A prison, often referred to as a correctional facility, is a place where individuals are sent to serve out a sentence as a penalty for crimes they have been convicted of. Prisons are places of confinement where personal freedoms no longer exist. You have to conform to the rules of the prison system as well as the inside rules of that particular facility.
Federal prisons house inmates in the same manner as regular facilities, with the opportunity for work and education as well as rehabilitation. There are almost 194,000 federal inmates located at facilities throughout the United States. These prisons have committed a wide range of offenses, but most have to do with drug trafficking or white collar crimes. Others are there for acts such as the Oklahoma Bombing. Most have restitutions to repay, and their working income goes to that fund. In 2004, almost 9 million dollars was earned by inmates in Federal prisons and used for their restitution.
Prison life is not easy. While most eventually adapt to their new way of life, it is not a walk in the park. Being in prison removes you from your family and society as a whole. Many of your basic everyday privilege are taken away. You do what you are told when you are told, and do it the way you are told to do it. There is no room for individuality. You are assigned a number when you enter the prison system. Everything you do is identified by this number.
A prison inmate is classified as any individual who has been required by law to serve a mandatory sentence in a facility that is enclosed as penalty for being convicted of criminal activity. The length of such a sentence varies by state, the nature of the crime, and the criminal history of the individual. In some cases, it also depends on if the individual chose to take a plea bargain or if they were found guilty by a jury trial.
Inmates who are incarcerated have a lot of extra time on their hands. They enjoy contact with the outside world, and often choose to be pen pals. Why would anyone want to be pen pals with an inmate? There are lonely people in this world that can easily be drawn in they their personality and quick response. Others want all inmates to have the opportunity to receive mail, so they do it to encourage them to change while incarcerated to the opportunity at a life again.