other gangs, but you can’t go on their turf.
"Sometimes the heads of the gangs meet, whenever there are any problems, or something needs to be handled… people beating each other up, or this guys owes a gambling debt. Gangs don’t just attack each other. There’s usually something going wrong. Like 'business,' a lot of stuff gets traded in there because everything’s money. What I found most dangerous are the drugs and actual stuff getting into the prison."
There are three more things you need to know about prison life next...