Reforms Should Facilitate Ties Between Prisoners, Family, and Society

By · Monday, February 9th, 2009

According to Congressional findings in The Second Chance Act of 2007, the Bureau of Prisons’ own metrics show that strong family and community ties represent “the most important factor” in helping those who have been released from prison to succeed upon release. That same Congressional Act found that “families are an often underutilized resource in the reentry process.” Prison reforms ought to change that dismal reality.

Since my own imprisonment began in 1987, I have extensive experience with prison administrators blocking the bridges I strive to build to society. I have been writing about those experiences since my term began. Readers may review my state of mind much earlier in my term by reading such articles as A Bus Ride To Prison or Transcending The Wall.

One of the most disruptive efforts administrators made to block my preparations for a law-abiding life upon release was their refusal to allow academic mentors to visit with me. The prison rule held that a visitor had to have a relationship that preceded the prisoner’s confinement in order to qualify for visiting privileges. Prior to my confinement I trafficked in cocaine. I was sentenced to a lengthy term, and ever since I began that term, I committed myself toward earning academic credentials and building a supportive network that would help me succeed upon release. That strategy required me to cut ties with the people I knew prior to my imprisonment and build new ties with community leaders who would serve as mentors.

To build those ties, I wrote to professors whose work inspired me to learn. Some were kind enough to engage in a correspondence. Those correspondences led to friendships. Yet when I tried to add the professors to my visiting list, some administrators blocked my efforts. They said that as a consequence of my not having had a friendship with the professors prior to my confinement, I would not be granted the privilege of meeting them through visits.

To overcome those administrative hurdles, I had to fight those absurd decisions through appeals to higher authorities. One correctional counselor told me that I should understand the rules that prohibited inmates from building new ties with people in society. “If a person were a law-abiding citizen,” the counselor told me citing the dubious wisdom of corrections, “why would he want to come spend time with a convicted criminal serving a lengthy prison sentence?”

Besides blocking prisoner access to law-abiding citizens who can serve in the capacity of mentors, administrators implement horrid rules that disrupt family relationships. They limit access to visiting and they make it difficult to nurture relationships over the telephone by prohibiting inmates from talking over the phone for more than an average of ten minutes per day. These types of policies are not family-friendly, and they contribute to most prisoners losing touch and connection with society.

Appropriate prison reforms would create policies that ease family relationships. One idea that would work wonders in helping prisoners maintain closer family ties would be to implement and encourage a furlough program. Inmates who work toward the appropriate classification ought to qualify for leave time regularly so that they could nurture ties with their family while they pay their debt to society. Furloughs may not serve the needs of every prisoner, as some may prove too dangerous for release to society. Yet any prisoner who is held in minimum-security status ought to qualify for regular leaves home to help maintain family and community ties.

In addition to furloughs, prison reforms ought to expand the use of visiting privileges. Perhaps administrators may use visiting privileges as an incentive, encouraging prisoners to earn the right for more access to society through merit. For example, inmates who avoid disciplinary infractions and work toward developing marketable skills may earn the privilege of more visiting time.

Prison reforms do not have to cost taxpayers more money. Meaningful prison reforms would have the goal of helping more prisoners prepare for law-abiding lives upon release. Since the U.S. Congress has made a finding that families and community ties are helpful to the reentry process, administrators ought to implement reforms that facilitate such ties. They should create bridges that connect qualified prisoners to society, not obstacles that separate them further

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5 Responses to “Reforms Should Facilitate Ties Between Prisoners, Family, and Society”

  1. Kellen Hoime says:

    Mr. Santos,
    I was wondering how the privileges of family visits work? What are they like? How realistic are they, as in are prisoners restricted to a room or are you able to walk around and spend time with family? Does this depend on the prisoners behavior? How is it that a prisoner is able to keep a strong relationship with their family while being confined?
    Also i was reading in the paper that the 9th circuit court is trying to create better medical treatment for prisons. How are the medical treatments now? Why do we feel that we need to spend money with the harsh economy to reassemble better needs for prison medical care? How do you feel about this situation? Is it a good idea? is it right to spend for money for certain prisoners for example: A prisoner is an illegal alien of the United States and they do not have medical care and are not tax payers. Should they be able to have the same medical care as other prisoners who’s families pay taxes and have a say in medical care? thank you so much for your time and i am excited to hear back form you.
    Kellen

  2. Hi Kellen,
    Thanks for visiting our site. I’ve mailed your comments/questions to Michael and he’ll respond back. I’ll post his reply as soon as I have it.
    Best,
    Carole Santos

  3. Carole Santos says:

    Hi Kellen,

    Michael responded to your questions here:

    http://prisonnewsblog.com/2009/02/prison-visiting-and-judicial-decisions/

    Best wishes,
    Carole

  4. John Zacha says:

    Having read the mojority of your articles for February 9th, the majority seemed to stress family ties as being one of many means of engaging inmates back into the mainstream of society. Without getting to deeply into personal family history, my father was in and out of prison and jail, mainly for narcotics possession and distribution, and alcohol related arrests, most of his adult life, and after serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. What this boils down to is after hearing so many untruths, most of his family gave up on him, including my sister and myself. He was not convicted of any fiolent crimes that I know, but he did have a mean streak from time to time. Not to belabor the point, my question is how do we the issues of noviolent offenders, who play be the prison rules, and who may not have any family or the family support needed to help these inmates transition successfully back into society?
    My next question kind of goes along these lines, when talking about more liberal programs that nurtures family participation and your ideas concerning Karl Marx, and that is do you think it would be a good idea, as a trial program in a minimum security prison, to have a form of democratic government run by the inmates, with one leader, a senate or congress of sorts, to work hand-in-hand with the administration, who would be a sort of Supreme Court, to address the issues of more liberal family visits, time on the phone, etc?

  5. John Zacha says:

    Mr. Santos,

    I am in Mr. Torres’ class and having read the majority of your articles for February 9th, the majority seemed to stress family ties as being one of many means of engaging inmates back into the mainstream of society. Without getting to deeply into personal family history, my father was in and out of prison and jail, mainly for narcotics possession and distribution, and alcohol related arrests, most of his adult life, and after serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. What this boils down to is after hearing so many untruths, most of his family gave up on him, including my sister and myself. He was not convicted of any violent crimes that I know of, but he did have a mean streak from time to time. Not to belabor the point, my question is how do we the address the issues of nonviolent offenders, who play be the prison rules, and who may not have any family or the family support needed to help these inmates transition successfully back into society?
    My next question kind of goes along these lines, when talking about more liberal programs that nurtures family participation and your ideas concerning Karl Marx, and that is do you think it would be a good idea, as a trial program in a minimum security prison, to have a form of democratic government run by the inmates, with one leader, a senate or congress of sorts, to work hand-in-hand with the administration, who would be a sort of Supreme Court, to address the issues of more liberal family visits, time on the phone, etc?
    I am sending this again, because of some typing errors on the original.

    Thank you for your time and consideration,
    John Zacha