The letter pauses at a metal desk. A corrections officer checks the address, flips the envelope over, feeds it through a scanner. For a moment, it is neither outside nor inside the prison system. Then a stamp hits the paper, and the letter moves on. It arrives in a place where voices are regulated, time is counted, and contact with the outside world is reduced to what can pass inspection.

Why Prison Isolation Matters 

Worldwide the number of prisoners is increasing rapidly. It has grown by almost 20% since 2000, with approximately 11.5 million people currently serving prison sentences (Fair & Walmsley, 2024).
The problems associated with prison systems are not equally pronounced across the globe. Some prisons face issues of overcrowding, violence, and inadequate access to basic services. Biased sentencing, disruption of families and communities and the impact on social cohesion in already marginalized communities are other problematic effects. In Germany, prisoners work for a few euros per hour. In many federal states, they are required to work, which critics refer to as forced labor (Pérez, 2021). 

But there is one feature that connects conventional prisons across contexts: isolation.
Loneliness, loss of autonomy, and disconnection from social support networks are psychological stressors that come with incarceration and isolation. These stressors contribute to the high rates of mental health conditions that can be found in prison populations, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance use disorders (Megari & Argyriadou, 2025).
Structural inequalities also come into play. Individuals with mental illness serve longer prison sentences than individuals without mental illness for committing the same offenses (Tyler et al., 2019). Further there is an intersection of mental illness with pre-incarceration trauma, gender, and race (Megari & Argyriadou, 2025). 

Letters as a form of solidarity 

Writing letters to prisoners can be an accessible practice to build bridges of solidarity.
The letter that passes the prisons wall can open up a space where both sides contribute attention, time, and thought to a dialog. It brings the voices of people who are often talked about but rarely spoken to out of their isolation. In this way, letter writing can become a shared practice of connection: reading, responding, remembering, and continuing a conversation and affirming that relationships and public concern do not end at the prison wall.
Hartnett et al. (2011) argue that „letters from prison stand at the crossroads of the personal and the political, in the liminal place where our interpersonal communication can blossom into political action “.  
They comment on letters in and out of prisons as a  „co-constructions of our voices“ offering “opportunities to explore more fully what incarceration means both inside and outside of prison“. 

This quote by Jennifer Wood illustrates how the practice of letter writing can counter the isolation imposed by prisons while simultaneously bringing the reality of incarceration into the everyday lives of those on the outside:
„For example, in writing to my incarcerated friend and reading his letters to me, the realities of prison life have become, because he has, part of my life. I have come to know the regulations, the schedules, the ever-changing and arbitrary rules, the frustrations of the prison medical system, and the daily rebukes and physical violence that make up the experiences of a person in prison. I make no claims to have experienced these conditions personally, but our letters make me a witness of and in turn a critic of such cruelties“ (Hartnett et al., 2011). 

But How To Start?

First, you should consider how to find the person you want to write to. Perhaps you have friends or acquaintances in prison—in that case, this question does not arise.
There are many programs that help match volunteers with inmates who wish to have written correspondence. For instance: Letters for Liberation (US), Jail Mail (Germany and Switzerland), Amnesty International Poland or Politzek.me (Belarus).
Even if specific national programmes are limited in some countries, you can connect with wider initiatives that support letter-writing to prisoners and help with finding a match, like writeaprisoner.com. 

Writing Your First Letter – Guidelines 

1. Use plain or lined paper. You can choose to handwrite your letter or type it on the computer. Different prisons have different rules on what can be included in an envelope. Normally it is okay to include printed paper or regular photographs, while including glitter or writing with coloured pencils is prohibited. It’s best to check the prison’s regulations in advance and, if possible, confirm with the recipient what is acceptable to send. You can include a list of the content of the letter. 
2. Write the recipient and sender at the top of each page and include page numbers. In this way the letter is not lost when it is separated from the envelope and the recipient will know when a page is missing. 
3. Expect delays in receiving letters. Sometimes letters are withheld as a form of punishment, or prisoners are unable to write back because they lack the necessary resources. In case the letter is lost, it might be a good idea to make a copy before you send it. 
4. Address the envelope carefully! Always include the recipient’s full prison address, and make sure to provide your return address both on the envelope and inside the letter. This ensures the letter can be returned, if necessary, even if the envelope is separated from its contents, which frequently happens. 
5. When it comes to the content of the letter it’s a good idea to start by introducing yourself and mentioning the organization through which you are writing. Tell them about yourself – what you do, where you live, what your interests are, your favourite people etc.
   Share these information as it feels appropriate. You can ask questions about the person for instance what they enjoy to do to open up a dialog. It is not recommended to ask about their conviction history and, if they are pre-trial, about their case. Finally, remember: don’t write anything you wouldn’t want others to read.
6. As in any relationship its all right to set boundaries. 
7. Be aware of unequal power relations and resource distribution. Be careful about making promises and do not make commitments you cannot keep. If you just want to write one time, make this transparent. If you want to maintain correspondence you can also express that wish. 

Your first letter doesn’t need to be long, and there are many other ways to show solidarity—whether by organizing a monthly letter-writing group in your town or supporting local initiatives, such as Germany’s prisoners’ union, which campaigns for fairer working conditions in prisons. 

Sources: 

Fair, H., & Walmsley, R. (2024). World prison population list. https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/53464/

Hartnett, S. J., Wood, J. K., & McCann, B. J. (2011). Turning Silence into Speech and Action: Prison Activism and the Pedagogy of Empowered Citizenship. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 8(4), 331–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/14791420.2011.615334

Megari, K., & Argyriadou, E. (2025). Mental health and psychological well-being of incarcerated individuals: A narrative review. European Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 9(4), 100606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejtd.2025.100606

Pérez, O. A. (2021, July 21). „Made in Germany“ – Wer von der Arbeit in Gefängnissen profitiert. correctiv.org. https://correctiv.org/aktuelles/justiz-polizei/leben-im-gefaengnis/2021/07/21/made-in-germany-wer-von-der-arbeit-in-gefaengnissen-profitiert/?lang=de

Tyler, N., Miles, H. L., Karadag, B., & Rogers, G. (2019). An updated picture of the mental health needs of male and female prisoners in the UK: Prevalence, comorbidity, and gender differences. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 54(9), 1143–1152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01690-1