Starting over after prison

                        
I don't think I will ever forget the comment of one pastor who worked in a hardscrabble community where the paychecks were very low and the collars were blue, if you were lucky enough to have a job at all. And this was before the great downturn of late 2008.
The pastor said that in his community, having a kid in jail was as common as having a kid away at college. It seemed to be a rite of growing up, almost a normal, expected part of family life. Of course having kids (or grown ups) in trouble with the law knows no race, class or economic boundaries. Look at Bernie Madoff.
The pastor's statement was an eye-opener for me. Still, there is great stigma attached in most of society to serving a jail term. Even that word, jail, is offensive and perpetuates stigma, some say. We talk about a corrections system, corrections officers. People are offenders, not prisoners.
Whatever words we use, the stark reality is that non-violent persons who have served their term, reformed, paid their "debt to society" as we say, and want to start over and live a clean life, still face an uphill battle all the way.
The most common way for families of all backgrounds to face the reality of prison is when kids get caught selling or distributing illegal drugs. Efforts in the U.S. to rid our streets of illegal drugs are the major reason we have so many people locked up. According to data collected by the International Center for Prison Studies and reported in the April 23, 2008, New York Times, in 1980 there were about 40,000 people imprisoned in the U.S. for drug crimes. In 2008, there were almost 500,000. Drug sentences are also frequently very long, which leads to more people in prison. Of course, the scourge of drugs in our society is terrible. Those who sell and distribute do great harm. The best answer is to never start using drugs, but that solution is complicated by so many becoming addicted as a means of handling depression and other mental or emotional illnesses. Many who were formerly in mental institutions now live on the streets and get locked up in prisons for a variety of reasons.
The organization I work for, now called Third Way Media, has produced a documentary on a difficult social issue, how people cope with the stigma that faces individuals coming out of the correctional system. For me, it is not easy to view this documentary because the individuals are not having an easy road—they are truly struggling. They are happy about getting out, getting a job, but then it doesn't work out for whatever reason, and they're back trying all over again to find another job, another apartment, another relationship. You struggle along with them and just hope and pray they will turn the corner and begin to succeed.
But the documentary is excellent in making you or your child want to avoid ever having anything to do with drugs or anything that will strike such a severe blow to your life. It is also helpful in understanding those who are coping with the difficulties. (I can say it is excellent without bragging since I didn't have any real part in producing it.)
The main character is Jamie, a young woman of about 30. Jamie spent 11 years in prison after having been raised by foster parents—actually it was three sisters who served that role for her. Her own parents were divorced but she spent time with them on weekends. Today she is a beautiful young woman and is trying to set goals for herself, pay off debts, and hold a job, but struggles with depression, for which she was treated in prison.
"Leaving prison is a lot harder than I thought it would be," said one man in the documentary. Some even say it is harder than "doing time."
The United States locks up one out of every 100 adults. With the highest incarceration rate in the world, U.S. prisons overflow with nearly 2.3 million prisoners. The vast majority are imprisoned for non-violent crimes. More than 500,000 leave prison each year to move back into local communities. Within three years of being released, seven out of 10 males return to prison. With so many people out of work, it is even harder for ex-offenders to find a job.
For a free pamphlet for persons anticipating release from a correctional institution, write for the title, How to Create a Re-entry Plan. Send to melodied@ThirdWayMedia.org or Another Way, Box 22, Harrisonburg, VA 22802. (Include the name of your paper in your response.)
You can also visit Another Way on the Web at www.thirdway.com.
Melodie Davis is the author of seven books and has written Another Way since 1987. She and her husband have three adult daughters.


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