Prison Pen Pals

Searching for Prison pen pals? Can prisoner pen pals make viable friendships? And why do you want one? Read on to learn Vinny's thoughts...

Why Prison Pen Pals?

By Vinny Appleby

It's surprising how many people are searching for prison pen pals these days. Important questions are why there is so much interest (why do you want one?), and whether prisoner pen pals can be viable as penpals.

To take the second question first -- the short answer is that some prison pen pals can make good pen pals, but it may be more difficult to determine just who they are among a population of people where percentages meeting the criteria for dishonesty and committing crime are by definition higher than in the general population outside prison.

Of course there is no doubt that there people in prison who are there by accident -- who are in effect innocent -- as well as those who through tragic circumstances have made mistakes that they now strongly regret and will never repeat. But there are also others who would lead you to believe that this applies to them too when in reality they are there because they deserve to be, so it's a tough call to tell the difference if you are looking for an innocent prison pen pal.

Find non-prison pen pals here (i.e. general public):


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But are you actually looking for an innocent or reformed prison pen pal? If you are looking for an innocent, honest person then you would stand a better chance of success by looking for a pen pal amongst the general population, would you not? So what motivates you (or others) to seek a prisoner?

Of course there is no doubt that some prisoners may be very lonely, and you could make their day by writing to them. But is this your motivation? Great, if it is (and very admirable too), but I suspect that too many people looking for prison pen pals are looking for a flirtation with the darker side of life. They seek some kind of thrill by talking directly to a real person who has committed a crime, rather than being one step further away by enjoying crime reports on TV or crime fiction.

This is not true of everyone seeking prison pen pals of course, so don't feel insulted if it does not apply to you. I am merely looking at the reasons why someone will specifically look for prisoner pen pals as opposed to general population penpals.

For those who are knowingly seeking the thrill of flirting with danger by seeking a prison pal one has to ask how successful they are going to be (even if leaving aside how healthy this approach is). By far most people in prison are there for petty crimes such as stealing from their employer, repeated car theft, breaking and entering, and so on. Just how thrilling would it be to know someone who has committed such crimes, I have to ask.

There is also the issue of how far the expectations of the seeker of prison pen pals matches up to the expectations of those prisoners themselves who would like to correspond with people on the outside. Most prisoners want nothing more than to finish their prison sentence, get out and start a new life. They are looking for friendships that they can continue on the outside. They want to put their past misdemeanours behind them and not spend their time talking about their crimes. This may or may not match up with the motivations of those specifically seeking inmate or prisoner pen pals.

So, in conclusion, if you are determined to look for prison pen pals then you must be clear why, as well as taking into account the needs and expectations of prisoners themselves.

Try out the panel above right now and get to know new pen pals today. And please don't forget to

This may be the site you'll want to come back to again and again once you've tried out the pen friends panel above, so don't forget to bookmark us! If you are specifically seeking dating then go here: Dating.

Prison pen pals sites for further research:

Prison Pen Pals
Meet an inmate at a website of the same name -- but do read the article above first, you have to be clear what you are getting yourself into if you want to meet prisoner pen pals.

Prison Pen Pals dot com
Another prominent website that allows you to contact prison pen pals. But read my article above and note also that usually you have to write by hand to prisoners as they do not have access to computers or email.

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