Proceedings of the First
National Conference on the
Family and Corrections, April 24-27, 1988, Sacramento,
California
© Copyright
1989, Family and Corrections Network
PART I KEYNOTE ADDRESSES
Opening
Address
Ruth Rushen
Good evening. Let's see how
diverse we are... How many ex-offenders are here? How many families
who have or have had people in prison or jail? How many staff
members from public institutions? How many volunteers? Did I leave
out anybody? Well, I didn't see anybody with four heads and six
eyes. You all look alike to me.
I think that what we are trying
to say tonight is that we are one. Those of you who have come with
those separate agendas... I'm going to suggest, if you want to get
the most out of this conference, that you drop them off somewhere
tonight. Why don't we just do it now. Let's focus on getting the job
done. That does not mean that you have to give up your role, but it
does mean that you are going to have to give up some of your
baggage. Now, that may sound mean, but that's the role of the
keynote speaker. I'm supposed to send some of you out of here
hopping mad and some of you out of here feeling "didn't she get them
straight," so that tomorrow and the next couple of days you will
have something else to talk about besides each other. Talk about me;
I'll be gone.
I bring you greetings from the
Attorney General of the State of California. His name is John Van de
Kamp. He asked me to tell you that he's very aware of the advantages
of a national strategy for social problems and wishes you a
successful conference.
As I understand it, the focus of
this conference is networking with people - within and outside the
corrections profession - who are interested in strengthening the
family ties of offenders. One is always faced with several
approaches when asked to speak. The easiest approach is to trace the
historical development of the issue; I'm not going to do that
tonight. The second easiest is to sermonize on why we should do this
good thing; I'm not going to do that. The third easiest is to give
rational reasons: "You ought to do this because ... ;" I'm not going
to do that either. My experience, which goes back almost 40 years
now, is that there is a right thing in all of us and we know what's
right. We know how to be kind. We know how to be genuine. We already
know that the family is important. But it seems to me that where we
fall is that we start a program; we develop the policy - that's all
the way from the national policy on families and the whole bit - but
somewhere along the line we fall short in implementation. So I want
to focus on some of the things that, maybe if we looked at them a
little bit differently, we could go further. That is not to imply
that we're all not doing a tremendous job. But you wouldn't be here
if everything was okay - right? I mean, if there were no problems
and everybody was happy we wouldn't be here. Now in order to do that
I am going to have to say some things about all of us. To start
with, there is no tooth fairy. We are the family of offenders. At
the same time we are the community. We are the tax payers. And we
are the ones who must influence the power brokers. If you're not
ready to do that you can go on home, because no one is going to do
it for us.
I see, by your program, that the
Family and Corrections Network is presenting this conference. So
let's talk a little bit about networking. Simply stated, networking
is people talking to each other and sharing ideas, information and
resources for a common good. The important part is not the network,
the finished product, but the process of getting there. It does not
mean that for the next three days we have to agree or that we can't
have different perspectives. But, I would strongly urge you to come
up with your common goals. Otherwise, you might find yourself at
your second annual conference talking about the same things. If all
of you get on the phone tonight in a common cause, it's tremendous
what you could change. My point for drilling on networking is that
as you attend the various workshops and you are presented with
different opinions and perspectives - having already gotten rid of
your historical baggage - don't pull rank. Listen. Get information.
Tuning out on what I say doesn't mean you have changed my mind. It
means you have addressed a wonderful opportunity to see where I'm
coming from so that you can strategize to get something going with
me.
I said I was going to talk about
why we don't always get there. One of the things that keeps us from
getting there is the role of the advocate. We need advocates, so
don't jump the gun. An advocate is a person who supports, a person
who argues for a cause, a person who pleads on another's behalf. I
see some really good advocates in this room. I know a lot of you.
Where we wind up frustrated and irritated is that sometimes in our
advocacy we forget what our goal was. By the time we remember it, we
have alienated the people who could help us implement it. You see,
we have to remember the reality. Though institutional staff may view
the world through its philosophical mirror of the mission statement
- translated that means they are there to serve - operationally,
staff handles things for the convenience of staff. It's called human
nature. That's just the way we are. So we are not going to change
the visiting hours so we have to work too much overtime or mess up
the golf game or whatever. You have to negotiate that. I'm not going
to do that voluntarily. And I'm saying to those of us advocates that
the best way to do that is negotiation.
Negotiation is the way to go.
When you negotiate you allow the person to get some benefit for
himself. We will all operate better when we can answer, "What's in
it for me? Will it make my job easier or at least not add more
work?" If you want an administrator to commit, and you want to test
whether that administrator has committed to your cause, find out if
they negotiated an advantage for their organization. If they didn't,
you can forget it. They are not going to do it.
Another reason I think we have
problems with our advocacy is that we get caught up in the "poor
souls" syndrome. We're going to help the poor souls out. Then we get
mad when they don't act right.
Another thing we do is become
garbage cans for the offender and for his/her family. What do I mean
by that? I mean that we let them drain-off on "ain't it awful what
so-and-so did to me," and Lord knows they can tell you all day long.
But, we don't wind up that conversation with "what are you planning
to do about it?" or "what do you suggest?" Now we don't expect the
offender who's incarcerated, in the hole, to have a helluva lot he
can do. But, he can do something. You can demand that little
something that he can do. Otherwise, you lose respect for that
person and that person loses respect for you. Dependency totally
breeds disrespect. Another thing that we do is become "we know it
alls." We know how it should be done. I had an assemblyman who was
having budget hearings. He wanted us to bring a real inmate to the
hearings to tell him how to run the institutions. So we brought
several, at thousands of dollars of cost to you and me, as he wanted
them from certain institutions. This meant they had to come
double-guarded since we couldn't walk them into the hearing room
with chains on - I don't like that anyway. The inmates had a lot to
say. They told them that we could cut the budget by not having any
corrections officers in the visiting room. When they left, I did
suggest to the assemblyman, who was just about to take COs out of
the visiting rooms, to look at what we found the last couple of
Sundays in the visiting room. So they felt that the inmates had
kinda had them. And I said no. They did exactly what they were
supposed to do - protect their interest. What did you expect them to
do? That's what I mean when I say, "get into the other person's
point of view." I think I did more for inmates with that particular
group of men that evening than ever before, because I did not jump
on the bandwagon of saying, "aren't they terrible; they're liars,
they're this." Why not? No COs in the visiting room would make 20
years go a lot faster.
Families, this country is a
democracy. The problem is, "one vote one voice" doesn't get you very
much. You have to organize. If you want to be relatives and
relevant, you need to organize. Even if it's loose fashion. Even if
it's like this. Somewhere along the line you need a common voice.
Politicians listen to common voices. Especially if they're talking
vote. Inmates in the main don't vote. But, as their families, you're
going to have to do that. Another thing I would suggest, if you want
to strengthen family ties, is you get with the fact that you spend
an inordinate amount of time on the offender, leaving your good kids
to fend for themselves. I've seen it too often. There was a woman in
my office the other day. She had wanted somebody to tell the truth
and some body had told her I tell the truth. She was giving an
attorney $100 a month. Her son is in prison for rape, robbery, and
you name it. He's doing fifteen years to life. He's done seven years
and she's giving an attorney $100 a month to get him out. She has a
daughter who was with her that day that's struggling to go to
engineering school, working two jobs. I sent that daughter out of
the room. I said, 'Are you out of your mind? Your son may get out in
twenty years or so - forget seven. The lawyer is doing what he's
supposed to do. Take that $100 a month. Stop this girl from one of
those backbreaking jobs she's doing. If she gets to be an engineer,
by the time he gets out, she can help him. But, if you alienate her,
which you are doing-look at her face-while you spend every penny on
this son, when he gets out what is she going to say? The hell with
you. I got mine, you get yours." So families, be aware of that.
Correction staff, we must
frequently examine our committment to provide service. Remember,
being incarcerated is the punishment. We don't have to add a little
something. Each of us as individuals has the responsibility to offer
opportunity for change. In all of my years, I have never heard an
ex-offender say, "San Quentin was my turning point." I have never
heard an offender say, "My parole hearing was my turning point." And
I've never heard one say, "The probation department of Sacramento
County, LA County, wherever, was my turning point." I have never
heard a person say that. What I have heard them say was that I met a
person at San Quentin, I met a person at Friends Outside, I met a
person while on parole, who influenced me, who helped me, who helped
me see. So don't hide behind overcrowding, lack of this, lack of
that. You are the key. The person. So rededicate yourself. One more
thing to correction staff: we're going to have to accept the fact,
at least in California, that prisons are going to be built. I
finally found out what "over there" is, "way out there." It is 100
miles from nothing. So, if that's the case, don't become unglued
when some smart person decides to start a private, profit-making
transportation system to prison. Even transport the prisoners. Uh
oh. Those of us in private organizations as well as public agencies
must learn that if we're going to work as advocates we better get
used to the label, "liberals," "flakos," and "pinkos." That's how
the world looks on those of us who are advocates. We must take care
that these labels do not give us the excuse to do nothing. We must
not separate ourselves either from the offenders and their families
or the power structure.
I'm not going into a discussion
of the collapse of family values and all that. You know about all
that. I do want to say, though, that you are responsible - all of
us. We need to get in touch with ourselves. We need to know why we
are doing this. We need to have a strong sense of reality. We need
to operate on that reality of what is while we try to change what
ought to be. We must learn to be comfortable with power. When you
are comfortable with power, you don't envy it so much. That's what
it is when you say, "they're no good, etc." What we're saying is,
"God, I wish it was me." We must develop our skills in dealing with
people.
What I've been trying to say is
that if we want change, this group has to help bring it about. What
I said to you tonight is not new. You know it. What I really hope
I've done is help to open up your acceptance of diverse points of
view. I've tried to help you get rid of your baggage. I know it's
comfortable, but you can lose it. Let's see where the other persons
are. The reason we need to do this, I think, Henry George summarizes
very well in his book Social Problems: "Social progress
makes the well-being of all more and more the business of each. It
binds us all closer and closer together in bonds of which none of us
can escape." Therefore, we are the offenders. We are the family. We
are the community. We must influence the power brokers. There is no
tooth fairy.
Luncheon
Address
Sister Elaine Roulet
When one is invited to give a
talk on prison work, invariably they want a horror story about
prison. So before I begin my talk, I would like to tell you a true
horror story. I was invited to speak at Auburn prison in New York
State, which is a maximum security prison, and I got all dressed up.
I wore a pink suit, and I wore pink shoes and a pink blouse. One
would say I was in the pink. I went and I talked, and my talk was
well received and I was happy. Invariably somebody says, 'Do you
just work with the Catholics?" I assured them that the Catholics
never get in trouble. Our Puerto Rican brothers applauded and our
Italian brothers gave me a standing ovation. When it was over, the
Superintendent, knowing I was a real veteran of the system, gave me
a tour of the prison. When I came back I really was horrified. You
never get over the isolation, the alienation. It really does
something to you. When I got back to the office I was kind of
visibly shaken by the whole thing, but I didn't want him to know
this. So, just to make small talk I said, "Sir, I can't get over how
respectful the men were to me." He turned and he said to this vision
in pink, "Now Sister, if you were young and attractive it'd be a
different story." I forgot the horror of the prison. I said to
myself, "And this is on a good day." I think all of you could
identify with that experience.
I'm happy to hear you laugh,
because I believe that laughter is God's favorite Earth sound. If I
were to choose a time or a place to speak at this wonderful
conference, it would be at mealtime, for I feel there is an
intimacy, a gentleness, a humanness about eating which is so
opposite the isolation, alienation. And I feel that this meal should
be a public symbol of what we represent. A public sign that we are
going to be compassionate. Mealtime also invites stories. And I feel
that all of our lives are nothing else but stories of our personal
journey into the heart of God. And so my talk will be stories...
There was a wise woman and she
was wise because she always spoke to God and God spoke to her. The
Bishop heard of this and became rather alarmed since everyone was
running to the wise woman. He said to the wise woman, "Wise woman, I
really don't believe that God speaks to you. But, I'll give you a
chance to prove it. The next time God speaks to you, you have God
tell you my innermost sins." And being a Bishop he had many. And so,
the Bishop said to the wise woman, "Well, wise woman, tell me, what
did God say?" And she said, "God said to tell you he forgot them."
And that's what we must do. We must forget a "cannot be done." We
must forget, "we tried that before but, it didn't work." We must
forget, "oh, they're better off without their families." We must
forget, " that will never work here." And we must remember it can be
done, they are not better off without their families, and if we
tried it once before and it didn't work, it will work now. And
that's what we have to remember.
There's a little child at prison;
her name is Harriet, and her mother will be at our prison for 75
years. One day she came to visit me. I had a key ring and on the
keyring it said, "miracles do happen." And she said, "Sister Elaine,
what does that say?" And I said, "It says miracles do happen." I
said, "Harriet, do you know what a miracle is?" She said, "Of course
I do." (She was 4 years old.) I said, "What's a miracle?" And she
said to me, "A miracle is gasp![gesture of surprise]." And
theologically I don't know anything better. And that's what we have
to do. We have to believe in miracles. Miracles are God's popcorn in
the movie of life. And we have to believe in miracles.
I should like to share with you a
true miracle story. Besides working at the Children's Center, and
that is a great privilege, I am also privileged to run houses called
Providence Houses. They're for homeless women and women from prison.
Now we have My Mother's Houses where children go... when their
mothers are in prison. And when they go to school they tell the
teacher "I live at my mother's house," and that's enough. The last
house I opened was a very difficult house; it was a halfway house.
At the same time, we were opening up another house in New Rochelle.
Another Sister went to live in that house and I lived in the Lincoln
Road House in Brooklyn alone. It was very difficult in the
beginning. The Sister who was supposed to live with me came to see
me one night and she said, "Elaine, this is not healthy, nor is it
safe, nor is it holy to be living in this empty house." And I said
"You're right." I went to bed that night very, very depressed. In a
sense, I really couldn't do this. The next morning I went to Bedford
Hills. The phone rang and a man got on the phone and he said to me,
"You don't know me but, my name is Ron and I work for the division
of probation. We have five carpenters who were just sentenced to
community service, and I was wondering if you could use them." It
really was a miracle. These five men came like little elves and
shoe-makers. They came every night and they painted and put the
whole house together, and now we're living in a very, very beautiful
house. And so, we must believe in miracles.
There was a wise woman and she
was wise because she always spoke to God and God spoke to her. There
were two teenagers in town, and the two teenagers said, "Let us fool
this wise woman. Let us bring a bird to her and we'll say to her,
"Wise woman, is the bird alive or dead?" And if she says the bird's
alive we'll kill it. If she says the bird is dead we'll let it fly
away." And they found the wise woman and they said, "Tell us is this
bird alive or dead?" And she said, "It's in your hands." And that's
it. The choice is in our hands. The choice to leave this conference
and to take all that we've felt and heard and live and make it
relive wherever we go is in our hands. Or the choice to say, "It was
a nice conference but, it will never work where I live." The choice
is in our hands. I mention stories to you because stories are so
important.
For some people that we work with
and that we live with, the only Bible they will ever read will be
our lives. So, our lives had better be worth reading. When I was a
child I had a mother who was very, very proud because she never went
up to school. She always believed that busybodies went to school.
And she never went to mothers' clubs or anything of that nature
because she always believed that's not where you're supposed to go.
And she never went to rectories to visit where the priests were
because you just didn't do those things. Now, when I was a child I
always had colds and earaches and sniffles, until one day she said
to me, "Elaine I'm going to bring you to the rectory." And I was so
surprised. She asked the priest to bless me and she gave him a
dollar. Now I'm not quite sure what would've happened if she had
given him five dollars. But the dollar certainly worked. There was
something sad that no one ever told my mother that she could have
blessed me.
Today I bring to you a blessing
as my gift. None of us can do anything alone in life. I have always
received support and help. None of us can do anything alone. None of
us. The day we think we can do something alone is a sad day. In all
my talks I speak about women giving life. The role of women in life,
I say, is to give life. But, you can't do it alone. You can pout
alone; you can feel sorry for yourself alone, but you cannot give
life alone. A lot of wonderful things have happened at Bedford
Hills. A lot of wonderful things have happened at Providence House,
and My Mother's House. None of these were ever done alone. It was so
much support, it was so much help, which is a public statement that
you do nothing alone.
So, my gift to you is to bless
you. I bless all of you and I hope that when you are in the `pink'
no one ever says to you what was said to me. I bless you with new
hope. And I hope that this is the first of many, many conferences
and that many wonderful things will happen. I bless you and hope
that in your State you too can have the support I have. I bless you
and I hope that you use laughter as God's favorite earth sound. I
bless you and I hope that you bring meals on wheels into prisons and
that all you do is humane and compassionate things. I bless you and
hope that all of you will do wonderful things. As I journey, I ask
you to pray for me and bless me because I not only believe in the
tooth fairy, I think I am the tooth fairy.
Luncheon
Address, Black Families and Correctional
Policies and Programs: A Dilemma and Challenge
Velma LaPoint, Ph.D.
I am indeed honored to be your
luncheon speaker today at the First National Conference on the
Family and Corrections. My topic is imperative at such a conference,
given the disproportionate percentage of Black families involved in
the criminal justice system, where Black individuals are both
victims and perpetrators of crimes. I refer here to victims that are
directly physically and psychologically harmed by criminal acts, as
well as the families of these victims and the families of
incarcerated persons. The disproportionate percentage of Black
victims and perpetrators is a crisis and a dilemma. Numerous Black
scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners are calling for national
meetings of plans of action to address the causes, control, and
prevention of crime among Black families and in Black communities.
There are four ways that the
general theme of this conference has special significance to Black
families that encounter the correctional system:
-
Many scholars, policymakers,
and practitioners have long recognized that both individuals and
their families significantly influence and are influenced by
many societal systems and sub-systems. Leading scientists have
indicated that the kinds of institutional influences and support
that Black families receive in areas of education, employment,
health, and social well-being are related to the overall
well-being of families. The high rate of crime among Black
families is certainly an indicator that all is not well among
Black families. That, perhaps, such rates reflect how poorly
Black individuals and families are fairing in these systems as
well as in the criminal justice system, where we know bias
exists in areas of arrests, court proceedings, and
incarceration.
-
As related to this
conference, criminal justice and correctional policies and
programs have generally been oriented toward the apprehension,
arrest, adjudication, and detention of the individual without
any real concern about the impact of these policies and
procedures on the families of those persons who are involved in
the correctional system. The person's family life and general
culture are ignored or minimized, especially in correctional
policies and programs that affect Blacks, Hispanics, and Native
Americans, who comprise a disproportionate percentage of
incarcerated persons.
-
Relatedly, the roles of
families in the lives of persons engulfed in the correctional
system, as a network of support that receives and requires
varying kinds of support from society, have generally been
ignored or minimized. We have numerous examples in the areas of
the need for effective childcare, education, and health. Members
of certain social class and ethnic groups generally receive less
prevention and treatment support.
-
The theme and title of this
conference, which uses the words "The Family," has particular
relevance to Black families. I hope that the word was used only
to refer to the family as a social institution and not to
connotate a descriptive label with a particular meaning.
Frequently, a given family type is projected to be the norm -
typically, the image and life style of white middle class
families. We need to recognize that our policies and programs
could be inherently biased against families that are different
due to ethnic and social class factors.
Given these introductory remarks,
I will address five important areas as they relate to Black families
and correctional policies and programs. First, I want to provide a
brief overview of the experience of Black persons and their families
with crime. The reason for this inclusion is that our definition and
conceptualization of crime, among Black families in particular,
relates to our response to crime in terms of the administration of
justice, which includes correctional policies and programs. Included
in this section will be information on victimization among Black
families. Issues here relate to correctional policies and programs.
I share the perspective of many of my colleagues that we must begin
to address the experiences of Black persons and families before
their encounter with the criminal justice system. Many of those
persons who come to be labeled perpetrators of crimes, especially
the Black poor who fill our jails and prisons, have been the victims
of crime themselves. That is, they have been victimized by policies
and practices that have not prepared them to adequately cope with
the requirements of society in areas of education, employment,
health, overall self-esteem, and social competence, which plays a
major role in determining one's position in life.
Second, I will provide an
overview of the nature of correctional supervision for Black persons
and their families. A major focus will be on the impact of
incarceration on both the incarcerated and their families.
Third, I will cite the causes of
crime and how these relate to correctional policies and programs.
Fourth, I will suggest some
strategies that will challenge those who make, and can make,
correctional policies and deliver correctional services. The
criminal justice system, of course, does play a role here. However,
individuals, families, and communities play a role in setting the
standards that shape, manage, punish, and correct behavior - both
social and anti-social behavior.
Fifth and relatedly, I will offer
suggestions to families of both incarcerated and non-incarcerated
persons, as well as family advocates, regardless of ethnicity, that
they may find helpful in being of support for the family members
involved in, or who may become involved in, the correctional system.
I concur with Ruth Rushen, who gave the keynote address last night,
that we all have roles to play in shaping correctional policies
which impact on incarcerated persons and their families. We can vote
and lobby, which, in turn, does influence correctional policies and
services.
I now turn my attention to crime
among Black families and communities. It is important to cite
victimization information in assessing the impact of crime among
Black families especially since there is a disproportionate rate of
Black-on-Black crime. Data show, for example, that Blacks have the
highest victimization rate for rape, robbery, and assault. Blacks
are more likely to be the victims of violent crimes than whites and
most crimes of violence against Blacks are committed by Black
offenders. Black males have a 1 in 21 chance of being murdered as
compared to a 1 in 133 chance for the average American. The leading
cause of death among Black males between the ages of 15 and 24 is
homicide. About 42 per 100 Black males who die between the ages of
15 and 24 die from homicide. This compares with about 8 per 100
white males in the same group.
As indicated earlier, Black
families are more likely to be victims of various policies which
negatively impact on their quality of family life. Despite
historical gains with the legal abolition of slavery and
segregation, recent analyses of progress within the last 20 years
still show Black individuals and families substantially behind their
white counterparts in the areas of education, health, employment,
housing, income, and other socio-economic indicators. Such negative
indicators provide the breeding ground and the web of the evolution
and the exacerbation of criminal acts.
Black persons comprise about 12
percent of the U.S. population, yet the arrest rates for 1986
indicated that Black people are involved in 27 percent of all
arrests reported to the FBI; 38 percent of all index crime arrests,
as defined by the Uniform Crime Report; 47 percent of all violent
crimes; and 30 percent of all property crimes. Arrests in 1986 for
Black juveniles, who represent about 15 percent of this age group,
were disproportionate to their percentage in the population. They
represented 25 percent of those arrested, 55 percent of those
arrested for violent crimes, 27 percent of those arrested for
property crimes, and 30 percent of those arrested for all index
crimes.
According to a recent report,
almost three million persons were under correctional supervision in
the U.S. - being either in jail, prison, probation, or parole. Black
persons represented about 35 percent of those persons, which is
about 3 times their number in the general population. About 31
percent of the 34,000 persons in Federal institutions are Black.
About 46 percent of the 428,000 persons in State institutions are
Black. Forty percent of all persons incarcerated in jails are Black.
Sixty-one percent of all juveniles in public facilities are Black.
Forty-two percent of the approximate 1,900 persons on death row are
Black.
We all know the host of negative
conditions of incarceration and how they do further harm to the
person's well-being. We can look at the lawsuits related to
overcrowding and other inhumane living conditions, inadequate health
services, and unequal treatment for women in jails and prisons. We
know that families of incarcerated persons also experience the pain
of having an incarcerated family member. They experience humiliation
by some correctional persons; inadequate and inhumane visiting
conditions where glass partitions separate family members and keep
them from touching; and just the sheer pain and frustration of being
separated from loved ones. At the same time, we know that for a few
persons, their correctional supervision from probation to
incarceration serves to teach them valuable lessons about living.
Perhaps, for some, it takes the denial of basic human rights,
inhumane living conditions and enough other negative influences to
turn them around.
Relatedly, too, we know that
there are many positive correctional programs, committed and
competent correctional personnel, and sensitive and caring
volunteers who make a difference in the lives of incarcerated
persons and their families.
We are going to have to do more
in influencing our criminal justice correctional system by coming to
grips with the causes of crimes. First, we must prevent Black
persons and their families from becoming involved in the criminal
justice and correctional system in the first place. Crime in Black
communities appears to be directly related to the relative
deprivation of Black families. Any sincere effort to deal with the
crime problem must address problems of unemployment,
underemployment, sub-standard housing, inadequate health care,
physical deterioration of neighborhoods and communities, adolescent
pregnancy, economic development, family deterioration, racism and
discrimination, as well as a host of other social and economic ills.
There is a need to promote and maximize opportunities for Black
persons and their families, so that they can develop competence in
areas of living like education, health, and employment. The
development of pro-social behavior can be achieved and reinforced by
persons and families that have the resources to do so, and through
identification with positive role models and values within Black
communities and society, generally.
Second, there is a need for
alternatives to incarceration, especially for non-violent persons
and those that pose minimal risks to society. Thus, we need to
continue the use of probation, retribution, and parolee community
supervision.
Third, it is important to
evaluate the ways in which correctional policies and services impact
on those convicted of crimes, especially those of ethnic minority
group status. This means examining the content of therapeutic health
and nutrition, education, counseling, vocational, family, and
parent-child development programs to determine their cultural
relevance for the continuity with the cultures of Black and other
ethnic group persons.
Fourth, there is a need to
maximize the cultural strengths of Black persons and to blend them
with the teaching, therapeutic, and other program goals. For
example, religion and other psychological, spiritual values have
enabled many Black persons and families to survive the barriers of
racial discrimination, slavery, legal segregation, and other forms
of confinement historically and in the present.
Fifth, there is a need to create
detention centers that offer mandatory programs for literacy,
vocational training, and alcohol and drug counseling.
Sixth, there is a need for
maximizing family communication between confined persons and their
families. Institutional policies and procedures need to be examined
to determine how they negatively impact on the family's ability to
have meaningful contact with confined family members. Relatedly, I
have serious reservations about residential programs for families
where there is an attempt made to maintain family bonds. I cannot
endorse any policy or procedure which attempts to institutionalize
other family members or entire families within correctional systems,
given the current conditions that exist in the overwhelming majority
of correctional institutions. Black families in particular have born
the brunt of negative institutional intervention and control in
their lives from other human services systems. Correctional systems,
generally, will have a similar impact at this time. Black families
already have a "caste" like existence in society. Incarceration
seems an expected outcome for some groups of Black persons. Do we
reinforce this expectation by endorsing residential programs for
families? I realize that specific groups like pregnant inmates and
mothers with very young children have unique concerns. However, I am
concerned that these programs may become the forerunners of those
for which older children began living with parents, or whole
families become connected within correctional institutions. I would
like to see us develop and implement programs for high quality,
intermittent, consistent visitation that can be used for
opportunities for parent-child and other family bonding.
Eighth, there is a need for
correctional staff training to inform and sensitize them about the
nature of family relationships, especially among Black families and
other culturally diverse groups.
Ninth, there's a need for maximum
input and feedback on correctional policies and programs from
incarcerated persons and the families of incarcerated persons.
And what about strategies for
families and family advocates? I must preface these strategies with
the recognition that most families of incarcerated persons are
hindered in their efforts to help themselves and their incarcerated
member by three factors; low socioeconomic circumstances of poverty,
ethnicity (frequently Black or Hispanic), and the stigmatizing label
of being a prisoner family. These factors can serve to minimize the
family's motivation and strength to stay connected or reconnect with
the incarcerated family member, work effectively with the criminal
justice system, work effectively with other prisoner families or
family advocate organizations, or work effectively with policymakers
at various levels. In other words, we must recognize that these
families are generally disenfranchised from the mainstream due to
the factors of poverty, race ethnicity, and prisoner family status.
Burnout exists before and during, as well as after, their advocacy
efforts. Thus, families must attempt to empower themselves to become
advocates for their family members and other families like
themselves. Empowerment comes from developing a network of support.
Families of incarcerated persons, as well as other family advocates,
may find the following strategies helpful:
-
Support incarcerated family
members through communication by writing, calling, or visiting.
Of course, institutional policies and procedures dictate the
nature of this communication.
-
Seek professional counseling
if disharmonious family relationships exist with the
incarcerated family member. Often such negative family
relationships existed prior to the incarceration. Certainly
incarceration can exacerbate family problems.
-
Network with other family
members so as to organize your own support networks for
transportation and legal information. There is power in working
with groups.
-
Network with organizations
that serve families of incarcerated persons. Become involved in
lobbying efforts.
-
Network with organizations
that promote family life, generally, especially those with
stability, political clout, and public support. This includes
churches and other community based programs that are family
oriented in areas of health, education, and employment.
-
Network with colleges and
universities who can lend their expertise in working with
families and assisting with various kinds of supportive
functions. Professors are frequently involved in community
service activities because of their own personal commitment as
well as university required community service related to
professional advancement.
-
Network with policymakers at
the local, State, and Federal levels. Frequently, individuals
who have a cause can effectively organize and advance this cause
if there is support from an individual policymaker.
In conclusion, Black families,
indeed, pose a dilemma and challenge to those involved in
correctional services and family advocacy. The problems of Black
persons involved in crime and the criminal justice system indeed is
a crisis and a dilemma for Black families and for those who are
attempting to maximize family life for all persons. The challenge to
the correctional field is to determine in what way ethnic, racial
and class biases exist in policies and services. We must first
recognize a host of conditions that contribute to a disproportionate
percentage of Blacks being involved in crime and the criminal
justice system, and address ways to prevent Black persons and
families from becoming involved under correctional supervision and
incarceration. Second, I have suggested a number of strategies that
correctional policymakers and practitioners can employ for working
more effectively with Black persons and families involved in the
correctional system. Third, I have suggested some strategies for
incarcerated persons, and their families, to use in working to
create better policies and procedures.
It is only through working
together, by making families and community our priority, that we
will begin, and in some instances continue, to promote the
well-being of individuals, families, communities, and, thus, society
in general.
Closing
Address, Where Do We Go From Here?
Joseph D. Ossman
A few months ago, when Jim Mustin
asked me to address the closing session of this conference, I
thought that sounded like a pretty good idea. My task is to sum up
the past three days. Normally, I do not include Biblical quotes when
I talk, but looking at that task from today's perspective reminds me
of one particular paraphrase of Noah's response to the Lord's
instructions regarding the flood, the ark, and the animals: "Right!"
How do you sum up a miracle?
Those of you who have been to San
Francisco know that, like many other major cities, it has a serious
parking problem. I don't recall the figures, but there are many more
cars in San Francisco than there are parking spaces, and that
doesn't even count all the cars that commuters drive into the city
every day. This means, of course, that a portion of the cars in San
Franciso are always driving around looking for a place to park.
Henny Youngman tells of walking
down a San Francisco sidewalk and seeing a well-dressed man lying in
the gutter. When asked if he needed help, the man replied, "No, but
thank you very much. We just found this parking place, and I'm
holding it while my wife goes out to buy a car."
I share that story to illustrate
the extent of the problems we're addressing, and also the need for
solutions other than more cars and more parking spaces. The story of
the man lying in the parking place is part of an ad for BART, a
regional mass transit system. Similarly, we need to be looking
toward new systems, new ways of doing things.
This conference itself is one new
way of doing things. Yesterday, Sister Elaine Roulet told us to
believe in miracles. I think this conference is a miracle. The
problems we presume to address are just as overwhelming as parking
in San Francisco, but they are of a much larger order of magnitude,
because along with intractability they carry tragedy. Who can walk
amidst the world of prisons and families and not be stunned by the
brokenness of the human spirit that is all around you?
Most of us carry some form of
deeply held personal, philosophical, or spiritual ideal of peace,
harmony, healing, and wholeness of human relationships. In stark
contrast, I know of few other aspects of modern society which are
more characterized by brokenness and alienation. Contributing to it,
is the brokenness of poverty, the brokenness of family violence, the
brokenness of crime, the brokenness of the way we do criminal
justice, and the brokenness of families separated by incarceration.
And yet here we are, representing all of these elements, coming
together to learn from each other. That's a miracle.
As we celebrate that miracle,
however, we must not delude ourselves. We still face a rising tide.
As the use of incarceration continues to grow, and more and more
families are caught up in the tragedy for longer and longer periods
of time, we must be both helping hands and prophetic voices. We know
that family ties reduce the likelihood of future crime. We know that
imprisonment is destructive of family ties. We must acknowledge and
proclaim that a policy which promotes increased incarceration is an
anti-family policy. We must acknowledge and proclaim that a policy
which builds prisons far away from where visitors live is an
anti-family policy. And because we know that family ties reduce
recidivism, we must acknowledge and proclaim that an anti-family
policy is a pro-recidivism policy.
I have some lasting images from
this conference. One of them happened in a workshop Monday, when a
prison Superintendent from Pennsylvania asked family members: "What
recommendations do you have for things that we should include in our
visiting program?" That is profound. The more we are willing to
learn from each other, the less alienation and brokenness there will
be.
But it's easy to do that here in
the context of this miracle conference. It will take commitment and
courage to continue to do that tomorrow. So where do we go from
here? As we try to carry some of this miracle back home, what do we
say to the players in this continuing tragedy? Here are some
suggestions:
To family members: First of all,
we salute you. You represent the most fundamental of human values.
Determine yourself, be your own person. Be able to stand alone, and
be willing to stand together.
To prisoners: Don't succumb to
your alien environment. Reach out to your loved ones; your parents,
your spouses, your children. Love, play, help, and be helped. Be
ready to meet others halfway.
To correctional staff: Recognize
that every act of repression or denial, however necessary,
dehumanizes yourselves as surely as it dehumanizes prisoners and
their families. Offer healing to yourselves, to each other, and to
those who are subject to your authority.
To all: Resist the temptation to
lose your souls. Look into the eyes of prisoners, of their spouses
and children, and of correctional staff, and see yourselves. And,
like the Superintendent from Pennsylvania, listen.
We've all learned a lot, done
some fantastic networking, and gotten a lot of great ideas. Remember
that research shows that you will keep what you use. Things that you
learned here that you act on within 30 days, you will retain. If you
don't act within 30 days, you'll forget it. So go home and begin to
do the things which you have learned, and to be the new person you
may have grown into. Tell your own story. You have none other to
tell.
And network. Whom do we have
except each other?
Return to
Proceedings page
Published by:
Training Resource Center
Department of Correctional Services
Eastern Kentucky University
202 Perkins
Richmond, Kentucky 40475-3127
Phone (606) 622-1497
Fax (606) 622-6264
|
