prison question

[Bob]

why do so many prisoners want dictionaries?

i volunteered today at this program where prisoners write letters requesting books, and the program does its best to send them the books they want, and by far the most requested book was a dictionary. anyone know why that is? even the people running the program seemed to be stumped. google suggests that prisoners want dictionaries because many are attempting to educate themselves, and they see dictionaries as a useful way to start doing that. i guess that makes sense, but i was wondering if they're secretly using them to smuggle dope or something

also, where would i go to find a shitload of cheap (or free...?) dictionaries? i kind of want to donate, the program didn't have nearly enough to go around. but i'm not made of dictionaries!

[BangkokB]

Malcolm X

[ericlee]

Well bob, I'll help you. Inmates in general- the majority of them have lack if education. Most of them haven't gotten past the 7th grade.

Because of such of an upbringing, a lot of them in fact do feel as if they have neglected themselves from learning and they decide since they have nothing but time; they try to put it to use and gain more knowledge.

I have seen many that use it for when they're writing letters home or to friends. They have it sitting open right next to them while writing.

Some use it for story and book writing, there's a whole lot of inmates that if they have never read of written before prison, once they got in, they have learned all of that. They also use dictionaries to help them with their music writing. There's a huge majority of them that keep busy writing lyrics.

When I did shakedowns, I rarely found them being used to smuggle contraband and as a matter of fact; durning that whole 2 plus years as a CO, I only found it done once but he only used of for storing his tattoo making equipment.

[Bob]

Malcolm X

that's also a common request

Well bob, I'll help you. Inmates in general- the majority of them have lack if education. Most of them haven't gotten past the 7th grade.

Because of such of an upbringing, a lot of them in fact do feel as if they have neglected themselves from learning and they decide since they have nothing but time; they try to put it to use and gain more knowledge.

I have seen many that use it for when they're writing letters home or to friends. They have it sitting open right next to them while writing.

Some use it for story and book writing, there's a whole lot of inmates that if they have never read of written before prison, once they got in, they have learned all of that. They also use dictionaries to help them with their music writing. There's a huge majority of them that keep busy writing lyrics.

When I did shakedowns, I rarely found them being used to smuggle contraband and as a matter of fact; durning that whole 2 plus years as a CO, I only found it done once but he only used of for storing his tattoo making equipment.

good to know, thanks. yeah, one guy wrote a letter that was like "i like to write to my family but there's a lot of words i can't spell so i was hoping you could give me a dictionary to help" and he got one, it was nice.

another guy requested erotic fiction, but we didn't have any. he was subtle about it too, like "i would like a book from one of the following genres: mystery, biographical, romance, erotic fiction, adventure, or historical", he tried to slip it in

i think he got a fantasy novel

[checkyourprez]

that's also a common request



good to know, thanks. yeah, one guy wrote a letter that was like "i like to write to my family but there's a lot of words i can't spell so i was hoping you could give me a dictionary to help" and he got one, it was nice.

another guy requested erotic fiction, but we didn't have any. he was subtle about it too, like "i would like a book from one of the following genres: mystery, biographical, romance, erotic fiction, adventure, or historical", he tried to slip it in

i think he got a fantasy novel

help a brother out with a little boner material bob, fuck.

[ericlee]

Well bob, I'll help you. Inmates in general- the majority of them have lack if education.

way to be hypocritical, eric. (n):mad:

[ericlee]

that's also a common request



good to know, thanks. yeah, one guy wrote a letter that was like "i like to write to my family but there's a lot of words i can't spell so i was hoping you could give me a dictionary to help" and he got one, it was nice.

another guy requested erotic fiction, but we didn't have any. he was subtle about it too, like "i would like a book from one of the following genres: mystery, biographical, romance, erotic fiction, adventure, or historical", he tried to slip it in

i think he got a fantasy novel

now that you mention the erotic material, in most prisons porn has become illegal. Magazines and such with pornographic pictures are not permitted at all therefore, they turn to reading sexual novels and they need to know exactly what they're fapping to so they keep a dictionary with them.

Can't blame them for that. I can't imagine not being able to touch a woman ever again which is most of their cases so, I can see myself yanking it to reader's digest and a webster's

[Bob]

there was one guy who asked for a book of love poems and a guide for drawing cartoons for kids. my first thought was "aw, that's heartwarming" but then i stopped and wondered "wait, what is this guy in for?"

[Bob]

oh yeah, there were also a bunch of people asking for books about out of body experiences. i guess if your body's in prison then such books would be helpful

i got a letter from one guy who was a practicing wiccan and he had a laundry list of about 20 books he was looking for (he was only asking us to send one or two, of course, he wasn't greedy). i felt like i was reading a kid's christmas list, except the kid was a wiccan and he was asking for spellbooks. literally more than half the list was composed of spellbooks. i actually did manage to find him a book about astral projection so hey

[Documad]

Maybe they are filing legal papers -- still challenging their conviction or divorce/custody suits. Maybe they want their documents to look a bit more professional for the judge. They can check regular books out of the prison library, but they probably can't check out reference books. Also I think that prisons often encourage the guys to take educational courses. You can get a degree in there.

You don't want to send them anything that's not allowed by prison rules. A dictionary seems safe.

[Adam]

my first thought was to look up rude words.

But every1 else's suggestions are much better.

[Bob]

Maybe they are filing legal papers -- still challenging their conviction or divorce/custody suits. Maybe they want their documents to look a bit more professional for the judge. They can check regular books out of the prison library, but they probably can't check out reference books. Also I think that prisons often encourage the guys to take educational courses. You can get a degree in there.

You don't want to send them anything that's not allowed by prison rules. A dictionary seems safe.

one guy sent a letter in which he said he wanted to "profess his innocence of being not guilty of murder" (that's a quote). the guy wanted legal assistance for his appeal and i was mildly tempted to send him a personal letter offering to help for free for the experience (i could totally do appellate work) but he's from south carolina and i'm not licensed/willing to travel there so we just sent him some legal materials instead

[checkyourprez]

my first thought was to look up rude words.

But every1 else's suggestions are much better.


its prison, not 5th grade adam.

[Echewta]

http://www.break.com/index/worst-beatboxer-ever.html

[HEIRESS]

I always see tons of dictionaries and thesauruses at thrift store for 25, 50 cents to a few dollars each.

pretty good deal, especially if you go to a charity run thrift store then it's a win-win situation.

[rirv]

This is an area I am currently reading a bit about:

70% of pupils permanently excluded from school have difficulties in basic literacy skills. 25% of young offenders are said to have reading skills below those of the average seven-year-old. 60% of the prison population is said to have difficulties in basic literacy skills.

(Source: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/research/Literacy_changes_lives_prisoners.pdf)

Is low literacy a direct cause of criminality? You could say that those with low literacy tend to come from poor backgrounds, from backgrounds where crime is more accepted, where social standards are lower etc. etc. Chicken and egg.

However, the direct link between crime and literacy are higher than you might think. A student in school who struggles with literacy - not just to read words and be able to sound them out, but understand what they mean - is to a large extent excluded from the curriculum. They can come to classes but if they struggle to understand they switch off. If they switch off they are less likely to take part and thus start to cause trouble. They are more likely to get ejected from a classroom or "fail" their exams. They struggle to get an education, it's a vicious cycle. Also, not being able to understand something is very embarassing. A young male especially who cannot read or write properly is going to be hugely embarassed by this. What is a young male's first recourse in such a situation? Violence or aggression.

Basically what I'm saying is education is key and it is a long term solution where the results will not be seen in one government's life span. Therefore education keeps getting pushed down the agenda.

[trailerprincess]

You could try the Shawshank approach of appealing to libraries and schools etc for old ones which are no longer used...

[Freebasser]

They are hiding rock hammers in them.

[Bob]

I always see tons of dictionaries and thesauruses at thrift store for 25, 50 cents to a few dollars each.

pretty good deal, especially if you go to a charity run thrift store then it's a win-win situation.

good idea, i'll check that out. thanks!

[Guy Incognito]

what about contacting a dictionary publisher, if you got enough evidence from your chairty and others that dictionaries were heavily requested maybe a publisher might see it as a good pr move to donate a shitload of them.

[Adam]

what about contacting a dictionary publisher, if you got enough evidence from your chairty and others that dictionaries were heavily requested maybe a publisher might see it as a good pr move to donate a shitload of them.

I think that'd backfire. First off excuse my ignorance of not knowing the main american dictionary publishes but say;
Oxford Dictionaries donate 2000 dictionaries to this cause.
Cambridge Dictionaries advertise, we don't give our dictionaries to rapist, murderers, kiddie fiddlers; instead we donated to the homeless and those down on their luck = better PR.

I'm not saying they're aren't good people in prison but its all about the image and dictionary companies definitely have an image of upper-class, white, elite vibe going off about them. It might be worth a try though but out-reach programs who have the power to buy up thrift store dictionaries might be better placed with resources and the will to help the cause.

[Guy Incognito]

I think that'd backfire. First off excuse my ignorance of not knowing the main american dictionary publishes but say;
Oxford Dictionaries donate 2000 dictionaries to this cause.
Cambridge Dictionaries advertise, we don't give our dictionaries to rapist, murderers, kiddie fiddlers; instead we donated to the homeless and those down on their luck = better PR.

I'm not saying they're aren't good people in prison but its all about the image and dictionary companies definitely have an image of upper-class, white, elite vibe going off about them. It might be worth a try though but out-reach programs who have the power to buy up thrift store dictionaries might be better placed with resources and the will to help the cause.

well i think thats a bit blinkered but i see what you are saying.
It'd be nice if they could put on the back cover that they helped x amount of prisoners achieve qualifications and aided rehabilitation.
And as for dictionaries having an upper class white vibe, you've been watching too much countdown, only white people use words now?

[Bob]

if the publishers of paper dictionaries think that upper class people still use them then they're sadly behind the times. on account of the internet, prisoners and hobos are probably the only people in society that still have a use for paper dictionaries

[checkyourprez]

i've used dictionary.com today more times then i have used an actual dictionary in the past 10 years.

[Guy Incognito]

i just searched google to see if there had been any evidence of dictionary publishers donating to prisons and this thread was the 6th lin the list of results.

[nodanaonlyzuul]

"i would like a book from one of the following genres: mystery, biographical, romance, erotic fiction, adventure, or historical"

Annnnd I have a new sig.

[miss soul fire]

Cape Fear! Thay's why.

[mathcart]

why do so many prisoners want dictionaries?



Malcolm X



that's also a common request


No, that was the correct answer. Look it up...
respect B

[Bob]

No, that was the correct answer. Look it up...
respect B

oh. well how about that. i wonder why my googling didn't turn that up

[lolkat]

pfffft^ white boy aint got shit

[ms.peachy]

Is low literacy a direct cause of criminality? You could say that those with low literacy tend to come from poor backgrounds, from backgrounds where crime is more accepted, where social standards are lower etc. etc. Chicken and egg.

Correlation but not causation. Yes they are linked, but one does not 'directly' cause the other. It is, as you have touched on, far more complicated. Also, don't underestimate that 'social standards' bit. As I'm sure you know, in some communities, in some families, being seen as being 'smart' is a good enough reason for a beat-down. From one's own parents, even. The concept of "bettering yourself" is equated to 'who does he think he is, he needs to be taken down a peg.'

However, the direct link between crime and literacy are higher than you might think. A student in school who struggles with literacy - not just to read words and be able to sound them out, but understand what they mean - is to a large extent excluded from the curriculum. They can come to classes but if they struggle to understand they switch off. If they switch off they are less likely to take part and thus start to cause trouble. They are more likely to get ejected from a classroom or "fail" their exams. They struggle to get an education, it's a vicious cycle. Also, not being able to understand something is very embarassing. A young male especially who cannot read or write properly is going to be hugely embarassed by this. What is a young male's first recourse in such a situation? Violence or aggression.

I don't think most people fail to realise the connection; I think though there is a lot of disagreement as to how best to address it. I see this in my work all the time; the kids who end up in the program I work for come to us after every other means has been exhausted, and parents and LEAs (or whatever the heck they are called now) are out of ideas.

Basically what I'm saying is education is key and it is a long term solution where the results will not be seen in one government's life span. Therefore education keeps getting pushed down the agenda.

Well, I don't entirely agree, I don't know that it gets 'pushed down the agenda' because it won't be solved 'in one government's life span'. I think it's more that it's a problem without any single solution - different people learn differently, so there is no magical "teaching method" that will ensure every pupil succeeds, and even if there was there are of course the social factors, etc etc. It's a hydra, basically. And an expensive one. So one government does what it thinks will address the main issues, and then eventually the pendulum shifts and the next government says "look how much money this is costing, and for what result?" And so they do what they think will work, until it all comes full circle again.