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| John L. Hill |
When John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath, a novel about a poor family of tenant
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After spending 40 years working with penitentiary inmates, hearing their stories, witnessing their environment and bringing their injustices to court, I believe I can identify inaccuracies in how prison scenes are depicted in books, TV shows and movies. In retirement, I have taken up writing about prison conditions and the people who live in that environment.
I have made a list of what I believe to be the 10 most misconstrued depictions of prisons, prisoners and prison life. In no particular order, they are as follows:
1. The ‘violence all the time’ myth
Fictional version: Every day is a bloodbath, guards are constantly breaking up fights and gang wars erupt at the drop of a hat.
Reality: Violence does happen, but not all the time. Prisons revolve around routines, and most inmates avoid open conflict because violence leads to lockdowns, transfers and loss of privileges. The real tension is psychological — unspoken rules, power hierarchies and the fear of sudden outbreaks.
Possible better depiction: a slow-burning paranoia, coded language and small gestures such as who sits where and who eats first. Such subtleties reveal more about power than a fistfight ever could.
2. Prisoners as either monsters or saints
Fictional version: Inmates are caricatures. They are portrayed as either noble, wrongfully convicted individuals or irredeemable sociopaths.
Reality: Most inmates are morally complex. They may have committed terrible acts, yet still display humour, loyalty and kindness. Many are traumatized, institutionalized or products of systemic failures and are not simply villains or victims.
Possible better depiction: Show contradiction. The man who stabs someone might later teach a young inmate to read.
3. Ignoring bureaucracy and routine
Fictional version: Prison life is filled with action such as riots, escapes and dramatic confrontations.
Reality: Bureaucracy takes over everything. Paperwork, waiting, arbitrary denials, lineups, counts, searches and endless repetition define daily life. Time feels stretched and flattened.
Possible better depiction: Capture the monotony — the same meals, same TV schedule, same sounds. The tedium itself becomes oppressive.
4. Overlooking inmate culture and language
Fictional version: Everyone talks like movie gangsters or uses generic slang.
Reality: Every institution, even every wing, develops its own slang, etiquette and informal economy. Who you talk to, what you owe, what’s considered “disrespect” — these rules shift constantly and can be deadly if misunderstood.
Possible better depiction: Research or listen to ex-inmate interviews to pick up authentic idioms. “Doing your own time” means keeping to yourself; “fish” means a new arrival; “kite” means a note.
5. Downplaying mental health and addiction
Fictional version: The “crazy inmate” is used for comic relief or as a one-off character.
Reality: Addiction and mental illness are widespread. Antidepressants, withdrawal, psychosis and PTSD are everyday realities. Suicides and self-harm are common, and the system rarely addresses root causes.
Possible better depiction: Show how untreated trauma manifests itself in ways such as pacing, sleeplessness, rituals and paranoia, rather than clichéd “madman” behaviour.
6. Depicting guards as uniformly cruel or heroic
Fictional version: Guards are either sadistic bullies or noble saviours.
Reality: Most fall somewhere in between. They are often jaded, overworked and constrained by the same system. Power corrupts some, while others genuinely try to help but are limited by policies and culture.
Possible better depiction: Show the guard’s humanity and complicity. A small kindness or showing sympathy to an inmate can carry moral weight.
7. Simplifying prison hierarchies
Fictional version: Gangs control everything, and leadership is straightforward.
Reality: Power is intricate and layered. It can be influenced by factors such as race, region, religion, sexual orientation and sentence length. All these elements impact power dynamics. Some prisons have organized gangs; others operate through alliances or unofficial “elders.”
Possible better depiction: Show informal systems of influence, such as the inmate who controls the phones, or the lifer whose respect keeps peace.
8. Neglecting the outside world
Fictional version: The prison is like a sealed bubble; the outside world seems to fade away.
Reality: Letters, visits, phone calls and preparing a realistic release plan when applying for parole connect inmates to the outside. Inmates don’t live in a completely isolated world. A girlfriend’s breakup or a child’s illness can trigger despair or violence inside.
Possible better depiction: Use correspondence and visiting scenes to show how fragile those links become.
9. Misunderstanding time
Fictional version: Months pass quickly for storytelling convenience.
Reality: Time in prison is distorted. Days, months and years are dull yet somehow slipping away. “Doing time” means enduring silence while the world continues.
Possible better depiction: Show how inmates mark time. Usually, routines are dictated by TV schedules, commissary days, seasons through a window, the sound of a certain guard’s shift.
10. Overlooking the administrative state
Fictional version: Wardens run prisons like personal fiefdoms.
Reality: Modern prisons are bureaucracies governed by federal or provincial correctional policies, unions and oversight bodies. Power derives more from paperwork than personality.
Possible better depiction: Show the Kafkaesque absurdity that is usual in bureaucracy: lost forms, contradictory orders, grievance delays and “policy changes” no one explains.
John L. Hill practised and taught prison law until his retirement. He holds a JD from Queen’s and an LLM in constitutional law from Osgoode Hall. His most recent book, Acts of Darkness (Durvile & UpRoute Books), was released July 1. Hill is also the author of Pine Box Parole: Terry Fitzsimmons and the Quest to End Solitary Confinement (Durvile & UpRoute Books) and The Rest of the (True Crime) Story (AOS Publishing). Contact him at johnlornehill@hotmail.com.
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