Have you ever talked to a CRIMINAL?

@vesuvius (1677)
Philippines
May 9, 2011 8:51am CST
Back in high school and college, we had these occasional tasks of having to interview certain people so we could learn something from them - that includes businessmen, public figures, successful people and the like. But a thought came into my mind as to what we could have gathered if we were given the task of talking to somebody inside the cell - a prisoner. I believe prisoners have something to share too. Never had the chance to talk to any one prisoner before. How about you?
6 people like this
17 responses
• China
10 May 11
en, i never talked to a criminal before, but,like you said that prisoners also have something want to share too. every person have its own advantage, Like an old saying from China that As three men are walking together, one of them is bound to be good enough to act as my teacher. So, I think talk to a prisoner will be learn somthing from them.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
10 May 11
oh sure like how to rape, murder and torture people . no I would never talk to a criminal again. they are called criminals because they committed crimes. do not romanticize them.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
11 May 11
Never had the chance to talk to any criminals, whether current or completely reformed. Then again with the Internet, you can never be sure who you might be talking to. Still, criminals are fascinating, as they have to have some kind of motivation to do the things they do. There has to be some thought process behind what they are doing. The pathway and the lead up to whatever crime they might have done and if they would have done everything rather differently. Each of these people do in fact have a story, and they had to have had something leading up to something. Perhaps it was because of desperation, perhaps it was for the rush of doing something dangerous, perhaps it was a moment of being sadistic, perhaps it was a moment of irrational fury, or any number of things. In the end, all of these criminals would have some stories to tell and it would be interesting to see how they got to that point.
@junmae (1586)
• Philippines
10 May 11
When I was in college, we were assigned at the mental health hospital here and we are able to talk to the imprisoned patient who was in jail before but was putted in the hospital because they were diagnosed having mental disturbances. Well you can never talk seriously to a mentally challenged people but we have this patient who is 22 year old young man who was putted in jail because of robbery. He doesnt have any signs of insanity until one day a jail guard caught him shouting and talking alone. after that he was diagnosed of having schizophrenia and they are clueless why the person acquire the illness. After a thorough evaluation, they found out that the man was abused by his jail mate.
@ebuscat (5935)
• Philippines
10 May 11
For me not in my life now I'm 30years of my age except if the criminal is my friend and the worse best friend.
@masang (295)
• Philippines
10 May 11
I had interviewed some criminals when I visited a prison cell. I was not scared because they talked to me nicely. I was just surprise that after a year, I met one of them when I was waiting for a taxi. He was freed after ten years because of his good records inside the prison cell. He still recognized me. We talked for a while. I was so happy seeing him.
@mantis36 (4219)
• Philippines
10 May 11
40percent of the accused and jailed inside the prison have committed no sin. there are many and plenty of criminals roaming outside the streets that are not accused because they know everything but they can't prove nothing.....
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
9 May 11
I have never really seen a jail up close and personal. I have only seen them on tv. I have never talked to a prisoner either.
• India
9 May 11
Oh my God Me neither have talked to any criminal before.. But i guess you should take your thought back because criminal aren't the one who we should talk to trust me i never experienced it. But its not that easy task to talk to someone, we have been seeing in movies that there some good hearted people who we talk to in Cells but in reality i guess when it comes to criminal first of all they are full of hatred and can make use of anyone. When you talk to such persons they can deceive you or blackmail you. You dont know anything their minds can turn wild when talking So i think talking to such people is a big bad idea
@petersum (4522)
• United States
9 May 11
I have met a lot of criminals in my time. Mostly, I didn't know it on first meeting, or even for a considerable amount of time after. They always managed to surprise me. One friend, who later became a famous musician, was a safe-breaker. You would never have guessed his infamous past. Another work colleague was a murderer. He was such a quiet, meek, well-mannered man that everyone agreed that if he really did murder someone, he must have had a good reason. So in my opinion and experience, criminals are unlikely to talk about their past.
• United States
10 May 11
Tricky question my friend because sometimes a criminal could live under our roof and we not know it at the time. I have encountered some who not at the initial meet ups but later found out they actually were criminals but lucky for me I have not been hurt and or endangered in any way.
• Philippines
10 May 11
There was this one time several years ago when I was teaching Daily Vacation Bible School, a man came to our church asking if we could help him raise money so he could go home to his family in the province. He handed me this slip of paper which stated that he'd just been released from prison, he was convicted of murder and this other crime which I no longer remember. I have a vague memory now of his face but he seemed like a calm man who just wanted to start anew. We gathered money for him and he was just so thankful for he hadn't seen his family in a really long time. I don't remember being scared because I knew I had God's protection over us but that was really something.
10 May 11
Back in middle school, we had prisoners from federal prison come talk to us it was very scary. The only thing that they shared were their criminal past and how their lives are in prison. Based on their experience most of them mentioned that what they hated in prison was the fact that they are being bossed around by people that much younger than them, and being abused by other inmates.
• United States
10 May 11
No. I have never talked to a criminal. I think it would be really cool though. I dont think I would really want to talk to a cereal killer or anyone creepy like that.
@katieh (151)
9 May 11
Back in the days before everything went internet based, a friend of mine used to run a play-by-mail game where everything was done by letter. A whole load of his players were in US jails. Their letters were inevitably beautifully presented, careful handwriting, perfect spelling, and absolutely polite. Completely the opposite of what you might have guessed. If you'd lined up a bunch of the letters he'd recieved and asked someone to pick which ones were from the prisoners, they'd probably have got it 100% wrong. We never did work out what the connection was - it wasn't all the same jail, they were all over the place.
@sender621 (14894)
• United States
9 May 11
We have the opprtunity to talk to a criminal any day. often times we could be conversing with one without even knowing they are a criminal. Sometimes we can be dececived and lured by a criminal. there are also times that your own life can be changed by talking with a criminal. we make so many life choices. seeing what can happen with them many change some our choices. i am sure may criminal would wish dor different choices in their lives.
@toniganzon (72281)
• Philippines
9 May 11
Yes I had the chance to talk to the criminal who killed my mother with a gunshot on the head and the stomach. I was just thirteen years old then and the only thing I could remember telling him was why. I couldn't carry on the conversation because tears were welling my eyes and my whole body was shaking.
@visavis (5934)
• Philippines
9 May 11
Me either never talk a person from the prison cell. But a person outside might be a criminal may be I talk about which I did not noticed or known that person or persons are criminals. By the way not all people inside the prison are criminals some are victims only.. see you around