Prison journalism: What is Christmas like in prison?

Prison journalism: What is Christmas like in prison?Lincoln Raker was incarcerated at Pollsmoor prison from 2013 until 2016 and participated in the restorative justice programme while serving his time.

by Lincoln Raker

03-01-2024 09:28

in Prison Journalism

prison Image via Pexels

To be honest with you, if you are in prison on Christmas, it is one of the hardest days in prison.

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Isolation and Reflection During Christmas To think that you are behind bars and not able to do or go where you want to be, all you have to do is stay in a cell at all times. I think that the only time that you feel you are in prison is because normally it is family time, and it is a blessed day. The time I spent in prison, I started to forget about the outside world and what really matters to a person. I remember clearly my time in prison and what I went through on Christmas day. I was so alone, I missed my life that I was living on the outside, and everything that I had. I think that at one point, I actually began to understand that I have been in prison.

Even if I was on the outside, it did not mean anything to me because I just wanted to enjoy myself with friends, not even family.

ALSO READ: Prison Journalism: Christmas behind bars

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Most Missed: Food I think that most of all, what I needed was the food and the ability to walk around, but on the inside, there was something that I could not do or get. I think that even in prison, the guys try to make it the best as possible.

Stress and Survival Strategies Knowing that being in prison, you want to be on the outside for work, so you have to make it better for yourself. To do that is a bit hard to change the environment and adapt to your surroundings.

Sometimes in prison, I think that I had to be alert because everyone is stressed, and trouble is common at that stage because they all want to have, even myself, and I think it is something about being in prison at that time that makes you just want to do anything to anyone so that your stress can go away.

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Regrets I remember that during the Christmas period, I got into a fight that added to my sentence and took away from my visits, so I think from my point of view, being in prison on Christmas is really sad. I think that most of the prisoners felt the way that I did because after all, we are human, no matter what we did and how we act.

Points to Touch Upon I think there are a lot of points to touch upon, but I am just conveying what I feel my readers should hear. Yes, I served my time, but I am still a person who has feelings, just like you.

DISCLAIMER: Submission published as received

RESTORE is an NGO based in Cape Town, South Africa, providing inmates at Pollsmoor Prison with restorative justice opportunities.

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