Department Of Co..what? Not corrections?

Apr 25

Intro

Description of experience in reading Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning and how it brought different meaning to my incarceration for me.

The Department of Corrections is not broken. It is flawless in what it was built to achieve. As a society we have evolved to where we know that human potential is being lost as lives are wrongfully institutionalized. The DOC has not been revolutionized to effectively keep up with the ethical and moral growth of humanity. Many organizations and private citizens are researching and implementing change. Their endeavor is honorable and in many cases it is wildly successful. However, they are fighting to augment a system that is not meant to operate in the manner that we envision it should. We are fighting to keep alive a broken steam engine that everyone needs to bail out of to explore the possibility of entering a brand new form of transportation altogether. What most individuals who are incarcerated need is a Department of Connections not a Department of Corrections.

Corrections are what we achieve with the current system. We live in a world that expects to be a safe and stable community for all. There is a broad yet somewhat narrow set of rules, laws, code of ethics, morals, and the like that is understood as a prerequisite to being a socially acceptable human. In order for humanity to effectively function we need for each person in the grand group of society to operate as an individual that upholds the mind of the whole, each of them individuals that carry themself in much the same way as the other people do to some degree. Society needs group conscious to be maintained and regulated to ensure safety, to ensure prosperity and hope in the future. Outliers in most cases create a small portion of chaos; they disrupt the smooth operation, the calm progression of the whole towards group prosperity. In much the same way that a company full of individuals who each have their own way of doing the job that the entire business is geared towards doing would prosper, humanity is less effective if there is a breakdown of the parameters around socially acceptable behavior. And so a department of correction is needed to maintain these guidelines. When individuals are found to be outliers of our group ethics, laws, morals, etc. we either allow this to continue, thus shifting the bounds of what is acceptable or we keep the parameters corrected by removing the person who was skewing the data. Thus we see how well suited the Department of Corrections is for completing its main task. The system is operating flawlessly to right the ship of our social norm of behavior parameters. One downside to this is that once shunned from society as socially unacceptable, people experience the “us versus them” mind state and oftentimes, unfortunately, lose interest in reconciliation. Their interest in cultivation of self is surrendered. They succumb to seeing the society that shunned them as the enemy…and the society that shunned them oftentimes sees them as the enemy too. Both sides view each other as a danger to their freedom, intrinsic rights, and health as a human being.

Let’s face it. Human capital by the millions is being misappropriated. I hypothesized in the last episode that a portion of society is fine with recidivism and relapse rates being so high because those rates signify something different for them than it does for most. I hypothesized that there just may be a portion of society that is comfortable with those statistics because it shows the amount of employment and prosperity competition that is being cut out. We live in a world in which everyone is trying to find their slice of the pie so that they can provide for their families or out purchase their community with the nicest car and house. Everyone has a pipe dream of becoming rich so that they can live the difficult life of deciding how to spend their money. The less competition there is in this reality the better, right? So why invest in lives that are already being removed from the competition? Why invest in lives that made the choices they made to end up where they ended up, outside of the competition? Why provide education or personal development to people who didn’t achieve those benefits of society through the correct channels? The answer to all of this is because a human life is a human life and no matter what anyone has done in this life they are an absolute treasure. Each human has unique qualities that only they can possibly bless the world with in the precise way that that unique person can. Disregarding life is disregarding the universe at work.

The Department of Corrections was never created to cultivate human lives that bring value and unique talents to the world in the way that only those lives can. We need to scrap this entire model and create the Department of Connections. Every human life that is pulled into the Department of Connections would be adopted into the fold of society’s wisest minds and most loving healthcare and mental care providers. Rather than incarceration being a disconnection from society, we would be pulling individuals in as an apprentice of the way of self-discovery, self-development, unique trait cultivation, moral compass recalibration, and at the core of it all connection to their treasured self that after polished may shine in the crown of society.

Overhauling the current system could be accomplished by taking advantage of the tools already at our disposal. The Pennsylvania D.O.Corrections has allowed the people under its care to have electronic tablets to listen to music and email their families. Tablets, cable television, programs, libraries, exercise equipment, psychiatry, extracurricular activities, and healthcare are all made available as tools to maintain a population that is calm and safe which is the goal of administration and staff. I believe that the tablets are a tool that is heavily underutilized. Given the proper application these tablets could be the exact technology needed to revolutionize the D.O.Corrections and turn it into the D.O.Connections. Imagine for a minute an incarceration that begins with a cool down phase in which people are able to decompress from the realities that they were just living in. Imagine a cool down phase that is followed by an adoption and aligning of the mind phase in which the philosophy and mission of the time spent incarcerated is presented. Imagine then, an interment that is spent exploring self…an interment in which the ultimate purpose of each day is to self-develop and polish the unique qualities within each person to the best of their abilities…an internment of connection to mental, spiritual and physical healthcare…An interment that cultivates human capital. Infusing value into the lives of men and women in our Department of Connections care will ultimately create an overflow of value into our society. An overflow of valuable human capital that the parole board and everyone appointed to decide who is ready to reenter society have great impact on. Rather than the parole board going to bed at night anxious and stressed because they are tasked with extremely hard decisions that are often based on a lack of abundant evidence as to how to make those decisions, all of these influential executives would have mountains of data at their fingertips to discover who exactly the person is that they are considering releasing. Every bit of self-development that incarcerated men and women do through technology could be at the executive’s disposal to better inform their decisions.

Let s take a look at a few examples of the humanitarian and philanthropic organizational augmentation that is being undertaken by non-profits and for profits around the globe. Each one of these can be part of the technological revolution that the department of connections would undertake. Keep in mind as we explore what this would look like, the amount of employment and volunteer opportunities that this would create. Each organization would be wildly scalable to promote the maximum amount of positive results. The “slice of the prosperity pie” competition that some may be uncomfortable with promoting will be unnoticeable because the new endeavor would create its own portion of employment opportunity.

Let us note organizations that are bringing the art of writing to our incarcerated population. Words Uncaged was created by Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy in 2015. He single handedly created a writing class at Lancaster Maximum Security Prison that has proven to provide emotionally therapeutic experiences. Rehabilitation Through the Arts was founded at Sing Sing in 1996 to bring professional teachers of the arts into institutions so that men and women can develop critical life skills through exploring their talents in theatre, dance, music & voice, and writing. PEN America’s Prison Writing Program was founded in 1971 to offer a chance for individuals to have access to mentors and writing resources so that they might transform and restore themselves through exploration of their writing talent. InsideOUT Writers has been offering services to our juvenile population since 1996. They offer creative writing classes as well as aftercare such as counseling and case management. All of these programs are massively successful and have proven the positive results of their effect on human lives. Recidivism rate statistical data that shows their efficacy is available and should be applauded. These efforts could all collaborate under the department of connections technological applications, thus reaching more minds that blossom through the arts.

Let us consider organizations that are providing education and support. The Prison Scholar Fund was created around the year of 2002 by Dirk Van Velzen to assist in bringing post-secondary education to our incarcerated population. Google recently created the Career Readiness for Reentry program to assist formally incarcerated individuals on their road of gainful employment through education of the necessary skills to seek and attain it. StandOut of London born in 2017-2018 is enwrapping their incarcerated population with a transformative reintegration program that begins before a person ever leaves an institution and continues to assist them long afterwards. The Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) is also working tirelessly to assist men and women inside and outside of the walls. The Prison Fellowship of Nebraska created nearly 40 years ago is harnessing a network of advocates to promote reform of the criminal justice system. Getting Out by Going in was formed around 2006 and brings life tools through correspondence courses, fellowship meetings, and coaching certification programs. Novum-U is utilizing a neuroscience approach to effecting positive change in lives by correspondence courses and in depth aftercare (housing, counseling, education, and employment assistance). ConCourses and ConConnect created in 2020 as an educational platform and professional social network to bridge the gap between post incarcerated men and women and the employers who need valuable employees. Ex-seed recruitment network is working diligently to support formerly incarcerated men and women find and maintain gainful employment. All of these networks, educational supports, and reentry service are just a small portion of the organizations that are augmenting the DOC as it currently is in epic fashion. They are reducing the recidivism rate and most have the statistical data to prove it. Imagine these services being adopted into the technology of the Department of Connections, massively scaled to reach every man and woman willing to click on the resources at their fingertips.

Let us consider the lived experience consultants and educators who selflessly devote there time to bring about heartfelt wisdom and enlightenment to the world. Richard Griffin of Michigan. Andre Peart of New York. Lester Young of Colombia, Gary Robinson of North Carolina, Cameron Denny of San Diego, California, Gethin Jones of the Greater Portsmouth Area, Kenneth Hartman of Los Angeles, California, Canon Harpaer of Louisville Metropolitan Area, Francis Poole of Sacramento, California, Reginald Foreman of Richmond, Virginia, Travis Abercrombi of Greenville, South Carolina, Shawanna Vaughn of New York City, and so many more are sharing themselves tirelessly between vocations to bring love and kindness to a population they are passionate for. All men and women in this category could be given mentoring, educational positions through the application of the Department of Connections. They could all be given alumni positions that could reach back and take the hand of another who is walking through a road they successfully walked already. Their individual voices would ring loudly around the world as the shared lived experiences offer them credibility and respect of the ears that need to hear from them the most.

Are you beginning to see the bigger picture I’m painting of an application that brings a library of self-help, spiritual development, motivational, and educational material including workbooks right to the fingertips of every single man and woman that is sitting in a jail cell? Is your mind racing as you consider your own portion of revolution via technology such as this? I envision an application that is a platform for every single form of current system augmentation that I’ve been speaking about. I also imagine an application that assists in program dissemination via video recordings, lessons of all sorts recorded once and viewed millions of times. These would be programs that could have rolling admissions so that people don’t have to send countless request slips to gain enrollment. And, there wouldn’t have to be designated cellblocks for programming, nobody would have to be shuffled around to afford them the enrollment in programs that can help them develop when they are ready to do so. I imagine general education or post-secondary courses much like that of Capella University being at the fingertips of every man and woman to explore their mental development precisely when they are ready without the barriers to participation. I imagine a vast library of workbooks for self-help or vocational studies that would be available for exploration at any time. And behind this all, I imagine a portfolio of data that presents what each man and woman has done during their incarceration, who they are becoming, and what value they will bless the world with upon release. I see a flawless transition into aftercare as these applications transition seamlessly into the probation or parole realm to facilitate aftercare and reimagine the parole agent/parolee relationship from what it is to one of a big brother big sister advocate and loving guide.

The possibilities that would be capable via technological advancement are endless. The Department of Corrections has a vast network of people around the world augmenting it’s system and reducing recidivism rates for pennies on the dollar and often for no pennies at all. The dream I am exploring with you during this podcast is what that is alive and thriving around the globe right now…it just hasn’t been connected via a single application to be provided as part and parcel to our system rather than privately funded augmentation of it. The technological revolution that I’ve imagined with you during this podcast is one that would harness the efficacy of all of these organizations and people and their efforts so that we can epically create a department of connections that cultivates human capital by the millions. The department of connections would propel our society forward into a cultural change unlike anything we have experienced thus far. Prison populations would drastically be reduced and jobs will be transitioned. We may not need as many men and women to turn keys and break up fights. We may see the lives of correctional staff blossom from the stressors into the heartwarming realities of days spent assisting in the development human capital. We would see a massive amount of jobs created that would provide for countless families, more competition for the current pie wouldn’t be an issue because the pie would ultimately get bigger. We will need many more individuals to facilitate every aspect of this grand technological revolution that I dream of. We would be infusing value to beget value. The world would look to us.

Outro music

Contact My New Leaf, Inc. @ https://mynewleaf.co

Contact Prison Scholars Fund @ Https://www.prisonscholars.org

Contact Google Reentry Program @ https://Grow.google/reentry

Contact StandOut @ https://www.Standout.org.uk

Contact Words Uncaged @ https://www.wordsuncaged.org

Contact Recovery Through The Arts @ https://www.rta-arts.org

Contact PEN America’s Prison Writing Program @ https://pen.org

Contact Inside Out Writers @ https://www.insideoutwriters.org

Contact Anti-Recidivism Coalition @ https://antirecidivism.org

Contact Nebraska Prison Fellowship @ https://www.prisonfellowship.org

Contact Getting Out By Going In @ https://gettingoutbygoingin.org