I once rode a bust down south that was full of guys fresh out of prison, myself, a grandmotherly type, and a hippie with a guitar. I have never seen a group of happier people. No actually, I saw a planeload of Norwegians disembark in Toronto one day, they were some happy people. But anyway these guys in the bus were so happy. They were finally free. They were laughing and joking (lots of drag queen jokes, hmmmm) and telling stories and talking about what they were going to do first once they got off the bus.
There was a crazy long layover in San Louis Obisbo for some strange reason, so we all went to Subway to get sammiches- the whole busload, haha. Hippie dude played his guitar. Well one of the guys decided to celebrate with a beer, and a bored local cop spotted him. He ditched the bottle in the bushes but the cop was all about arresting him. I don't think he meant any harm, just wanted to celebrate getting out of prison with a beer, heh. Anyway, the grandma lady and I talked the cop out of it. "Hey, we'll be out of your town forever in a half an hour." So we all got back on the bus and continued on our way. When I got off the bus I got so many cheerful farewells. It was probably the most interesting and cheerful bus ride I've ever taken.
Most of those guys who did serious time are not looking to go right back in. They're very acclimated to having a routine and following orders. Yeah some of them will go right back to being dicks and breaking the law, but a lot of them really do seem to want to just catch up on all time they lost and get to live their lives.*


*I'm not saying prison fixes people, hah! But most people don't want to go back, unless they really don't know how to function in a free world any more and are too scared of it, but that's kinda rare.