Ask the Author: William Wright
Answered Questions (13)
William Wright
You'll probably find a lot of old memories in the books. I just bought "The Girls" and am looking forward to your perspective on the crazy world of corrections.
William Wright
Hi Carol,
Yes, all the prisons (and jails) that I worked in had substance abuse programs. I don't have any figures for how many succeed but some do, and some succeed later.
Unfortunately, drugs are readily available in prisons and jails. Many are heroin because it's cheap and easily hidden. Methamphetamine is also a biggie. Prescription drugs are in the mix as well, but are not as prevalent as they are on the outside.
Yes, all the prisons (and jails) that I worked in had substance abuse programs. I don't have any figures for how many succeed but some do, and some succeed later.
Unfortunately, drugs are readily available in prisons and jails. Many are heroin because it's cheap and easily hidden. Methamphetamine is also a biggie. Prescription drugs are in the mix as well, but are not as prevalent as they are on the outside.
William Wright
Sure, many of the complaints are legitimate and (I hope) are taken care of fairly quickly. BUT lots of complaints deal with things that you and I wouldn't even think about in the "real world." If you want another blanket at home, you'd just get it out of the closet. In prison if you start with one inmate getting an extra blanket, you'll have a thousand wanting one tomorrow. If one inmate wants a bottom bunk, everyone suddenly is asking why he can't have one too.
The mechanism for dealing with complaints varies from prison to prison and jail to jail. In general, the inmate will send a kite (a brief written note) to medical requesting something. These are reviewed by nurses or physician assistants and an answer sent back to the inmate, often with the problem resolved or an appointment made for further discussion.
If the inmate doesn't like the answer, he can file a grievance (a longer note) which is reviewed by the Health Services Administrator or an equivalent. If the issue goes beyond that, a followup grievance is reviewed by the facility attorney, as it's a legal process. I can get involved at any of the stages.
We don't treat mentally ill patients any differently except to give them help with the filings if needed.
The mechanism for dealing with complaints varies from prison to prison and jail to jail. In general, the inmate will send a kite (a brief written note) to medical requesting something. These are reviewed by nurses or physician assistants and an answer sent back to the inmate, often with the problem resolved or an appointment made for further discussion.
If the inmate doesn't like the answer, he can file a grievance (a longer note) which is reviewed by the Health Services Administrator or an equivalent. If the issue goes beyond that, a followup grievance is reviewed by the facility attorney, as it's a legal process. I can get involved at any of the stages.
We don't treat mentally ill patients any differently except to give them help with the filings if needed.
William Wright
I've never worked at Florence although it's just down the street. Florence is a federal facility as opposed to the Colorado state prisons where I worked.
Books and other reading material (magazines, etc) need to be approved by security and sometimes by mental health before being allowed for an inmate. It would just depend on their security policy and I don't know what that is at Florence.
Books and other reading material (magazines, etc) need to be approved by security and sometimes by mental health before being allowed for an inmate. It would just depend on their security policy and I don't know what that is at Florence.
William Wright
Frustrations? What frustrations?
Well, maybe a few...
I'm glad you enjoyed the book(s). There's never a shortage of material.
Well, maybe a few...
I'm glad you enjoyed the book(s). There's never a shortage of material.
William Wright
I certainly didn't know the answer to this when I accepted the job(s), so thanks for asking.
Jails are generally "holding pens" for people who have been arrested but haven't been convicted of a crime as yet. It's the whole innocent-until-proven-guilty thing. After their court dates the inmates are either returned to society or sent to a prison. For shorter sentences (up to 2 years) they may stay at the jail for their sentence.
What this means is I got people straight off the streets in jail. Worn-out, angry, addicted, frightened, and shell-shocked. They were sleeping under a bridge last night, often shooting up whatever into any vein they can still find. Often they don't know what diseases they have or what medicines, if any, they take. Many will bond out and be gone in a day or two. Average stay is only about 3 weeks, so I don't have much time to get things straightened out. It's like running a third-world emergency room.
In prison things are much more settled. The inmates are adjusted to incarceration, as much as anyone can be. I know their medical histories, what medicines they take, and at least roughly what the care plan is. Since they are going to be around for awhile, I can put together a long-term plan to take care of their chronic diseases.
Jails are generally "holding pens" for people who have been arrested but haven't been convicted of a crime as yet. It's the whole innocent-until-proven-guilty thing. After their court dates the inmates are either returned to society or sent to a prison. For shorter sentences (up to 2 years) they may stay at the jail for their sentence.
What this means is I got people straight off the streets in jail. Worn-out, angry, addicted, frightened, and shell-shocked. They were sleeping under a bridge last night, often shooting up whatever into any vein they can still find. Often they don't know what diseases they have or what medicines, if any, they take. Many will bond out and be gone in a day or two. Average stay is only about 3 weeks, so I don't have much time to get things straightened out. It's like running a third-world emergency room.
In prison things are much more settled. The inmates are adjusted to incarceration, as much as anyone can be. I know their medical histories, what medicines they take, and at least roughly what the care plan is. Since they are going to be around for awhile, I can put together a long-term plan to take care of their chronic diseases.
William Wright
I'm not really in the "legal system," I'm just running a medical practice inside a jail or prison. It's a lot like running a clinic on the outside except that your patients lie to you a lot more often. And perhaps a little more attitude. And then there are the COs (the guards). And the drugs and gangs. And the patients trying to kill each other sometimes. And maybe taking a swing at me occasionally. Other than that, it's a lot like your neighborhood urgent care center.
William Wright
I write. If I can't think of anything to write about what I'm working on, I write about something else. Pretty soon an idea creeps in and I'm back on track. As a bonus, I've got another story to work on.
William Wright
The best thing for me is having someone read my book and say they loved it. Call me shallow, but feeling that I've touched another life with my words is a terrific high.
William Wright
Just write. I threw away three novels before I'd honed my craft enough to publish a finished book. Don't be afraid to edit the living daylights out of your manuscript, but get it finished before the editor steps in. As Ernest Hemingway said, "The first draft of anything is shit."
An editor I work with once threw away 90,000 words of a novel he was working on. 90,000 words! So just write, and don't worry about the finished work until you've got a first draft done.
An editor I work with once threw away 90,000 words of a novel he was working on. 90,000 words! So just write, and don't worry about the finished work until you've got a first draft done.
William Wright
Glad you asked. I've just finished a sequel to Maximum Insecurity, a book about practicing medicine in a maximum-security prison. The new book is about practicing in the county jail. They might seem the same, but the differences are enough to, well, fill a book! Hopefully published sometime next month.
William Wright
I'm a communicator. If I see or experience something that I think others would be interested in, I just have to write it down. When I'm writing about a hot topic (for me), the electrons just fly across the word processor.
William Wright
Maximum Insecurity started out as a daily journal. Things in the supermax prison were so weird compared to my experience in private practice, that I just had to write them down. Even then I had a hard time believing what I was seeing.
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