From the Inside Flap
None of us is prepared for incarceration. No matter what people say there is nothing comfortable about spending time in prison. For most of us life consists of a routine. Work, social, family and personal commitments fill our time. None of us actually gives thought to spending time in prison. Unfortunately more and more men and women are facing this challenge. DownTime is a guide. DownTime will help readers to overcome their lack of knowledge about incarceration.
While incarcerated I noticed that almost every new inmate experienced the same problems—the same challenges—that I did upon my incarceration. I always felt bad for new inmates. I empathized with how they felt. Their feelings of loneliness, isolation, helplessness and fear were always obvious. All of these feelings were magnified when they found that they were unable to make a simple phone call home. So many of the problems faced by new inmates are avoidable. It is with this in mind that DownTime was written.
The information in DownTime is designed to provide members of the legal community with an excellent source of referral to assist their clients through this difficult time. DownTime will provide members of the legal community, and the defendants that they are charged with counseling, with an excellent source of reference material. Legal professionals will also gain insight into a facet of the legal system that they have not been exposed to in this way before.
DownTime also serves as an excellent reference for inmate’s families. Although the primary focus of DownTime is on the inmate, several sections have been included specifically for family members. Inmate’s family members certainly face their own frustrations. Getting processed for visits, communicating family emergencies and dealing with other support issues are all discussed in various sections of this book.
Nothing can completely ease the fear faced by a men and women facing incarceration. Their only weapons are accurate information, and some insight into what they are facing. The information found in DownTime cannot dispel all of the fear associated with incarceration. It can however provide enough insight and assurance to assist inmates and their families during this difficult transition. Readers of DownTime will be armed with a significant amount of anecdotal information. They will command a much greater reservoir of knowledge than most people who face incarceration.
DownTime is not a panacea. The information in this book will however, provide a significant amount of insight and comfort to those who read it.
