Incarceration strips inmates of every decision (when to eat, sleep, move) and rewards passive compliance, so it trains people in helplessness rather than the self-direction required to succeed after release. A system meant to correct behavior instead produces the opposite of the capacities needed for a functioning outside life.
In the absence of adequate institutional provision, incarcerated women build their own economy of care: sharing commissary food, improvising supplies, teaching newcomers the rules, and welcoming arrivals. Solidarity emerges precisely because the formal system withholds dignity and resources.
Viewing the same drug offense through a privileged narrator's eyes reveals that outcomes diverge sharply by resources: she can afford a lawyer, a short sentence, and a safe reentry, while fellow inmates face longer terms and no support for identical or lesser conduct. The crime is shared; the consequences track social position.