Quora Question: What Can People Learn in Prison?

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Answer from Sam Hearnes, Inmate, San Quentin State Prison:

What you learn in prison depends upon the prison and, more importantly, the prisoner!

Most prisons do not offer the educational opportunities available at San Quentin. When I started my prison sentence 18 years ago, the prison in which I was housed offered two programs, Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous. These programs provided services to about 25 people on a prison yard that housed about 1,000. At 19 years of age, it did not make sense to participate in either program since I chose neither to drink nor use drugs. The other problem people faced with these programs was that most institutions experienced frequent lockdowns, so completing a program was next to impossible.

While housed at Lancaster State Prison, I did get exposure to the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration trade, but again, lockdowns and ultimately transferral prevented me from completing the program.

Still, many people make up their own education. That is where your personal disposition plays a most crucial role. Prisoners typically learn prison survival. These skills, and I'm using that term loosely, look different from person to person. Some people take refuge in legal studies and develop litigation skills that would rival Johnny Cochran's. Fewer people teach themselves business and finance. Most go the other direction and learn how to manufacture weapons, and in many instances learn how to use them most effectively, if there is such a thing.

Many prisoners learn to hate others for the first time based on the color of their skin. I had never met an open bigot until my incarceration. I have been told that my county of origin is notoriously racist, but as an African American, I can honestly say I did not experience racism until after I was arrested. Given the state of most prisons, most inmates don't learn things that will promote success upon their release.

Today, things have changed and are still changing drastically. Personally, I am a certified sheet metal worker and a published photographer. I am currently studying computer programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and I am five classes away from an Associate of Arts degree. Additionally, learning how to develop a business plan and pitch it was an eye-opening experience.

I have learned how human behavior affects our ecosystem and, more importantly, to truly appreciate life and people. I have learned to communicate with people by empathizing, and by making a conscious effort to listen actively.

Moreover, I have learned the importance of integrity and personal accountability. Most importantly of all, I have learned to be at peace with God's will.

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Answer from Chung Kao, Inmate, San Quentin State Prison:

Taxpayers learn that prison is expensive. In 2010, the average cost of incarcerating an inmate was approximately $51,000 per year. Incarcerating prisoners 50 years of age or older costs two to three times more than for the general prison population.

Lawmakers learn that longer prison terms for crimes alone do not improve public safety, but rather undermine it by sucking up public resources that could be better spent in education, rehabilitative programs, and social welfare.

Public officials learn that administering a prison system involves complex challenges and decision-making that is daunting and has significant economic, political, and societal consequences.

Prison guards and their union learn not only that their jobs are well paid and secure but also that, incidentally, the jobs collectively empower them politically to influence and drive public policies.

I have learned that a penal system whose sole purpose is punishment brews more crime and criminals and will eventually become unsustainable, and that education and rehabilitation in addition to punishment of offenders improves recidivism empirically.

I have learned that prison is necessary to temporarily remove to isolation those who have violated their civil contract not to offend others, and that the purposes for the isolation are public confidence, punishment, and rehabilitation.

I have learned how terrible and, in contrast, how agreeable prison conditions can be, depending on the vision or mere whim of a prison warden.

I have learned that violence to violence is not a solution to violence; it fuels it.

I have learned that one need not lose his or her dignity or decency to survive prison. A strong will and the ability to adapt creatively will do.

I have learned that ignorance perpetuates crime, violence, poverty, and lots of other social problems and that prisoners with higher education are less likely to re-offend.

I have learned that justice is never fully served by mere incarceration, and that a victim of crime gets justice when his or her need for closure from the impact of the crime is met.

I have learned from 23 years of incarceration that freedom is invaluable and that the loss of freedom is like a fish with no water, a bird with no wings, and a dog with no smell or taste.

Prison is no joke, I have learned.

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Answer from Azraal Ford, Inmate, San Quentin State Prison:

When I first entered prison I was a young skinhead, mad at the world, and I thought I knew everything. I was dead wrong. I didn't know jack! I have been in prison for 17 years now, and I learn new things about myself and humanity all the time. I've come up with my own idea of the learning process people go through in prison from my own experiences.

There are three stages of learning in prison: the fish stage, the convict stage, and the redemption stage.

The fish stage is first and it only lasts a few months to a year. When you first hit the prison yard, you learn very fast how to be observant, flexible, and obedient. Everything is new and you feel like a goldfish swimming in a shark tank. So you learn how to navigate in a confusing world. The guards are laying one set of rules on you while your inmate homies are telling you a different set of rules. You learn that if you break a guard's rule you lose a privilege, but break an inmate's rule and you could lose your life. The fish stage is where you learn what group you fit into inside prison. When I first hit prison I was a white supremacist and someone told me to always participate. They said if I was asked to stab someone, do it, because if I didn't, it would be me. So I watched and learned to do as I was asked.

The second stage of prison learning is the convict stage. This is where you learn how to survive in prison. In the convict stage you learn how to be self-reliant, methodical, treacherous, hateful, and all the other attributes of the hellbound. When you pass from the fish stage into the convict stage you're no longer a goldfish in a shark tank. Now you're a shark, and sharks are predators.

Many people in prison are secretly ashamed of their existence behind prison walls, so we build a world where we can be proud of our vileness. A person quickly learns that hardness is a security against hurt. We learn to be manipulators. We learn to be apathetic and cold because the more walls we build around ourselves, the harder it is for someone else to see our vulnerabilities. The convict stage is where we learn to numb our souls to protect ourselves from the world we live in. I called home once and heard my sister crying about a photo I'd sent home. She said my eyes looked soulless. I had to explain to her that it was just a defense mechanism. This is what I learned in the convict stage. Unfortunately, some never free themselves from this stage. But many do, and they pass on to the redemption stage.

This final stage is where people in prison once again learn compassion, forgiveness, confidence, and goodness. It took me many years to reach this stage, and it's here I'm learning to be human again. After decades of violence and hate something clicks and a person can realize there's more to this life than prison. You start to see people of different colors and classes sharing your same struggles, and you feel a bond. You learn that it takes cooperation to climb out of the abyss. You learn that the people you once hated are the first to offer you a hand when you fall. You learn that we're all in this together and real friendships can be made in the worst places. I see this every day at San Quentin, and it teaches me that I can learn to be a good man again.

This is how I learned in prison. I lived through all three stages of prison learning and feel I'm a better man for it. Through all of the pain I've caused others before coming to prison and the loss of freedom I've endured, the greatest thing I've learned in prison is hope.

All communications between inmates and external channels are facilitated by approved volunteers since inmates do not have access to the internet. This program with Quora is part of The Last Mile San Quentin. Twitter: @TLM

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