Minnesota Public Radio: Life after prison
by Dan Olson, Minnesota Public Radio March 2, 2003
Listen to the interview: http://news.mpr.org/play/audio.php?media=/features/2003/03/03_olsond_prisonlarkin
If you have trouble connecting, try this local file

Vocabulary:

Ty Larkin
to pinpoint
to start down the path to trouble
basically
to make the wrong decisions
to turn
to hang out
to smoke weed (= marijuana)
to recount his past
conference room
Faribault Correctional Facility for Men
inmate
edge of town
former
site
surrounded by
steel fence
topped with
coils of razor wire
heavy metal doors
guards
bulletproof
to control access
prison-issued
blue denim
to drop out of high school
behavior
to go from bad to worse
to jag people
life of crime
to be arrested
to be charged
first-degree
burglary
assault
felony
to work out
to lose weight
to pursue
extortion
to be shipped out
penitentiary
gang affiliation
to follow
prison walls
to renounce
 to confront
gang status
harsh words
threat
to give in
to be under s.o.'s thumb
to fight/fought
to stand up for oneself
to be charged
with another charge
to go to seg = segregation
to work out for the best
to lose five days good time
altercation
to ship s.o. out
to be released
behind bars
county, state, federal
stiff penalty
range of crime
drug dealing
car theft
to swell
a record...
transitions
coordinator
Tim Lance
to more than double
up closer to
adult correctional facilities
state-level
felony
country jail
federal system
first-time offender
to be convicted
nonviolent
probation
to be put behind bars
repeatedly
serious
long-standing personal problems
to commit an offense
folks
troubled pasts
family backgrounds		 chemical issues
addictions
sex, gambling
dysfunctional families
mental illness
to provide s.o. with
a range
treatment
job training
to boggle the imagination
budget
to be targeted for cuts
to be ordered to attend
ex-offenders
to keep one's spirits up
to break the law
ex-con
to make payments on a house
to be half what was promised
enough to live on
retail sales job
criminal background check
to let s.o. go
disappointing
prior to
Thanksgiving
to apply for
initial interview
to find out about
prison record
attitude
snappy
welcome-you-in
upbeat
to finance
schooling
immediate
reality
to be employed
no company
to refinance
to purchase out the contract
deed
to start getting nervous
approximately
to face an uncertain future
to manage to stay out of trouble


Listening comprehension questions:
1. When and how did Ty Larkin start getting into trouble?
2. Where is the prison where Larkin is being held?
3. What do prison inmates wear?
4. What 'ended' Larkin's 'life of crime'?
5. Why did Larkin get into a fight?
6. How did prison life change Larkin?
7. What does it mean to be 'under someone's thumb'? What's an 'altercation'?
8. Why have prison numbers increased?
9. What kind of people end up in state prisons, as opposed to those put on probation?
10. What kind of follow-up did Ty Larkin receive after being released from prison?
11. What problem does Ty Larkin have in looking for employment?
12. What is the approximate rate of recidivism, according to this report?
13. If you were an employer, would you hire Larkin? Why or why not?


home