How our service plays a positive role in an inmate's life

About 95 percent of the nation’s current inmates are eventually released and re-enter society. However, studies indicate that about 40 percent of said inmates eventually return to prison within three years from their release. It’s this statistic that has led many to hypothesize how to reform the current system to curb the number of repeat offenders. In my opinion, the answer comes in a 2014 report from the National Academy of Sciences, titled “The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences,” in that an improved prison experience is key to helping inmates readjust to society, thereby reducing the likelihood that they’ll be among the 40 percent to re-enter the system.

That’s what Fantasy Sports Insight is designed to accomplish: an improved inmate experience. As a bit of background, Fantasy Sports Insight is a service that delivers sports news and information directly to an inmate’s e-mail inbox. We’re another outlet for inmates to the outside world, and we allow them to keep up with their favorite teams and athletes in the sporting world. Studies indicate that windows into the free world can help an inmate better adjust and re-socialize upon their release, not to mention rehabilitate while serving their time. We’re proud to be one of those windows, and among the re-assimilation benefits that we offer, there are various other positives that come out of our service. These include:

• Keeping inmate minds stimulated: When serving time, inmates are away from family members and social groups, and are instead faced with a lack of privacy and a lack of identity. This can take a serious toll on the mental health of an inmate, which makes it much more difficult to readjust to society upon release. Fantasy Sports Insight helps to keep an inmate’s mind stimulated and helps give an inmate something to look forward to. Additionally, staying mentally fresh can translate into an easier transition back into society.
• Engaging inmates in safe, healthy activities: Assaults, fights and other acts of violence can take place within a prison setting – and these incidents may not just impact the prisoners, but the guards and the rest of the staff as well. Our service is designed to preoccupy inmates with something positive so that they’re not tempted to participate in anything that may be considered detrimental behavior.
• Giving an inmate purpose: Upon entering the prison system, many inmates report a loss of purpose. According to Psychology Today, when a loss of purpose occurs, it’s important for individuals to create a daily structure to follow that helps emphasize their purpose and role. Our Fantasy Sports Insight service is an important part of this structure for many inmates – and studies show that this sort of structure can help inmates return to society as productive members.

Part of the mission statement of the Federal Bureau of Prisons is to “provide work and other self-improvement opportunities to assist offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens.” I believe that the Fantasy Sports Insight service is an example of one of these “self-improvement opportunities” based on the information that has been provided in this letter. Taking it away from inmates will have many more negative consequences than it will positive ones.

Again, studies indicate that it’s much more difficult for prisoners to re-assimilate into the free world if there’s little to no opportunity to interact with it. That’s what we can help provide – a positive, productive and stimulating means of interacting with the outside world.