Victor Hassine wrote a clear and true representation of the prison system in Life Without Parole: Living in Prison Today about his life in prison. He was educated and trained in law and has been in prison for 17 years. This is a story of the inner dealing and conditions of living behind bars. I will discuss his beginnings at Graterford State Prison, the punishments, the escapisms used to forget about where one is behind bars, the violence that is prevalent, the subcultures, conflicts between the old inmates and the new inmates, the underground economy, gangs, prison politics, race relations, friendships, interviews of inmates by Hassine and prison rape.

Victor Hassine was sent to Graterford State Prison in Pennsylvania on June 4, 1981. There were many things to get used to it turns out in prison, unlike the outside world, and he was surprised at how he felt going in. The noise was the thing that shocked him in the beginning of his stay in Graterford. He states that the noise was an “echo that never ended”(6). His first impression of the men in Graterford was unlike anything he had experienced before, none of the inma

There are different actions taken by the prison officials to correct misbehavior in institutions (though it differs from place to place). Hassine started out being naïve to the ways of the prison and thought he was beginning to learn the ways business, though corrupt, was handled. The common thought throughout is to do what you want to get what you want or need, but if you got caught doing something that the guards didn’t like (even if it is common place to overlook the behavior) you would get punished. There are different degrees of the punishment enacted for the different degrees of the things one does. The first is a warning, a sort of “or else” reprimand, this isn’t a great deterrent to many. The second is the Loss of Privilege. These are the loss of connivances such as TV, phone calls, visits, and commissary. This is an inconvience, but not bad, as punishment goes in Graterford. The next level is Cell Restriction. This is confinement to ones cell for the day except for a two-hour recreation time and the loss of ones job. This restriction doesn’t include the loss of privileges though but losing ones job is never good because of the shortage of them. The next step in punishment is Double-lock Feed-in. This is where you are confined to your cell for all but 2 hours a day recreation time and the loss of ones job and privileges with the opportunity to shower only three times a week. The worst punishment one could endure in prison is Disciplinary Custody. This is what most calls “Siberia” or the “hole”. You still get two hours recreation time a day but are confined away from the general population with nothing to do but think. This is very hard and torturous, states Hassine, on the uneducated because of the lack of things to occupy ones time and the hopes of hanging on to ones sanity (18). There is an “Inmate dilemma” that is cause for some of this punishment. This is the violence and stealing taking place inside the walls of the prison. One doesn’t know what to do about it. There are a few things to be done. One is to tell the guards, although the ramifications of being labeled a snitch are generally far worse than the stolen item. Another is to ignore it, this causes a backlash and spiral effect for more victimization to occur, once they (the perpetrators) know you are going to be passive the more things are going to happen to you and by many more. So that leaves only one thing to do, this is to stand up for yourself and your belongings and do something about it. This earns you respect and may lead to others leaving you alone. This epidemic is unfortunately getting worse and worse the more that something is being (or trying to be) done about it.

The degree of punishment in the “hole” has changed as Jacko has seen over the years. From the 4x4 cells to the beatings, because the hole wasn’t enough, and then the changes to it now, it is a much better system today then the past. Due to the fact of the bigger cells, lighting, meals and realization of the cruel punishment that was being endured in the past things have changed.

Some topics in this essay:
Prison Violence, Rape Prison, Nevertheless Graterford, Albert Brown, Graterford Hassine, Disciplinary Custody, Friends Hassine, Classified Getting, Graterford Punishments, Pennsylvania June, inmates coming, prison system, prison violence, gangs prison, prison rape, gangs gangs, ones job, graterford prison, walls graterford, underground economy, loss ones job, violent ones past, beyond walls graterford, inmates coming ones, recreation loss ones,