Three Ideas that Could Transform the Criminal Justice System and Corrections
After a career in corrections, I feel the need to communicate the ideas that I have formulated over 40 some years. I have written a series of short essays on my blog "Essays from the Heart" which cover all the three ideas and the underlying foundation for them. The link is: http://essaysfromtheheart.blogspot.com/ To encourage you to use the link I'll throw out a teaser - the first idea: ConAnon - a voluntary ...more »
After a career in corrections, I feel the need to communicate the ideas that I have formulated over 40 some years. I have written a series of short essays on my blog "Essays from the Heart" which cover all the three ideas and the underlying foundation for them. The link is:
http://essaysfromtheheart.blogspot.com/
To encourage you to use the link I'll throw out a teaser - the first idea:
ConAnon - a voluntary 12-step program run by successful ex-convicts to support themselves and new releases from prison.
As you may know, convicts released from prison have very few support systems; they have most of their friends in the Outlaw community; and have a very poor self-image after years in prison. So it is no surprise that 65-70% of them are re-arrested. Other successful ex-cons know what they have been through and at the same time are not likely to accept excuses. Using established 12-step methods, ConAnon could provide a newly released prisoner with a sponsor who can assist in adjusting to life on the streets. And of course, the sponsors are reinforced in their own lives as well. To make the transition to a non-Outlaw lifestyle requires a level of support that is not currently available, even for a released prisoner who is motivated to succeed.
ConAnon requires no funding, sets up no new bureaucracy, and could make a huge difference in recidivism. Read the blog to find out how and why. With annual prison costs in the range of 80 BILLION dollars, we can do better!
I'M GOING TO REQUEST THAT YOU NOT COMMENT ON THIS UNLESS YOU READ THE BLOG. THIS IS A BRIEF TEASER, NOT A FORMAL PRESENTATION. That would be in the blog. Many of the following comments raise issues that are dealt with there. Thanks
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