TEDx
The surprising reason our correctional system doesn’t work | Brandon W. Mathews
I recently wrote a paper for my Political Science class called, “The Challenges of Reentry into Society by Ex-Felons: Pay Now or Pay a Lot More Later.” In it, I offered the case that ex-felons are doomed to a life of either recidivism, low wage dead ends, or addiction and homelessness. Yes, some go on to college degrees and successful lives. Those are the lucky ones. They have support networks and systems in place that help make transition and reentry possible. For others, it’s usually, “Here’s your gate money, there’s the world, don’t come back.”
I saw this first hand recently with a relative, a visit to a Parole office, and interviews with experts. Now, we may want to say to ourselves, “Who cares? They deserve whatever they get. They’re criminals.” How Christian of you. The truth is that all of society is invested in ensuring that those who have paid their debt to society and want to succeed (There are more than you think), get a chance to climb out of the hole.
This means recalibrating the system so that reentry begins long before someone leaves prison. Education, therapeutic programs, real life preparatory courses (financial management, job seeking, social skills) are topics for serious discussion. But, the one topic that doesn’t get enough attention is support systems, whether family, friends, or institutional. I can’t even begin to understand what it must be like to be returned to society after 5, 10, or 20 years and discover that your former world is gone and you are truly along all alone to cope with the new world.
In the United States, 67% of inmates released from prison will return having committed a new crime within three years. Simply put, the criminal justice system doesn’t accomplish what it was designed to do. But why is it failing? Having worked in both punishment and rehabilitation, Brandon W. Mathews argues that the solution might be simpler than we thought. Dr. Brandon Mathews is a passionate criminal justice professional with expertise in the development and implementation of innovative evidence-based correctional treatment and supervision programs. Brandon is an active researcher with the Alliance for Criminal Justice Innovation, publishing on topics like recidivism reduction, structured decision-making, risk assessment, and criminal justice education. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
