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Book Review ~ Inside: Life Behind Bars in America
Inside: Life Behind Bars in America
The book is by Michael Santos. Santos became a top distributor of cocaine in his early 20s and was sentenced to 25 years in prison as well as serious fines. In Inside, Santos describes his experiences in prison. He’s still inside, by the way. He won’t get out til 2013. It’s good book to read if you are like me and enjoy reading about tribal politics, underground economies, prison warfare, illicit sex, … and it reinforces several beliefs I have, the most important one is that human behavior is incentive-based. I’m not going to give away the entertaining tales of prison rape and gang warfare. Go give Santos your $10.17 if you want to read about it.
Criminals such as “gangstas” are no different from anyone else. They want to get theirs, and to that end, they are willing to carry as much risk as they can get away with. They pick a strategy optimized for their perceived skills and perceived market opportunities.
Inside prison, you can choose to live by the criminal code – the tribal code – or you can live by the code of society. If you live by the criminal code, you have the chance of making your stay more comfortable; by beating on low-status inmates, you can earn privileges such as a single cell and the respect of fellow inmates. But you also risk adding more time onto your sentence.
On the other hand, if you live by the code of society, then you can simply expect to serve out your sentence without additional added time. There is no social upside for good behavior as it is not rewarded, whereas there are major punishments for bad behavior.
A major theme of Santos’s writing is that the prison system serves not to rehabilitate inmates – simply to house them. Inmates leave prison just as equipped to make an “honest” living in society as they were when they entered prison any number of years earlier. Sure, some may earn GEDs, which may contribute to the 30% of those who avoid recidivation. But most spend the years frustrated, and continue their criminal social programming. When they get out, they break laws. Humans adopt a strategy to survive and inmates are not taught the skills necessary to adopt a profitable, socially acceptable strategy.
Fortunately Santos has done as much in his power to improve his situation to the point where he can to contribute to society in positive and legal ways, such as by writing an interesting book to better inform people about prison culture.
You can get the book at Amazon here.
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