Thanks for taking time to write such a long reply.

Firstly I'd like to say that I have a huge heart for people who have been in jail, I don't really know why, perhaps coz I was also involved in"certain things" myself, but never got arrested. I can't say the same for the people that I worked with. Some of them are in and out of jail. I have a job now that earns enough money that I don't have to do those "certain things" anymore.

I got into programming and hacking at an early age and it has saved me from going into a life of illegal activity.

I have a few friends who have been in solitary, but two of my friends stand out. The two friends were in and out of solitary regularly because they were very active gang members at some point in time. All of this happened during apartheid and it seemed to have affect the older of the two friends the most, he is homeless today and spends his time smoking weed and recycling trash and he gets lots of stuff from people for free, he is a really good worker, just sometimes has moments where his mind can trip out a bit and has random angry outbursts.

I think being in solitary confinement as much as he was made him so good at surviving that he finds a life on the street good enough or he finds it makes him feel content. I feel sorry for him and I wish I could help him.

My other friend told me they used to get beat up close to dead and then put in solitary confinement with nothing but a small Bible to read. He said doesn't matter who you were you had no choice, but to read that Bible unless you wanted to risk losing your mind. He also mentioned that they used to work out all the time to help the time pass by.