Khalil Cumberbatch is our guest on #GoodMenChat 9pm Est. Tonight’s topic is Coming Home: How we (dis)engage with men reutrning from incarceration.
–
Over the last year or so, there’s been a considerable amount of attention given to the criminal justice system. Terms like “police accountability,” “jail/prison abuse,” and “solitary confinement” have all become “sexy” and appealing buzzwords for the newspapers and for other media outlets to run on their front and home pages.
Less attention has been paid to the fact that, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, well over 10,000 men and women are released from jails and prisons each and every day. And many of those people are returning with limited capacity to become independent due to the lack of resources and minimal support available to them.
We know that if those resources were provided to them — either by family, friends, or the community — it would dramatically increase their chances of successful reentry. However, despite the advocates in the field knowing these statistics as well as being familiar with the scope of services and advocacy that it takes to shift policies regarding the criminal justice field, many people are totally oblivious to the fact that we, as a country, are the world’s largest jailer. The United States composes 5% of the global population yet it accounts for 25% of the world’s prison population, the majority of whom will be released.
So, what happens when those people return to the same communities from which they were removed? How are we engaging people coming home from prison?
When most people think of prison, there are many misperceptions that fog reality — false images concocted and perpetuated by mainstream media, Hollywood, and politics that lead many to believe that a person coming home from jail/prison somehow doesn’t deserve the opportunity to regain, or in many cases gain for the first time, the opportunity to have a foothold in productive society.
This perception places the onus on the individual, totally disregarding the systemic barriers associated with criminal justice involvement. Discrimination in all forms can derail that individual, in addition to the added pressures to “be a man” and to “suck it up.” What festers is the unaddressed trauma associated with incarceration and reentry — plus the previous trauma that may have been experienced.
At this key juncture, family, community, and general support can be helpful to encourage the individual to remain on task with their goal of remaining free. I wholeheartedly believe that this is the most crucial times in a person’s reentry — the time when a hand can be extended to pull them up, or the right conversation could encourage them to remain positive and not succumb to the same stereotypes that seek to define them.
Many make it past this point, but there are many who do not.
I remember when I was released from the NYS prison system in 2010 after serving six and half years, and I was eager to begin a new life — one that focused on leaving a positive legacy. But I quickly learned that not all aspects of society were as eager to provide me with the opportunity to accomplish those goals. I was taken aback by the lack of empathy that came with my reentry. I was able to navigate some of those barriers, through the help of my support system, and to manage my reentry well by obtaining gainful employment, enrolling in college, and starting a family. However, again, many do not have those supports.
My story reflects the possibilities available to people returning from prison – but only if they are provided the right opportunities. Unfortunately, I was the exception. Too many others don’t have the structural supports that I had that allowed me to take full advantage of what was available to me. Which is why I encourage you, the reader, to engage with men and women returning from incarceration. Be empathetic. Be open. Be understanding that this is a human being that we’re dealing with, and just like any human being in this world, we are all fallible.
