How to Survive in an Alabama Department of Correction

Alabama Department of Correction facilities are perhaps one of the safest correctional facilities in the world because of their advocacy to ensure safety to both staff and inmates. Nonetheless, a correctional facility is still a prison for all its worth and spending time there still entails having to live among convicts and follow prison rules and regulations.

If you are newly incarcerated you probably want to know how to survive in an Alabama Department of Correction Facility. After all, it’s not an everyday occurrence that you get to be sentenced to prison. If you do get sent to one of Alabama’s correctional facilities across the state, then consider it luck since their prison management system is one of those which advocate and promote just condition in their prisons. This means no overcrowding and inhumane treatment in their facilities.

The management of Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) provide handbook for each female and male inmate upon arrival, to ensure that everyone knows the rules and follows them. You will know how to survive in an Alabama Department of Correction facility if you will read, understand, and strictly follow the rules indicated therein.

The handbooks may vary from one facility to another as others may include additional rules unique to their specific facility. Nevertheless, all the basic rules are included in the handbooks and you will be able to breeze through your sentence without much hassle if you will strictly adhere to the regulations and rules set forth within the handbook.

All of the Alabama correctional facilities implement the “no communication devices and social media accounts for inmates” rule. Therefore, if you want to know how to survive in an Alabama Department of Correction Facility, you should learn not to long for the cellular phones that you are used to (as if they are like extensions of your hands) and prepare yourself for absolute social media silence while you are incarcerated.

Inmates who are caught with cellphones or its accessories in their possession will be punished accordingly. Thus, if you want to get out from prison on time without any misdemeanor on your record, teach yourself to forget about cellphones, computers or tablets for the period of your incarceration.

By adhering to the rules, you will also be ensuring your safety in the prison. Although inmates will be classified according to the degree of their sentence and the results of their initial behavior assessments by prison officials, there still exists the danger of being sexually or physically assaulted inside the facility. However, there are certain things you can do (outlined in the handbook) to ensure that you won’t place yourself in situations wherein you are vulnerable to such abuse or assault.

These things include identifying high risk areas in the prison and avoiding such places, especially when you are alone; not accepting gifts or favors from inmates or staff in exchange for “certain favors”; and choosing your associates within the facility. Associates or “friends” can push you into situations you don’t want to be in, hence it is wise advice to choose carefully the inmates you associate with.

It would also do you good to adhere to the rule of “what you see, what you hear, leave it at that”. This means that no matter what you see or hear inside prison, you should not gossip about it. Gossips can cost you your limb and even your life, thus it would be wise not to get involve with things that do not concern you. It may sound coldhearted to just turn a blind eye to what is happening around you inside prison. However, if you want to get out with intact limbs and sanity, you should just mind your own business.

On the lighter side of things, you can always spend your free time (when you are not doing any scheduled prison activity) in meaningful and productive pursuits. Prisons always have some kind of programs geared towards making interested prisoners become productive, better people. Inquire about such programs and enroll yourself in any or even all of it, if it means assurance to your safety and well-being.

Being in prison gives you more time than you can handle so better make use of such time to broaden your knowledge. Read everything that you can get your hands on. If you have the knack for words, you can even develop the skill for writing stories, poems or just about anything readable. The point here is to enhance your knowledge while getting you out of trouble’s way. Who knows? The skills that you may develop and enhance while incarcerated may help you start anew when you do get out of prison.

Life in prison puts a limit on your mobility. If you want to maintain good health and stamina, you need to engage in regular exercise, beyond those activities which the prison management require all prisoners to do. You need to keep a healthy body if you want to survive the rigors or the lack of it, in prison.

Being imprisoned in the Alabama Department of Correction do not actually expose you to great risks, much like other prisons. However, when you get to stay in such a prison for a long time, the main problem you have to deal with is how to be able to re-orient yourself to society, when you do get back. Furthermore, it can be hard to deal with your situation if you do not accept responsibility for your situation, right from the outset.

Accepting responsibility in this context means that you fully acknowledge the reason why you are in prison and why you have to be penalized for your wrongdoings. You should then strive not to make your prison life more difficult than it normally is by keeping out of trouble and harm’s way. Aspire not to attract attention to yourself by keeping a low profile.

Lastly, no matter what your religious affiliation is, strive to pray regularly. You should also meditate to achieve that inner peace which can be quite elusive for some people. Life in prison can be relatively hard or easy, depending on how you view your situation. Thus, your attitude plays a great role in your survival. This means that your survival largely depends on how you view and react to your situation. You can either make life difficult for you or go with the flow as silently as you can to survive the ordeal.