Nobody behind bars wants to be there. Prison is a very unpleasant place. Ex-cons complain about the noise: prisoners yelling at each other; prisoners yelling at no one; metal doors banging closed; bells and buzzers. There’s the boredom; long, long hours to fill with nothing to do. The smell, sometimes described as a mixture of dirty socks and Lysol, is frequently mentioned.
For first-time inmates the environment can be a terrible shock, so the well-heeled are turning to prison coaches to prepare them for their new lives.
Bernard Madoff Said to be Unafraid
A few days before he began serving his 150-year sentence for fraud Bernard Madoff sought the services of a prison coach. Herb Hoelter told Fox News (July 15, 2009) how he helped Madoff get ready for life inside the Butner prison complex in North Carolina.
Hoelter said he told Madoff he would not be a target for other inmates and should be safe from violence. He said Madoff was not afraid about spending the rest of his life behind bars.
Writing in The New York Post (July 20, 2009) Douglas Montero had a different view. In his article “Bernie in Thugs’ Sights” he quotes “a source who has a relative locked up with the 71-year-old Madoff” as saying, “Some of the guys were talking about smacking him around a little, just to get the notoriety of it.”
Violence is a Constant Problem
Prisons are violent places. In Canada, the likelihood of an inmate dying from a non-natural cause is eight times higher than in the population as a whole. Suicides, murders, and accidents happen more frequently in prisons than outside. Beatings are commonplace.
The Office of the Correctional Investigator keeps an eye on conditions inside Canada’s prisons. For years, the Office has expressed its concern about the safety of inmates. The 2005-06 Annual Report was no exception: “The overall level of violence in penitentiaries remains unacceptably high.
“And, the Correctional Service continues with alarming frequency to manage its penitentiaries with an over-reliance on use of force and segregation to resolve disputes and tensions.”
Preparation the Key to Survival
Steven Oberfest, co-owner of prisoncoach.com, trains his clients to be ready for the rough stuff. He has some experience to draw on as he spent time in a federal prison in Pennsylvania.
Oberfest told Rich Schapiro of The New York Daily News (July 19, 2009): “These guys have never been in a fight in their lives - they don’t know what violence is, and now they’re entering a world where anything can happen.”
Oberfest charges his clients $200 an hour about how to survive inside prison. There are rules on prison etiquette that the unwary had better learn fast: “If you’re confused about something, you can’t go to a correction officer and ask him what’s happening because the other inmates will think you’re a snitch.” Snitches are the most despised of all inmates and come in for the worst abuse.
But, according to Oberfest the most important skill to learn is self-defence. As a mixed martial arts expert he teaches his clients “how to instantly drop an attacker.”
If someone is able to humiliate the new inmate on his first day, “that just opens the door for everybody not to respect you. The most important thing is mutual respect.”
 |
