REDUCE RECIDIVISM

It seems like leaving prison is as tough as entering it. For many ex-convicts being released feels like entering a new type of jail.

Upon being released their communities doubt them, they don’t trust them and they fear them. Is it because we don’t trust that the Correctional Services is doing a good job in the rehabilitation of prisoners? Most ex-convicts when they leave jail say they enter a world where they are no longer welcomed. They enter 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 cage them down a narrow path leading back to prison. Some ex-convicts after imprisonment have tried to turn their lives around and make something for themselves, some have even prepared themselves academically but still they face 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, they are still not afforded job opportunities because of their criminal records.

Was the justice system designed to help rehabilitate prisoners and help them become better people or it was designed to punish them, and then after they are done serving their time in prison 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 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 road available to them. But we can change our criminal justice system and reduce the prison population, if we can reduce recidivism. And we can reduce recidivism by creating new paths towards productive living, dismantling the obstacles former offenders face in turning their lives around and becoming law-abiding citizens.

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