The antisocial behavior of criminals is a symptom of a deeper illness that is not only the cause of crime but also the driving force behind untreated recidivism. The stated goal of incarceration should be to find programs or treatments [...]
My 25 years of experience doing time in prison make me an expert at avoiding the pitfalls of prison. All prisons are different, but many of the rules of conduct stay the same. Simple common sense will save you most [...]
I’m not perfect. I am too broken to ever be, but I can finally be proud of the man I am. For me, that is enough. I grew up in a redneck family in the backwoods of Mobile, Alabama. I’m the [...]
Like many others who find themselves locked in a cage with no way out, he too had a breaking point. The day we met, he reached it -- and bloody murder became acceptable. Prison had changed him. The sky was blue [...]
Daniel Harris interviews three inmates who say their experiences in abusive group homes made them the criminals they are today. David Wayne Besom was 9-years old when he was sent to the Culver Youth Home in Midland, Texas. Besom tells me [...]
Dani H. Harris By Dani Harris “Where did you make-up?” SGT. Holmes asked. I played stupid. “Make-up? What Make-up? I don’t have any because I can’t buy it on commissary.” SGT. Holmes did this thing with his finger [...]
By: Daniel Harris, Contributing Writer If marijuana is a gateway drug, as some suppose, then the laws that make it illegal are the keys to the gate... and it's a prison gate. Everyone that smokes a joint, even future presidents, break the [...]
Everyone's always shocked to learn that so many drugs are available in prison. But why, I always wonder. It would be more surprising if the lure of easy profits didn't corrupt so many guards to smuggle them in, given how poorly [...]
I've decided to stay sober. Such decisions seem to be magnets that attract all sorts of intoxicants, so my sobriety could die before the sun rises. My personal best was 9 years, while in ad-seg [Administrative Segregation, a level of [...]
By: Daniel Harris, Contributing Writer Many are intimidated by the expensive trappings of yoga. When you take away all the specialty items, forget the retreats to faraway places, and make do where you are with what you have, yoga comes alive. [...]
By DANIEL H. HARRIS Many claim the title of "Convict," but few live up to the Convict Code of Conduct. Convicts are not made, they are born a breed apart. A true convict is incapable of snitching. No convict is ever [...]
BY DANIEL HARRIS, Contributing Writer Where did they expect psychiatric patients to end up when they cut Federal Funding for mental health beds? Whatever they thought, I know where they are. Here, in prison, with me. I've had two certifiably insane cellies. [...]