Staying in a prison is hard. A lot of restrictions are applied for inmates. As a result, inmates can feel bored and hopeless. So, inmates need to do positive activities that can make them feel better. Reading books can be motivational and inspirational for inmates. There are a number of inspirational books for inmates to read and here is the list.
1. Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul: 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit of Hope, Healing and Forgiveness
Author: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Tom Lagana
In this book, there are a lot of stories that can touch inmates’ hearts so that they can be encouraged and hopeful. By reading this book, it is also hoped that inmates can be inspired to exceed the limiting thinking and behaviors of their past.
Initially, in 2000, more than 100,000 copies of this book were distributed to prisoners, prison libraries, and prison ministries in the United States. So, this book was only available that way. Because this book is good, the authors were flooded with requests from people for a copy of the book. And then, the book was released to the public because of the high demand.
2. Beyond Bars: Rejoining Society After Prison
Author: Jeffrey Ian Ross, Stephen C. Richards
This book contains a practical and comprehensive guide about managing a successful reentry into the community so that after inmates are released, they will be ready for being in the community. Here are a number of topics in this book.
- How to deal with family members, especially spouses and children
- How to prepare for release while inmates are still in prison
- Finding a job after release
- Money issues such as bank accounts, budgets, debt, and taxes
- Resources for getting support
- Avoiding drugs and other forbidden activities
If an inmate that you know will be released from prison soon, this book is suitable to be given for them.
3. Life in Prison
Author: Stanley Williams, Barbara Cottman
Stanley Williams was a cofounder of the Crisp gang and he was a death-row inmate. However, when his incarceration was in two decades, he became an author and also an activist dedicated to ending gang warfare in the lives of children in the city. As a result, he got a 2001 Nobel Peace Prize nomination. In this book, he wrote about the brutal reality of being an inmate. He hoped that what he has written in this book can help people to make better choices than he did.
A reader reviewed on Amazon that this book can give you a perspective on how life is like behind bars. The story is started by explaining how he grew up in a bad neighborhood that was not a good example for him. The book can encourage people not to get prison because it is a very sad and horrible situation.
4. Improve Yourself While in Jail or Prison
Author: C. Mahoney
This book may be able to make your loved one in prison to be able to make better choices. In the first page, readers will be told that they have a choice, today, right now, this very minute, to improve themselves or to stagnate, to learn and explore and try new things and experience what life has to offer them or becoming nothing.
On Amazon, someone reviewed that his incarcerated friend reported that the prompts in this book could help him a lot to start writing.
5. Serving Productive Time: Stories, Poems, and Tips to Inspire Positive Change from Inmates, Prison Staff, and Volunteers
Author: Tom Lagana, Laura Lagana
This is another book by Tom Lagana. Same as Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul, this book is also a good book to read by inmates. In this book, the authors go one step further, using powerful stories, poems, and cartoons made by inmates and others to describe the reality of penal existence.
Essays and advice are presented to build their experience with the aim to show to inmates how to spend their time well, give meaning to their current life, and also make amends for the crimes that they committed. This book also inspires inmates to be able to use programs and resources, do positive things, and get skills.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
