LIFE AFTER PRISON NEW TYPE OF JAIL

 Sir,

It seems leaving incarceration is arguably as tough as entering it. For many ex-convicts, whose past mistakes landed them in jail, being released felt almost like entering a new type of jail.

I have observed that communities do not roll out the welcome mat for those returning from prison. The communities doubt them, they don’t trust them and they fear them. Why is it so? Is it because we don’t trust our Correctional facilities for a job well-done in the rehabilitation of the prisoners? Is it because the communities have not been lectured on how to treat ex-convicts as people, not as problems, but as persons who had problems?

Most ex-convicts when they left jail, they entered a world where they were no longer welcomed. They entered a world where becoming a productive, self-supporting, contributing member of the community is virtually impossible. They are still chained down by their past offences, as if the system was intentionally designed to corral them down a narrow path only leading back to prison.

Some ex-convicts after incarceration have tried to turn their lives around and make something for themselves, some have even equiped themselves academically but still they face constant judgment and they are always written off as lost causes, criminals and a burden to society. Despite all their hard work, and the qualifications in their possession, still they cannot obtain employment because of their criminal records.

Was the justice system, therefore designed to help rehabilitate prisoners and help them become better people or it was designed to punish them, and then after serving their time in Correctional facilities, they continue paying for their past mistakes in society?

Because of their criminal records, they can’t get employment and they can’t even get loans to start businesses. In short, the criminal justice system has shut off access to critical resources and tools that would otherwise make ex-convicts turn their lives around and become productive members of society.

When former offenders are released from prison, and they can’t find employment, they will almost always resort to the only way they know to get by. Faced with few options and in desperation, they will likely return to making bad decisions as a survival mechanism.

Offenders will continue to offend if that’s the only option available to them. But we can change our criminal justice system and reduce our skyrocketing prison population, if we can reduce recidivism.

And we can reduce recidivism by creating new paths toward productive living, dismantling the obstacles former offenders face in turning their lives around and becoming law-abiding citizens.

Computer Lukhele

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