Let’s go back to the beginning:

How it all started:

When I say “Let’s go back to the beginning” I don’t mean when someone thought of a jail or built the first prison. I mean the backstories of why someone is in prison. Everyone in prison has a story. A reason. People just don’t wake up one day and say” I think I will go out today and commit a crime so I can go to prison for the next 15 years”.  When someone goes to prison it changes the dynamics between you, how you feel about them, trust them and perceive them. It also changes the person that goes to prison in ways that you could never imagine.

The government:

The  government isn’t concerned with  why  you go to prison only that you go. They only care about making laws more strict, not solving the problem and money.  Here’s a perfect example, before you go to trial, the prosecutor offers a deal, your attorney offers you that deal. Your attorney tries to sell you that deal the best that they can. This is the reason why. If you take that deal the prosecutor and those attorneys get paid for that deal not having to go to trail. Technically, your attorneys get paid twice, one for representing you and no trial.

The reasons:

There are many reasons that someone goes to prison. gangs, drugs, murder, rape, child abuse, taking the blame for someone else, and making bad choices. Some of these reasons are environmental and where you live. Gangs for examples. That is about where you grow up and if your family is in a gang it is expected of you to be a part of that of live. There are times that an older sibling will try to keep   you out of life to give you a better life but it comes at cost. Drugs is another one of those lifestyles.  Sometimes you have an older sibling that tries to keep you out of that life. If you have parents that  are addicts, that you have to take care, the child  alot of times makes the choice to stay of out of that life.  If Child Services know about a child who are living in those kinds of lives, they try their to remove those children and place in them in foster care or with other family members. Both these situations can also recruit you into these lifestyles on the streets.

Circumstances:

There are some circumstances that like bar fights that turn into murder. Was it intentional or planned, no it was a bar fight and it ended with a death. Should someone get life in prison for that probably not but they do. I also know people who are in prison right now for women who shook their babies causing shaken baby syndrome and the boyfriend/husband took the blame for them. Why? Because they thought they could do the time much better than the woman could. Bad choices and modern day Robin Hoods men who try to help  woman  but they didn’t make enough money with their jobs so they committed burglary to make more money.

Crimes against children

Children who murder their parents or foster parents.When a child is being abused there are always signs. However if no one listens to the child, what do they expect the child to do? How much do you think child can take? I’m not saying it’s justified, A child can only take so much.  The child runs away they find them, put them right back in the same home and the abuse continues sometimes even worse then before. I have worked with children that have been placed back with parents that have been abusing them. I worked with children disabilities, some of them didn’t understand the abuse. Their behaviors were physical was a result of the abuse. It was very harmful to their families, destructive and some sexual at times.  Some of them were placed in foster care or group homes for the rest of their lives.

Hanging out with the wrong people:

If you’re hanging out with the wrong people  and they rob a store or do a drive by shooting you are going to prison right along with them. Even if you didn’t steal or shot a gun. You go because you were and it’s by association. You have a friend that is  robbing houses and decides to get you involved. Even if you are the one who just goes to pawn shops to pawn the stolen items.

Homeless and repeat offenders:

These two go hand and hand. There are lot of homeless people who have criminal records. Then there are a lot of homeless people who get criminal records because they rob stores just to have something to eat or drink. Why so many homeless and repeat offenders. Well, when you’re in prison they do not teach you things that you need to learn to be successful when you get out. they do not help with applications, how to interview, how to use a computer, how open a bank account, give you a place to live and how to use modern technology. Halfway house are in bad parts of town, they are in rundown dirty bedbug infested building that probably should be condemn.  Halfway houses start at $250.00 a week and go up from there. You have to buy your own food, dishes, toiletries,  towels, clothes, cell phone and other items. Now you work at jobs they set up but you  make minimum wage.  No one can get ahead living like this. Homeless you have nothing at all.  Many think prison is better so they do things to go back.

Why is the background important:

Every individual’s background that enters prison is important because some already have had traumatic background. They already enter with PTSD, abuse, Dissociative Identity Disorder,(Multiple Personality Disorder), schizophrenia, depression, or other behavioral health issues. These behavioral health issues can become more severe in prison if they were not treated before you entered prison. Other inmates can take advantage, exploit or cause physical harm to you because you do have these behavioral health issues. The gangs and drugs are easy access. If they want to be a part of that life you don’t have much of choice. Sometimes, they will recruit you because of your size, who you know,  or what you had to do just to survive in there. These backgrounds haven’t changes in a 50 years. Many studies have been done and the same conclusions have been made over the past 50 years, however the prisons still do  the same things over and over again. This is why they have repeat offenders. Prisons not changing what they offer inmates while incarceration, the rehabilitation is severely lacking and parole/probation doesn’t offer much either. When something doesn’t move with the times change cannot happen.