Comfortable With Uncomfortable Policies

So why is it, that we know all of these things about the barriers and social policies that exist and confront those transitioning from prison to the community, but do virtually nothing to remove them?

It is easily answered. We have become “comfortable” about being “uncomfortable” with the inequities we see in our society. We have become numb to the social and economic disparities that have been created by social policies that socially, economically, and politically disenfranchise millions of people from reaching their intentions. We have become comfortable with the fact that 2.1 million people--human beings--are imprisoned in this country; and that over 7 million more are under some sort of correctional supervision. We have become comfortable with uncomfortable social policies, because we have failed to see the result of such policies and the connection between social policies of inequality and the prison system.

Yet, there is more to it than one just being comfortable with social policies that treat other human beings as if they were merely trash; we actually encourage such treatment politically.

The denial of basic needs and services, the practice of social policy discrimination, simply mirrors society's overall attitude of degradation and defilement of a convicted felon. It is sad 21st Century commentary that society views the convicted felon as a social outcast. They have done wrong, so we rationalize and condone punishment in various forms. We express a desire for rehabilitation of the individual, while simultaneously we do everything to prevent it.

Society cares little for the conditions which a prisoner must suffer while in prison; it cares even less for their future when they are released from prison. They are marked human beings. A convict who has served his or her sentence still faces the social stigmas and discriminations society feels they must endure as a form of continuing punishment for their behavior.

We tell them to return to the norm of behavior, yet we brand them as virtually unemployable; they are required to live with their normal activities severely restricted, denied basic needs of food, housing, and employment, and we react with sickened wonder and disgust when they return to crime to survive.

And too, in some instances, the crimes perpetrated by certain classes of offenders are so offensive to human dignity and so atrocious that many in society would be comfortable using any means necessary to prevent even the remote possibility of re-offense.

So we create social policy barriers and erect discriminatory impediments, under public safety measures like registries and criminal background checks, to identify and group all into a felony class, for fear that any ex-felon may be seen as having slipped into society unnoticed.

As a result, all who have been imprisoned now suffer not only for their past behavior, but for the behaviors of all who have been relegated to the “felony class” and of those who will be added to it in the future.

And we as a society are comfortable with this…


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