The book About Prison by Michael G. Santos recounts his personal experience in the criminal justice system of the United States of America. First he explains the background of his situation. He was a normal kid growing up in a good family but he explains how he felt like he could not make a life for himself after high school by working for his father as a contractor (Santos, 2004, p.2). Seeking something more in life, Santos saw an opportunity to start selling cocaine with his high school friend Alex. Santos betrayed his father by taking out a huge amount of money in order to purchase cocaine and lied to his father about the reason for taking out the money. Needless to say, Alex and Santos cocaine business grew immensely and quickly. They went
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During chapter three on his way to Atlanta he describes the many places he stopped and was held on his way to the long-term prison. One of them included FCI El Reno in Oklahoma, which is a medium-security facility. Here he met some prisoners, got work duty in the kitchen, and learned that he was being transferred to Atlanta. Santos believed that Atlanta would be better for him, allowing him to “connected with the world outside”(Santos, 2004, p.74). When he arrived at USP Atlanta he went over some of the fears and anxieties about the stories and expectations he had going into a federal prison. Atlanta had a food strike that went on before he was transferred and a lot of the prisoners were being transferred. With ample room now, Santos and other inmates were being transferred to Atlanta. He describes that because the Atlanta prison was in between prisoners the “rules” and stereotypical prisoner behaviors were on hold. He was able to make some relationships well before the prison became overcrowded and unruly like he first expected. He goes on to describe the various circles of people in the prison and how they associated themselves with other people. Mainly it was ethnicity, however he also talks about reputation and how much it matters a lot in prison. He then describes his experience with employment in the library and his hopes in finding a way to educate himself while in prison. He then explains how the prison started to change and how the clichés of prison started to come true. He talked about sexual predators and gangs in prison and how these actions are really just used to help prisoners cope with their sentence; Essentially these actions fill ins for real physical relationships or for
During chapter three on his way to Atlanta he describes the many places he stopped and was held on his way to the long-term prison. One of them included FCI El Reno in Oklahoma, which is a medium-security facility. Here he met some prisoners, got work duty in the kitchen, and learned that he was being transferred to Atlanta. Santos believed that Atlanta would be better for him, allowing him to “connected with the world outside”(Santos, 2004, p.74). When he arrived at USP Atlanta he went over some of the fears and anxieties about the stories and expectations he had going into a federal prison. Atlanta had a food strike that went on before he was transferred and a lot of the prisoners were being transferred. With ample room now, Santos and other inmates were being transferred to Atlanta. He describes that because the Atlanta prison was in between prisoners the “rules” and stereotypical prisoner behaviors were on hold. He was able to make some relationships well before the prison became overcrowded and unruly like he first expected. He goes on to describe the various circles of people in the prison and how they associated themselves with other people. Mainly it was ethnicity, however he also talks about reputation and how much it matters a lot in prison. He then describes his experience with employment in the library and his hopes in finding a way to educate himself while in prison. He then explains how the prison started to change and how the clichés of prison started to come true. He talked about sexual predators and gangs in prison and how these actions are really just used to help prisoners cope with their sentence; Essentially these actions fill ins for real physical relationships or for