Friends in bars discussed people behind bars (7)
I believe the answer is:
inmates
'friends' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'in bars discussed people behind bars' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'in' is within the answer.
'people' could be 'mates' (mate is a kind of person) and 'mates' is found within the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for inmates that I've seen before include "Ties man (anag.)" , "Prisoners" , "Inhabitants" .)