Believe it or not, I think prison can be a positive place and productive experience. I know that probably sounds ridiculous or crazy but to me it’s all in the way the prisoner perceives what’s happening. Prison can seem like a waste of time that’s degrading, painful and sorrowful so that’s how the “reality” of the experience unfolds for most of the prisoners locked up doing time. It doesn’t have to be that way. If the concept of paying our debt to society and service time was altered a little bit by both the prison system and the prisoner, I think it could become surprisingly beneficial for all involved.
Time spent warehoused in this “holding pattern” without being in the fast-paced outside world, if applied correctly, could allow prisoners the advantage of introspection, self-reflection and an overall re-evaluation of the way they’ve participated in life up to this point. If the prisoners felt comfortable enough to be vulnerable, they might “open up” and reflect on themselves. If this happened, they would be able to look back on their lives and take stock in what got them stuck here as a prisoner in the first place. To me, this would be the debt paid back to society. Learning how to be a good person should “clean the slate.”
Unfortunately, right now, the way the prison system has been reconstructed and reformed, it’s nearly impossible for people here on the inside to do that. But with the right staff support and a shifted atmosphere, along with prisoner self-will and willingness, I believe things could change. If the environment was altered from what prison is now, I think inmates may possibly reconsider past choices and take an honest look to see where they could have made different choices.
Prisoner or not, I believe we all wish at one time or another we had made different choices or took advantage of opportunities or “blessings” we missed along the way. I bet almost everyone wishes they had a “do over” for some aspect of their life, where they feel things could have gone a different way. This statement is just a small example to remind us we’re all human. In this respect, we should be able to see at some levels we’re all the same. We’ve all made regrettable choices, and we’ve all had regrettable experiences. Each of us deserves compassion and maybe a helping hand or a “leg up” sometimes.
Prison is the perfect opportunity to do that. It’s an opportunity to be supported in something productive or to come into a positive realization of a better way. I feel like this great opportunity is being squandered at this time. The way the prison system is set up in this day and age isn’t intended to support anyone in anything or to show a better way. Back in the day when prisons were first established, one of their main purposes was rehabilitation. I think the modern-day version of prison has veered way to the right and it’s now designed for punishment and retribution. It denies the convicted access to tools and opportunities allotted to the people in the free world. Inmates desperately need these tools and opportunities! The sad fact is, prisoners are being pushed down instead of helped out or lifted up.
This punishment and retribution approach is still being used today, even though it’s been proven that people who actually learned something during their prison stay either on their own or through some type of program, have a much less chance of reoffending. Let’s take a look at this in terms of the bigger picture. With less reoffenders, the recidivation rate would drastically reduce, (I bet more than 50% of the prison population in the United States are reoffenders). Rehabilitation would lower the prison recidivism rate, which in turn would have a positive and productive cascading effect on our society as a whole.
In this acclaimed first world country of ours, why are we not making available and equipping the prison population with the life skills, education and training needed to be productive and positive citizens, when they’re released from prison? It’s senseless if you ask me. Show a prisoner they’re valued and a whole new world will open up for them and the ones showing the new way. This advice is golden. You can thank me for it later.
It’s no wonder prisoners reoffend. They don’t learn anything positive or productive through the prison experience. They don’t rediscover themselves or find a new way to approach life. They come to no new personal revelations or obtain new employable skills, so they go right back to the way they were before the incarceration. Even when they have the best intentions to not repeat the same mistakes, most of them do. In my view, prisoners are treated as “less than” or less valuable than other citizens who didn’t get in trouble. Why can’t we learn to be compassionate and look at these people from another perspective? I believe most of them are just misguided, lost or desperate for help of some kind.
Let’s take a look at a prisoner’s dilemma. Life is hard enough as it is, then add in lack of personal growth, no new work skills and being further out of sync with society. Not to mention all the built-up frustration, unresolved inner issues and resentments due to a negative prison experience. You do the math. It’s a recipe for disaster. But wait, all is not lost. With a little re-tooling on both ends (prison and prisoner) this can easily be adjusted.
I want to give a brief example of the kind of re-tooling I’m talking about. Originally, almost since the very beginning of formal incarceration in this country, the trinity of retaining, support and compassion were thought of as the “keystone” or glue that held together the purpose of prison. In 1791, coincidently then the Bill of Rights was enacted, the Quakers, a group of Protestants that were devoted to peaceful principles, created the first prison in the United States. This Pennsylvania prison was established because of the need for public safety, as a way to reform prisoners and, as it was said by its founders, “To bring humanity towards the unhappy members of society.” That’s a beautiful concept for a prison if you ask me. Anyway, the Quakers, since they are a peaceful people and have been known for their philanthropy, wanted to be able to rehabilitate the people they locked up and guide them back into being productive and positive members of society. This was the actual first model of prison in this country. I think they had the right idea but that whole concept got lost somewhere along the way. We can easily “resurrect” this notion again though.
I feel like if we took some cues from these prison originators, we could come up with a modernized version of prison that promotes positivity, productivity and progression. This would create actual correction centers that focus on the value of people incarcerated and help them to develop the skills and talents needed to be productive positive members of society. This idea is not far-fetched the way I see it and would help solve a major problem in our country.
No Comments