Life of a Felon...

Have you ever thought about what happens to someone who has been arrested and charged with a felony?  What if that felony was because of multiple arrest for drug use or stealing to support their drug use?

Here is the problem, there are limited options for treatment and so without proper treatment, they relapse 80% of the time and end up becoming a habitual drug users and then habitual offenders.  What usually happens is they are arrested multiple times, and finally charged with a felony and sent to prison and may even go through some form of treatment while in prison.  Once they are released from prison they have a parole officer, a curfew and fines and fees to pay.  That’s where the problem really begins.  There are not many employers who will hire a felon, if you apply for a job and are truthful and put on the application you have a felony, that application goes to the bottom of the pile.  In addition, how many landlords will rent to a felon?  So they end up sleeping on couches wherever they can until they wear out their welcome and they end up on the streets selling drugs again trying to support themselves.  On top of all this they have had to learn to be a thug just to survive in prison.  What do you think happens to a nice guy in prison…?  Yes, that’s right.

Now that I have painted part of the picture here is what happens to many.  According to government statistics 76% of those on parole end up back in jail within five years.  While in jail they get accustomed to prison life and many find that because they have a felony prison life is easier than life on the outside. 

They used to say prison is to reform criminal behavior but in most cases it makes things worse.  Children lose their parent, parents lose their children, wives lose their husbands.  There are too many single moms struggling to get by.  No one wins.

Think about it, to protect us from these so called "bad guys" we have made the problem worse.  They come out worse than they went in, they can’t get a job, their family doesn’t trust them and they have nowhere to live.  How do you think they now see themselves now?  They have taken ownership of every label that society has given them and wear it like armor.  You can’t hurt them anymore than they have been hurt already, yeah I know, most of it was caused by what they did, but now they have nothing to lose. 

We need more treatment, not more prison guards.   Treatment needs to include a complete education; job skills, how keep a job, coping skills, character building and conflict resolution. We need to teach them how to survive in the real world and in the workplace. If you just toss them back into situations where they will use the same skills they have always used, which they are quite skilled at and they will fail. 

We need to help them take off that mask they have put on to protect themselves.  Remember when they were children… They didn’t have to wear a mask.