Care Not Confinement: Insights from Prison
Posted by Anna Debenham, July 10, 2020
Some months ago now, we were in one of our groups at Columbia River Correctional Facility and a participant (CR) had an insight which, to me, highlights the need for redirecting funds from policing to mental health services.
CR was telling us how his new bunky (the guy who shares his bunk, we’ll call him Joe) seemed odd. He looked and behaved strangely which made CR a little suspicious. When someone behaves in any way that creates suspicion in prison there is often the assumption that they're a sex offender. To give the person in question the benefit of the doubt, they are asked for their papers. Papers show what someone is in prison for, thus ruling out or confirming others’ suspicions and they will then be treated accordingly. CR said he and many others in their unit asked Joe for his papers. Joe didn’t seem to have any idea what they were talking about and just kept bringing people whatever random bits of paper he could find. This annoyed CR and the other men on the unit. CR soon realized that Joe was struggling with mental health issues and that he didn’t even really understand where he was.
CR said that in the past he would have taken Joe's behavior as disrespectful and would have beaten him up. However, he said being in our class gave him the ability to see beyond his own limited thinking and feel more understanding and kindness. Rather than feeling angry that this guy was his new bunky, he was relieved. He knew he could protect Joe from others on the unit who weren’t so generous and had already jumped to conclusions. CR talked to Joe and got to know him a little and he started to see him as his friend who needed support and kindness rather than aggression and animosity. CR said that this guy didn’t belong in prison. Joe had been houseless, was vulnerable and clearly at risk and needed professional help. But here he was in prison.
In the youth facility, one of our groups is on the mental health unit. Youth in this unit struggle with a variety of challenges, including learning disabilities, a lack of basic schooling, being in-and-out of foster care or coming from broken homes. I often come off the Zoom calls or out of our groups with the thinking - why are these kids in prison? They need care, not confinement. They need love, not lock down. They need teachers and healthy parents, not prison. I want to live in a country where restorative justice and community care becomes more important than the punitive priorities of our current criminal justice system. Our system is rooted in so many unmet needs, such as financial and racial inequities, a lack of rehabilitation, affordable housing, access to education and proper job training. And, of course adequate healthcare, including mental heath and community support.
Would Joe and so many of the people that end up in prison be there if, rather than being met by the police, they were met with the social care they needed and really deserved?
