One was the only prisoner I saw who said he had deliberately committed his offence in order to get into prison.
The following phrases taken from notes made immediately after each interview indicate the general nature of the suffering experienced by prisoners separately confined:
“I used to look up at the window, and something seemed to pull me back.”
“The first month was awful, I didn’t hardly know how to keep myself together. I thought I should go mad.”
“It’s made me very nervous. The least thing upsets me; I was not nervous before.”
“I’ve got a daughter, and I grieve over her all the time; there’s nothing to take your mind off.”
“I’ve never felt right since—it’s got all over me.” (This man cried all the time. He seemed utterly unnerved, and broken up. A Star Class man.)
“I feel it dreadfully. It gets worse as it goes on.”
“It’s no life at all. I’d sooner be dead than here.” (This man was very tearful and quavery.)
“My first spell of ‘separate’ nearly drove me raving.” (This was a recidivist serving his third term.)