If you find yourself incarcerated for a crime in Alaska, you will most likely be sent to the Alaska Department of Correction or some other correctional facilities that fall under it. Things may be tough in prison, so it would be helpful to know how to survive in an Alaska Department of Correction. Here are three tips to get you started:
Know the Rules
Each jurisdiction correctional facility has its own set of rules. To avoid prolonging your sentence or infuriating the correctional facility officers, it would be helpful to research on what these rules are. You can easily access the Alaska Department of Correction inmate handbook online. There is a list of inmate responsibilities mentioned such as to keep fully clothed except when attending to personal hygiene or be responsible for your properties or any item borrowed from the facility.
Violating any of these rules can put you in a disciplinary segregation area wherein you will be segregated from the general population for punishment.
Know the People you will be with
Depending on the gravity of your crime, you will be assigned to a security level. Knowing what security level you are in can help you prepare for the living conditions you will be facing. There are six security levels in the Alaska Department of Correction: Maximum Level II, Maximum Level I, Medium Level II, Medium Level I, Minimum, and Pre-Release. Being in the Maximum Level II means that you will be with highly violent males with high escape risks.
Also, there won’t be as many privileges and programs available to you compared to what’s available in lower security levels. This should give you some clue on how to survive in an Alaska Department of Correction. It will help you know what you will be facing and whom you will be dealing with.
Get Appropriate Medical Care
Before going into the correctional facility, make sure that you take advantage of the medical services available to you outside of the correctional facility. Although all inmates are given preliminary medical tests at the initial assignment and they have access to medical care all throughout their stay in the correctional facility, it would still be different from private health care with excellent standards. Go and have your dental check-ups, get your eye tests if you wear glasses and access all your preventive healthcare privileges before going into the correctional facility.
Get a Job
Being preoccupied with work helps you cope when incarcerated. In that way, you are at least earning money while surviving. What you can do is talk to the supervisors in the correctional facility about the jobs you are eligible for. The many hours that you spend at work, the better. It’ll keep your mind off the reality that you are in prison.
Stay in touch with Family Members
Keep communicating with family members when incarcerated. Talking and seeing your family will assure you that there is life after prison. Just because you’re incarcerated doesn’t mean that life is over. Be strong and keep your faith. In a few years, you’d be able to get out of prison and be with your family again. Write to your family as often as you can. If possible, ask them to visit you every week. Make sure you maximize all communication channels offered by the correctional facility in Alaska. It is important that you maintain good relationships with them. It will help you survive life inside a correctional facility as well as help you cope with the situation.
Be good to be considered for a parole
Every prisoner should show exemplary behavior when incarcerated. Why? You could be eligible for a parole. That is better than spending the entirety of your sentence inside the prison. Although you will still be monitored while you are serving parole, at least you are not living inside a locked cell. You can see your family as often as you want, and you get another shot at life. Just make sure to keep your good behavior while serving parole.
Learn new skills
A correctional facility in Alaska typically offers its prisoners a chance to learn new or improve old skills. Trying to learn something while incarcerated would keep your brain active and healthy. Also, you will not be wasting your time inside the prison. When you get out, you can say that even if you are incarcerated you learned something new. Just make sure you make an effort to apply the new skills you’ve learned. Who knows, that might become your other source of income when you get out of prison.
Get an education
For younger prisoners, getting an education is a must. You wouldn’t want to be inside a prison and uneducated. That’s not going to help you emotionally and mentally. Also, when you get out, you will not have time to catch up on things. It is better to still be able to go to school and learn new things while surviving life inside a prison.
Exercise and eat healthy food
Do not expect to find healthy food offered inside a prison. The food they serve would be full of trans fat. If a family member sends you money, spend it on healthy food instead. And make sure you find the time to do cardiovascular exercises. Keeping yourself fit physically, mentally, and emotionally will surely help you survive life while incarcerated.
Being in a correctional facility is tough, and it will take some time for you to get used to the routines. If you have never been incarcerated before, these tips will help you with how to survive in an Alaska Department of Correction. However, aside from knowing the rules, knowing the people and conditions within the facility and getting good medical care, it is also important to research on the entirety of the facility, such as your privileges, the programs they offer and the possible sanctions in case you violate any rules. This way, it will be easier for you to cope with the new life, and everything won’t come as too overwhelming. Do your research and be prepared.
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