I don't know... I've always had pen-pals, from when I was a 4th or 5th grader. I've been writing one girlfriend (altho she's not an inmate or ex-inmate, just a regular person) for about 20 years now. I've always been interested in seeing the world from different eyes - I can't travel, so postcards from France or England or Japan are always cool to find in my p.o. box. And, as a result of my snail-mail hobby, I have, from time to time, ended up writing inmates.

I've always recognized that what someone writes to you (much like internet relationships) could be pure b.s., tho. And I've always kept up relationships w/people in 'real life', so I can maintain a sense of perspective.

I don't think there's anything wrong w/writing to someone who's behind bars, but they do always ask for a lot of stuff, including monetary donations - and I know that after I say 'NO!' a few times, they'll eventually stop writing. It's a pretty good indication that the person just wanted to see what they could get from someone 'on the outside' & weren't interested in an actual friendship. I've had freeloading 'friends' in real life, too - only they're usually harder to get rid of!