
How to Adapt to Prison - mhb
https://medium.com/personal-growth/10-ways-to-adapt-to-prison-7e1956904409#.cqzoj773m
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filoeleven
Slightly off-topic, but a massive US prison strike is currently taking place,
to protest forced labor and inhumane conditions[0], and most of us probably
haven't even heard about it.

This is very problematic, since many of us also know how unjust the US justice
system is, especially with the drug war and all, and without public awareness
the strikes will accomplish a lot less than they ought to.

So if it's not already in your news feeds, google "prison strike" or just
start with the Intercept piece.

[0][https://theintercept.com/2016/09/16/the-largest-prison-
strik...](https://theintercept.com/2016/09/16/the-largest-prison-strike-in-u-
s-history-enters-its-second-week/)

~~~
kavbojka
Thanks for sharing this! I heard that is was planned but figure it might not
happen.

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b6
This list is OK, but I think there's a major omission: be ready to fight. If
you are ever probed for weakness, you must make it clear that you will not be
easy to victimize. You don't have to win, but you have to fight and make it as
difficult as you can. It doesn't matter at all what the fight is over. Someone
took a scoop of your mashed potatoes? Fight them. Make them regret it as much
as you can.

I feel so sorry for anyone who goes into prison who does not understand this.

~~~
giarc
Is this from your own experience or just what you believe to be true? I'm not
trying to be rude, but that piece of advice holds much more weight coming from
someone that has actually served time.

~~~
b6
It's not rude. You're absolutely right. Somehow, despite my best efforts, I
never went to prison.

But I was obsessed about the possibility for a while, and read a lot of books.
The one that made the biggest impression on me was _The Hot House: Life Inside
Leavenworth Prison_. In that book, a lifer named Carl Bowles describes why he
doesn't have to worry very much, despite being small (like me). Paraphrasing,
it was because he never let there be any doubt in anyone's mind that if they
tried to hurt him, he'd respond very violently.

That book described in many different ways the importance of willingness to
fight in prison. People due for release in a few months would fight and get
time added to their sentences for fear of what would happen if they didn't
fight.

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fatdog
I clicked on this article because it is how to get along in groups of men.

While prison likely has a high concentration of pathological personalities,
the more serious the company you are in, the more it will have collected
people who are attracted by power and prestige - the more probable case that
you will be dealing with psychopaths.

The ones I've met aren't actually that smart (handwavy estimate is they seem
to top out around IQ120), and usually only have one or two blunt but heavy
social tools that make them high functioning manipulators. They are enabled by
overly trusting, high IQ but socially unsophisticated engineers who are easily
bullied.

With violence largely a non-factor in a psycho's toolkit in the startup world
(vs. prison), you can learn to anticipate and manage them.

While it can be fun to have the scariest dog in the park, who's just a sweetie
to you at home (because all they understand is power), it raises the question
of responsibility. You know it's going to do harm, it's just a matter of time,
and the question for a real leader is, at what point do you recognize it for
what it is and put it down?

If you have ever been to boarding school, summer camp, or worked in a large
institution, the difference to prison seems largely symbolic. Different people
and rules, yet still, people and rules.

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pc86
TIL ~2 standard deviations above the mean isn't "that smart."

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dgacmu
And you also learned that the standard deviation on the stanford-binet scale
is 15, not 10. :-)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_classification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_classification)

~~~
pc86
(Subtly) edited :)

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agentgt
I have always thought a good book (probably a novelty but whatever) would be
how to prepare for prison. For example what sort of physical training +
psychological training + diet would be optimal. What sort of defense training
would you study. Where would you put some if any remaining assets.

For example before going you might want to gain as much weight as possible
(who cares about looking attractive). Generally more weight will increase
strength regardless if it is fat (although muscle would be better). Or maybe
gaining a lot of weight is a bad idea... don't know but I am curious.

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gaius
It exists: [http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/no-weights-no-limits-an-
inte...](http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/no-weights-no-limits-an-interview-
with-paul-wade.html)

~~~
agentgt
This seems to cover a small part of it. Also I don't know much about prison
but I assume inmates have access to weights (or maybe that is just a hollywood
stereotype that I have picked up). I suppose though while you are in jail if
you aren't bailed out you can do weightless training.

I would imagine forearm training would be critical since grappling is so
important in self defense. This could be tricky if there are no bars to hang
from.

I'm thinking the best training is probably fairly similar to football
training... get big, fast, and strong. I'm just not sure gymnastic like
training will do that (particularly as you gain weight that sort of training
becomes fairly difficult).

Thus from my limited knowledge... I would probably do a ton of power cleans,
power presses, and sand bag grabbing. Maybe some farmer walks. Probably no
dead lifts while in prison though since that would just sap you and leave you
weak for attacks. Maybe deadlifts prior to going in.

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gaius
No, weights were banned in American prisons years ago.

If you can do one-arm pressups and pullups - which Wade's training leads up to
- you will be stronger than 99% of people who train with weights anyway.

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billmalarky
Beating 99% of people who weight train with modified bodyweight exercises is
definitely a stretch.

A pushup is equivalent to benching roughly 64% of your body weight. So if we
say one armed is similar to benching 128% of your bodyweight... That puts a
person in the intermediate level of weight training.

[http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/BenchStandards.htm...](http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/BenchStandards.html)

~~~
mrob
A one handed pushup is much harder than that because of the great difficulty
in keeping your body stable. Somebody who can bench twice their bodyweight
might still fail a one handed pushup if they haven't trained for it.

~~~
gaius
Exactly. The pressup engages the entire anterior chain. And _no-one cares_
about anyone's bench press 1RM in a fight or indeed any situation outside of
the gym - it just isn't a useful kind of strength.

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vacri
From outside the US, it's a little disturbing to see these kinds of articles
crop up occasionally. That you have enough people going into prison that these
articles are almost a 'general life tips' kind of thing.

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edandersen
Replace "prison" with "large corporation" and this advice works also applies.

~~~
js8
I disagree. If you want an easy path through life, then by all means, go with
it.

It applies to any hierarchical community that you can't easily quit. It could
very well apply to say totalitarian regime. But large corporation, while
sometimes being comparable in bureaucracy (and bullshit and politicking) to
totalitarian states, you can quit easily without much effect on your life.

In fact, I think this is the basic advantage of capitalist over communist
regime. You can be critical to a corporation, at least to an extent. You can
take more risks. The stakes are much lower.

~~~
tloble
Wait, what does communism have to do with this?

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js8
I mean communist regime, like in Eastern Europe, not the ideology. I
understand the difference. The point is, in communist regime, it used to be,
if you upset some big shot in the communist party, or were just a
troublemaker, it went onto your file, it affected your family, and nothing
short of emigration could clean that. In other words, there was a central
hierarchy in the society that you had to conform to. So the same advice as in
the article applies to any such hierarchical regime that affects your entire
life.

While corporations in capitalism are also hierarchical, the risk to ruining
your life is much less, because you can always change the corporation and
start with a clean slate. Your family is not affected (or only very rarely).
Even in hierarchical system of corporation, this gives you freedom that is
incomparable to being in prison or under totalitarian government.

It's of course up to you if you choose to exercise that freedom.. It may
backfire (with bad bosses), but it may also be worth it (with good bosses) and
most importantly, it can be lot more fun.

~~~
arethuza
"If you upset some big shot in the communist party, or were just a
troublemaker, it went onto your file"

In the UK in the 1960s and 1970s upsetting a large company could get you
investigated by MI5 and you could go on _their_ files.

See: _The Black Door: Spies, Secret Intelligence and British Prime Ministers_
by Richard Aldrich & Rory Cormac

[Mind you I'd rather have the attention of the Security Service than the Stasi
- but the behaviour is similar, treating dissent as insurrection].

~~~
pavel_lishin
And in the United States, if too many of your friends were suspected of being
communists, etc.

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pekk
While this was bad by US standards, it is in no way comparable to the Stasi or
the Gulags.

~~~
pavel_lishin
Sure, I was making the comparison to the UK.

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gaius
#4 I thought prisoners wore uniforms?

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pyre
Might depend on the "class" of prison. For example, at a more local level
sometimes people are allowed to serve their time by working all week and
spending weekends in prison.

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ci5er
That's county jail, not prison, right?

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ichamo
As someone who has been there I would say this list is spot on. I'd add more
about finding constructive uses of time though.

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kilroy123
What are the possible options, while there?

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johan_larson
Not many of us are likely to need advice on how to fit in, in prison.

Or are we?

~~~
GFischer
Unfortunately, if you're stuck in a pathologic environment, this advice sounds
pretty applicable.

I've worked for a BigCo where I would definitely recommend this, and some
public government sector offices here in Uruguay are unbelievable - they
unfortunately combine decent wages, a special cannot-get-fired provision (you
have to do something absurdly bad such as murder) and some extremely
pathological behavior from petty leaders.

Lots of people get stuck there, they cannot enter the private sector anymore
and they need to "put in time" to be able to retire.

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unoti
There is good wisdom here, but the overall theme is something I currently
struggle with. The overall theme as I see it is listen more than you talk, be
careful and mindful, because everyone is out to get you.

While there is wisdom in this, You can also come across as someone who never
shares ideas. Collaboration in business is vital, and it's important to foster
an environment where collaboration is open and it's OK to fail and figure out
how to do better. If you're a person that hangs on the periphery and never
goes out on a limb, it's hard to lead that way or foster an environment of
healthy teamwork.

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unoti
I'm actually interested in this topic, and seeking other perspectives on how
to look at this. I've been down voted here to the point that many people seem
to think I'm adding nothing to the conversation, or trolling. I'm not. If you
disagree with what I'm saying here or think I'm on the wrong track, I'd be
interested in hearing where you think my comments went awry.

~~~
mhb
You appear to be thinking that he is using prison as a metaphor when he is
writing about actual prison. I don't know how much idea sharing and healthy
teamwork are valued there.

