Global Connections

Tuesday night, I attended a food for thought dialogue based on womens' lives after prison. With information given through statistics and a short film on the lives of women after prison, I learned a great deal of knowlegdge about the struggles women are faced with when leaving prison. After being realeased from prison, women are handed only ten dollars and the clothes on thier backs and are thrown into the outside world. The purpose of the dialogue was not only to inform us of the reality taking place around us but also what we thought could be helpful suggestions to help rehabilitate the women who are released from prison. With several ideas proposed in the dialgue, one group was brought up in particular, The Lovelady House. This was a group brought up by women in order to help women who have just recently been released from prison. Although the group is also available for other women who have been victims of abuse, homeless women, and also children, the Lovelady foundation mostly houses women released from prison. With the specific workshops the women go through in order to obtain a better life outside of prison such as, getting to know one's self and boosting self-esteem, spending time with the family and loved ones, and also planning and preparing a budget, the Lovelady foundation helps women focus on themselves and enable a better chance of life outside of prison.
Watching the movie based on women who are part of the Lovelady foundation, each woman shares their experiences through being a part of the Lovelady foundation. Studies and statistics shown during the dialogue prove that a majority of the men and women who have been to prison and are later released end up returning to prison within an average of three years. With these statistics seen as a problem, we were asked to share our opinions of what we thought could possibly be a better solution in order to prevent criminals released from jail returning back to prison. With several ideas such as, opening up more rehabilitation centers for criminals, probation, job opportunities, and so forth, several people opened up to the many possibilities of ways to prevent criminals from returning to prison.
With the ideas circulating of ways to prevent released women from returning to jail, a question was asked stating, "Would you contribute a portion of your tax dollars to help rehabilitate criminals?" Although many ideas seemed similar such as openign up rehabilitation centers and higher education for those who are in need of it, I came to find my opinion was quite different than the rest. I stated I would not donate my tax dollars to criminals with reasons behind it such as, they are criminals and they did a specific action to get them placed in prison in the first place. Another question, what should be done in order to decrease the amount of criminals in jail, was brought up in the discussion with several detailing and useful suggestions. Again, finding my answer differed from the others (increasing the death penalty) many people looked at me with shock and disgust. Although I did feel guilty for speaking my mind on this particular topic, it was MY opinion. I listened to other opinions as well with an open mind and found them very useful. I had my reasons of the propositions I laid out and did not expect everyone to jump on the bandwagon with me. The purpose of this discusion was to find out what we thought should be done to better society and the lives of women after prison. I am proud I spoke my mind and learned a great deal of information through this dialogue and would definitely attend another similar session.