A prisoner who was paroling soon told me, “Because I’m never coming back to prison, I’m going to get as much ink (tattoos) as I can before I leave.” While it is definitely positive he plans on this being his only trip to prison, it is sad because he has little idea of what it will take to achieve that goal.

I recently watched a Frontline episode about parole and it left me feeling a bit dismayed. The show followed a number of inmates in Connecticut as they attempted to transition from prison back to society. There were four cases shown, and all but one of them failed. Before my experience in the system I would not have believed that sample group was an accurate reflection of the success rate for parolees. The dismal rate is right on par with Utah’s overall rate.

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In the show, I found it really interesting when one of the parolees just quit. He said he was frustrated because he could not spend the money he earned and take care of his family. He didn’t like walking an hour to and from work, and he was upset by all the rules. If he made any detour during his walk, like stopping along the way to get coffee at a convenience store (which he did), he was in violation of his parole. So he gave up. He quit his job, cashed his check, and took his daughter to go buy shoes for her birthday. He didn’t “slip up;” he made a decision. He literally said to the camera crew, “This is too hard; prison is easy.”

I’ve heard stories about ridiculous expectations and ultra strict parole officers, and it sounds tough. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I think it’s that way by design. Like boot camp, they want to weed out anyone not willing to put in the effort. The woman on the show who was a success story worked for it. She worked, went to night school, attended parole classes, and worked with her parole officer for supervised visits with her son. She was up to the challenge, but many are not and don’t even know it.

I think having classes in prison to prepare for parole would be valuable, but currently there are no such classes. The way things are set up now is prisoners are released from prison and told to go meet with their parole officer that same day, at which time the parole officer tells the parolee all of the rules and expectations.

In the Frontline episode, one of the parolees found out at the meeting he could have no contact with his girlfriend, who not only was his entire support system, but also lived at the address where he planned to reside. He felt like he was set up for failure, and it seems like that could have been avoided.

When a person is on parole, they are not considered a citizen. They are still serving their time. The modicum of freedom granted to them is a trial run. I think one of the problems is that many parolees just don’t appreciate that. Also, there are parolees who have no experience with things like hard work and following rules. Whether it is expectations or capabilities, the majority of parolees are just not prepared and, sadly the statistics echo that.

Brian Wood, formerly of Layton, is an inmate at the Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison. He pleaded guilty to nine felony charges for offenses from 2011 to 2014, including counts of burglary, drug possession and prescription fraud. He could spend up to 25 years in prison, depending on parole hearings.