My ideas about incarcerated people have taken a complete turn since I started taking this course
and emailing my correspondents. Growing up I always used to think people in prison were scary,
evil, and undeserving of anything, much less freedom. But now I have acquired a whole new view
and perspective after getting to know some of them. It has really surprised me to see how smart,
perseverant, empowering and committed they are to changing their lives while inside. On the
negative end, I have been surprised to hear of the horrible conditions, restrictions, dehumanization
acts and limited resources they have in prison. I used to think they would continue to make negative
choices and not care for restoring their lives but on the contrary, many of them are strong believers
in their faith and taking steps toward their rehabilitation, education, and integration into the world. I
admire how involved, interactive and hard working they are with the programs inside, even after all
the harm and dehumanization and mistreatment they go through, they still have a drive to stay
positive and keep working on themselves.
Before coming into this class, I believed that we had one of the best criminal justice systems in the
world and that incarceration was an effective form of deterrence and diminishing the rise of more
criminal acts but now, I have come to the brutal realization and truth that our prison system is one of
the worst, doing more harm than good for our country in many aspects. Through this course I was
opened to the reality of the corrupt and broken prison system that is in place. This system is driven
by a punitive approach rather than a rehabilitative one, leading to overcrowded prisons and a focus
on punishment rather than addressing the root causes of criminal behavior.
During one of the panel presentations given by the Sheridan class, two of the students demonstrated
to the class what a typical strip search or shakedown looks like. During the demonstration I couldn’t
help feeling disgusted, disappointed, and heartbroken to witness the humiliation, mistreatment, and
dehumanization my classmates inside have to go through. Seeing this specific act moved my
emotions and made me truly see the critical and concerning acts that happen inside that are
breaking them more.
Both of my correspondents openly talked to me about their strong faith in God and how it has helped
them restore their life and have hope for their future. As a Christian and firm believer in Christ, it has
filled me with joy and satisfaction that they both have heard the gospel and accepted Jesus in their
lives and heart. They have had personal encounters with God and his love in their lives so knowing
this has greatly reaffirmed and strengthened my faith and believes in God.
After seeing the lack of care, attention, and effectiveness of our current criminal justice system I
have felt that this country needs to shift to a more restorative and compassionate approach rather
than punitive. To focus more on investing more on minority communities, low quality education,
addressing systematic racism, advocating for reform movements and abolition of mass incarceration
and awareness of the overall issues with our justice system.