In ‘From the inside’, Ruth Wyner explains how imprisonment makes you lose yourself. In the article, Ruth recalled her life no longer being her own when a police officer interrupted her doing yoga. While she was on her way to prison, Ruth admired the countryside because for her it was like a last supper. Moreover, after not smoking for ten years, Ruth relapsed. Upon arrival at Holloway prison, a prison officer escorted Ruth to her wing; she described the prison décor as depressing; with everything worn-out and lacking care. She remarked that the heavy cell door clang shut behind her and one of her inmates informed her when she gets out she will habitually jump when she hears a rattle of keys. Like her fellow inmates, Ruth referred to the prison officers as screws. She argued that most of them felt they could degrade their charges, as well as locked them up to impose additional punishment by being harsh and overbearing. Ruth argues that being in prison is as if you no longer exist as person. ‘I did not belong to myself anymore, was merely an object of the state custody.’ (Wyner, 2006, p.132). In order to cope with life in prison Ruth did Yoga as this brought her back to herself; and made her feel like she was still present. However, after being in prison for only 3 day Ruth developed a prison persona. For this …show more content…
This has a detrimental effect on inmates in the end. Once they are release from prison they struggle to survive in society. This is because while in prison they lose a sense of who they are and have become accustom to not having freedom but instead having another person dictating what they should do, when they should do it and how they should do it. Consequently, some offender once they are release purposely re-commit crime so they can go back into prison in order to have someone look after them and tell them what to