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Help for the Ex-Con (585 hits)

What is the purpose of our criminal justice system and is it doing what it is supposed to do? On one end, some people believe that it is supposed to punish those who break the law. On the other end, others believe that it should do more than punish, but rather, reshape and mole the criminal into a law-abiding productive member of society. If you were to research most models nationwide, you will find models that employ some balance of the two. Unfortunately, many models tend to focus more on punishment and forget about rehabilitation. It is no mystery why so many prisoners spend their lives going in and out of prison. It isn’t necessarily because they are inherently bad people. Most of them had a bad start, and the system does its part to keep most criminals on their same level without much in the way of services to help him move up.

Having worked in the criminal justice system myself, I saw first hand that the system is designed to make guys fail. First, when you are incarcerated, there is little to no support system and no matter how much you want to and try to succeed, the other guys make it hard. It’s just like it is back on the block. You spend nearly all of your time looking over your shoulder and watching your back.

Then when you finally do get out and have a PO to report to, he breathes down your neck and hassles you about things rather than trying to help you make the transition from prison back to the streets more smoothly. If you happen to get a PO who is just collecting a paycheck and does not care about his job, you are pretty much screwed. When there is a difference of opinion, there is no point in fighting it. It’s usually the PO who everyone believes. The social programs to help former inmates succeed on the streets are few and far between. They are most needed by people who have been locked up for a long time. It’s bad enough when you have been away for only a few years. But for someone who has been locked up for 10, 15, or 20 years, or even longer, he is going to need a lot of support and guidance. And the few programs that do exist have a very long waiting list. Finding a job is difficult too, and unless you know somebody who knows somebody, the chances of you getting a decent job that will help him pay the bills is probably very low. And just as an aside, I am using the “he” pronoun; however women have the same difficulties as well. They have a rough time adjusting.

So, what options are left? People revert to survival mode and do whatever they need to do, or as they say, by any means necessary. That is why such a large number of people end up back in prison within a couple of years after they get out. I don’t want to make excuses for ex-cons since there are some guys who do make it in spite of the hurdles. But most of those who succeeded had a lot of help and guidance and mentoring and support. Without it, it’s very hard. Its hard enough when you have never been to prison and go to college and follow the straight and narrow life. So, carrying all that baggage makes life twice as difficult.

The thing that saddens me the most is to see how many young brothers and sisters are out there gang banging and dying. They are getting younger and younger. When you try and talk to them, they don’t listen and think they have all the answers, some of whom cannot envision their lives any other way than fighting and killing and robbing each other. They cannot see a brighter tomorrow. Kids 11, 12, 14, 15 years old, are robbing each other and killing each other and being processed in the adult system, which means that their scarlet letter is etched in their lives forever. For those kids who still have their parents around, some of the parents are working two or three jobs just to keep food on the table and are not around to notice when the kids begin to stray away. And for other parents who do notice, their answer is to beat the kids until they turn black and blue. Then other parents, who have tried everything else and don’t know what to do get little or not help from the city or state government agencies. These babies future have been ruined, and no matter how much you may think that these kids are grown up for engaging in grown up behaviors, behind that hardened exterior is a scared, frail, confused little boy and girl.

This is a sad state of affairs. For many ex-cons, they get released from prison and go right back to the same old neighborhood where they were prior to prison, the same people they hung out with, the same old influences that got them into trouble in the first place. Because of that, it’s only a matter of time before they get into trouble. Even if they don’t do anything wrong, by just hanging around the old crew, it’s guilt by association and if nothing else, those who try to do right will face the envy of their peers who will try to cause trouble for them and keep them down.

In addition, if there are unsolved crimes that are the same as the crimes you committed, the police sometimes come around bothering you. I wish that if a person were incarcerated in Maryland, he should get released and then re-located to Alabama or Kansas or Arizona or some other state where he doesn’t have all of those factors to deal with that could get him into trouble again. I wish things could be different.

Most ex-cons do want a better life and do not want to keep going in and out of prison all their life. But our government would rather spend billions of dollars trying to save big corporations from going out of business - or they spend billions of dollars helping other countries. The few politicians who really want to support programs to help needy people either don’t stay in office for long or they become corrupt and end up just like every other politician on Capitol Hill. I wish I had the answer. I think it will get a lot worse before it gets any better.

Posted By: Will Saunders
Tuesday, September 23rd 2008 at 12:58PM
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WS, thank you so much for this blog! My husband is an ex-con, and you are right, it took alot out of me to support him and to keep him out. Some of the things he has said are problems are, the businesses that hire ex-felons are few and far between. The world itself has changed to such a degree, as to be a totally different world than the one it was when they first went to prison. (look at how fast things are built these days!!!) They are required to admit their encarceration on their application form, or take a chance on not getting the job for lying about it. The boss man is constantly looking over their shoulder, waiting to catch them doing something wrong. (Waiting to see them take a couple of bucks from the register, take some food home, or who they are associating with on the job)
Yes, old friends wanting to party like old times, does tend to get them into trouble, but if the ex-con has to go to AA or NA programs as part of their release, they then are thrust in an environment with other people who may still be using, and therefore know where to get whatever they "need".
The mentality of the convict is different than when they went in, they wake to the sound of the slightest noises. The airconditioner in my house was always so cold, just because that's what he was used to, they did that to keep tempers down, without it he couldn't sleep.
They still have the problems in getting jobs, especially if they learned a trade, of being too qualified for the position. And then there are the one's like my brother-in-law, that haven't grown up enough, and go back because "the system" gives them a bed to sleep in, clothes to wear, food to eat, a yard to play in, people to hang out with, and a schedule that they don't have to "remember" or learn. They get immediate punishment whenever they mess up, wereas in the real world it may not come soon enough.
I married my husband when I was 17, he had been out of the pen for about 6 months, and was on his way down the same road. He went to jail occationally for unpaid tickets and not being able to "keep financial responsiblilty" on his car (tags, inspection, insurance, blinkers, headlights, etc. Little things, in addition to taking care of rent, utilities, food on the table. It's much harder out in the free world than it was in the pen.
I agree with you that they need caring PO's. Thankfully, he got one after going through many others that acted like they wanted him to go back. Too many of them act like doing what they can to return ex-cons means "job security".
They need someone strong enough to speak to them in love when they do wrong. Meaning they need someone to say, your are about to mess up, is that really what you want to do. To stop them and sometimes show them the process of seeing the consequences of an action they are about to take. I learned that when he would get so exasperated to the point of saying "F@#* IT", I needed to dig in and find out what the real problem was. Temptation is always there. It never goes away. I had to sometimes convince him to do something else.
When having to choose between paying the rent or the power bill, he would want to give up and buy drugs to escape. I had to tell him, we would be okay with a roof over our heads and no power, they used to do the same thing just over a century ago. Don't spend the money we do have on something that will disappear, because at some point you will have to come down, and things will be the same, still.

They need someone who will be there to cheer them up when they're down, help them up when they fall, tell them how good they are doing when they feel like a f-up, walk with them and talk with them, when they feel they're in this alone.

Praise God, I am a believer in Christ. He is what helped me, when I felt like I didn't know what I was doing! He helped me keep after him when I felt like quitting. He shared with me His advice when I didn't know where else to turn. He taught me to carry one anothers burdens, and in this way we fulfill the law of Christ. Ex-cons come out of the pen with nothing but what they had on their back when they went in...physically, but mentally, they have alot of baggage. One must be willing to help carry some of that weight, because it is often too much for one person to carry alone.

Thank you soooooooo much for this blog. Thank you for caring enough to let people know what an ex-con goes through. What rehabilitation they don't get on the inside, they must find on the outside. Bless you!
Tuesday, September 23rd 2008 at 2:34PM
Lesley Knight