During my stay in Federal Prison, one of the most difficult things to get used to was the lack of privacy. For the person who enjoys time alone and enjoys getting away from it all, the transition to life in Federal Prison is made that much more difficult. Whether you are at work, in your cube or cell, watching TV or on the recreation yard, chances are someone else will be right there with you.
I suppose it should not be especially surprising that in Federal Prison and Federal Prison Camp one is granted such little privacy. Even in Minimum Security Federal Prison Camp, Federal Prisons are always designed and built with the security of the institution in mind, not the comfort of the convicted felons.
In dormitories, upper bunk beds are purposely placed above the cube walls so that a CO can quickly scan an area for trouble. (For this reason there is a real premium for bottom bunks and it may take a new inmate a couple years to get into one unless he can prove real medical need).
Cube walls are constructed only 5 feet in height so that anyone walking around a prison unit can be seen. As you sleep, another Federal Prison Camp inmate's head or feet rest just inches behind you or to your side. Inmates have conversations, argue and listen to music just feet from someone who is sleeping. Correctional Officers walk around the unit day in and day out peering into cubes and into the bathrooms, while seemingly making a concerted and always successful effort to jingle their keys as loud as humanly possible.
The sound of the keys jingling trigger an almost Pavlovian like response amongst most Federal Prison Camp inmates who know that they must hurry to hide whatever contraband they have at the time before the guards reach their cube. At night in Federal Prison and Federal Prison Camp the lights are dimmed, but a prison is never, ever in complete darkness.
On the bright side, Federal Prison Camps do not employ open community showers or open toilets with plastic shower curtains and plastic stalls granting some privacy. However, in the case of the latter, the doors of course do not lock. Apart from any time you may spend in the SHU, this means that while in Federal Prison Camp, you will be able to shower by yourself and use the toilet alone.
If you find yourself in the SHU (A.K.A The Hole) then you may very well be with another inmate for 23 hours a day, which means showering and using the toilet in front of another person. Try to remember that they do not want to see you going to the restroom anymore than you want to see them.
While in the hole in Federal Prison or Federal Prison Camp, in some instances you may be able to hang a makeshift curtain made of a sheet to afford some privacy, but this is against Federal Prison and Federal Prison Camp rules so be careful.
Eventually one reaches a point where this lack of privacy does not bother them so much. But it is a process that can take time. Before being incarcerated in Federal Prison (which unfortunately for me was not a Federal Prison Camp), I could not sleep without utter and complete silence and darkness. After a few months in Federal Prison, I had no problem falling asleep with a fluorescent light two feet from my head and noisy discussions all around me.
Yet, I still remember how much I enjoyed the times I could walk around the track on a cold and snowy New England day while most of the other inmates sat inside watching TV; alone at last in silence I could finally let hear myself think. That is one quite amazing aspect of Federal Prison; you really come to notice and appreciate all the little things in life and you learn that truly nothing should be taken for granted.
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