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1. My older sister was a Lt. at an Eastern State Women’s Prison for years. She said that the ladies were very clever in making something out of every day objects! They had much time on their hands. However, my sister was one of the very FEW never assaulted as she treated them all with respect, and kindness. She would make holiday goodies for them, but they could NOT call her by her first name. The Head of the Prison said there was the “state way, the prison way, and my sister’s way”. When the Head Warden retired she wanted my dear sweet 5’4″ sister to become the Warden. However, my sister preferred working with the prisoners, including the “psych” ward and more violent offenders ward, not having to deal with the State Dept. of Corrections and Politicians. I am 7 years younger and never knew what a spine of steel she had, sweet, pretty, competent, KINDNESS itself, but commanded NOT demanded respect.

   1. Kindness & respect can be powerful.

2. I talked with a guard from Ca. He said they only used nicknames. The prisoners didn’t need to know the guard’s real names. The guards seemed decent that I talked to.Only responding to the prisoners when it was really needed. And no I wasn’t in the prison.

3. Great article… just goes to show you, when you have a prepper mindset you can find applicable lessons all around you.

4. If the SHTF my family will not live like criminals in prison (although I appreciate your article) I will see that they thrive if it kills me. Being institutionalized like inmates is the worst possible scenario (I worked in corrections for over 25 years and fully understand the dynamics). Living like inmates will cause people to lose their “humanity”.

5. The good moral character of the author and those who wrote, comes through in their comments. This is what is necessary to be successful with people.

6. I was a prison chaplain. One thing I learned is that there are two types of prison staff: those who think that men can change, and those who don’t believe that men can change.

   I believe that men can change, especially through the power of the Gospel of Christ. And it is important for society to give them a chance to change, and a chance to start over after serving their time.

   1. One of my pet peeves with the criminal justice system:

      If someone who has committed a crime does not have the means to, at some point, earn all their rights of citizenship back, what is the point of being good. In the mindset of too many if one screws up and commits a crime that person should be punished with second class citizenship status virtually forever. Example: convicted felons (out on parole) not having the right to vote, or one who has served their full sentence (jail time plus parole) cannot earn the right to keep and bear arms.

      One needs to be able to, over time and based on successfully and lawfully participating in society, earn their full citizenship rights back.

      Disagree if you will, but then again, the key word here is EARNED.

      1. I agree completely with Charles K. “Justice” includes the granting of lost rights to those who have received punishment. In other words, justice is a two-way street. They paid their debt to society, we owe them their rights. My friends in the Alternative to Violence Project, who work with incarcerated people are very clear about this. If we expect them to behave like human beings, we must treat them like human beings.

         “Whatsoever you do unto the least of my children, you do unto me,” He said.

         Carry on.

7. I have no experience with the penal system, thankfully, but everything I just read, reminded me of my Boy Scout summer camp staff days, almost 40 years ago. ONE week of camping is one thing, but 7 weeks – while on staff – was a whole different animal, and a LOT of these lessons – about living in small spaces, over a long(er) period of time, came back home to me while reading it. GOOD reminders, since my memories are decades old now!

8. A good read, I enjoyed it. I live in a town with a large state prison and many corrections officers. I wouldn’t want their jobs. When we first moved here my wife suggested I get a job at the prison as she heard they pay nurses well. They do. I said, “Honey, I’d rather take care of kids with cuts then people who cut on kids”. We had plenty of them in the ER over th e years I worked there. You could tell how bad they were by the number of officers that accompanied them. Some of them were very bad people and that’s probably an understatement.

   My concern is what happens to the prisons if it all falls apart? Are they locked down and left to starve or are they released to their own recognizance? I read a recent book about a tsunami hitting our area and it is a real possibility. In the book many of the officers abandoned their posts to take care of their families. Prisoners escaped, rape pillage and plunder ensued.

   Do the corrections departments have a plan for this? After active duty I was in the reserves and one of my titles was NBC NCO. I knew back then that if the city had to evacuate because of an impending nuclear attack the prisoners in the local jail were to be locked down. That was close to 40 years ago. Current thoughts on this would be appreciated.

9. Convicts or prisoners,inmates are in mental wards. I have known several guards that worked at the nations largest and most dangerous jail,and jails in surrounding areas , if they don’t have a plan to get out(become full fledged police) or move up they can be as bad or worse than some convicts-remember the psychological impact on having the power in this situation automatically leads to abuse and another form of institutionalization.

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