Recidivism

I recently read an article on recidivism. This a word I had never heard of before, but after reading the article by Lottie Joiner I felt I knew a lot about. The definition of recidivism is "the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they had either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or had been trained to extinguish that behavior." It is also used to refer to the percentage of former prisoners who were rearrested for a similar offense.

 In the U.S., men, women, and children get caught in a cycle of incarceration at rates that exceed nearly all other nations, and a broken justice system doesn't help most start over and rebuild their lives. Our country, which routes itself as a nation of laws, has more offenses (over 300,000), that are ,considered a crime and will land you in jail, and any other nation in the world. We have the harshest sentences and the system is geared to work on the front end. That means the jails are cramed full of people. However, when these people get out there is nothing in the system to help change their behavior and contrary to logic they are extremely penalized, therefor not being able to move forward in society.

 After release they their criminal record prevents them from getting affordable housing, a job with a living wage, and legal restrictions make it almost impossible for them to rebuild their lives. The statistic are stacked heavily against African American men and women. Incarcerated kids become incarcerated adults. Trapped in a downward spiral, and learning the lessons of how to survive in jail and then on the streets once released. The system invested almost nothing on these individuals once they are released and they are left to their own means to figure it out.

As an African American I would venture to say that almost every black family in American has someone either in their family or close to it that either has been or is currently incarcerated. Is the system rigged? Yes !!!!! Those in power, with wealth and resources hold this system over minorities as a way to marginalize, exploit and subordinate the weaker group. Those laws set up under the pretext of a "war on drugs" where meant just for that purpose. Drugs were criminalized for that purpose. However, now that opioids have struck middle American and the majority (white) population, it is not a crime but an epidemic. We have survivor and mental health professionals, along with money to try and save these addicts. Unlike the black and brown addicts of the past.

Anyway, I digress. Addressing social problems, not continuing to put people in jail, will help decrease recidivism.

Guns,Guns,Guns

Once again there has been a mass shooting in America. This time by a 64 year old man, retired and well off, with no motive in sight. Nearly 60 people were killed and almost 500 injured as he used automatic weapons to shoot indiscriminately into a crown of concert goers in Las Vegas. Once again he took the easy way out and killed himself prior to being captured, leaving us with nothing but questions into why he had committed this evil deed.

 

Once again the debate goes out about when will we do something about gun control in this country, which has more guns and gun shootings/murders than any other civilized nation in the world. There are those that say you cannot stop this kind of evil, and it is not the guns causing the problem but the people who commit these events.  They say that any government legislation would be unconstitutional because it would go against the all reverent Second Amendment. That sacred  amendment that allows all citizens to bear arms.

 

To them I say that the second amendment was written when this nation was being formed and allowed the citizens of this new founded republic to bear arms against a corrupt government through the means of a measured militia. I believe in that right. I believe that we have a military for that cause and also a civilian auxiliary force caplet of keeping that promise. I do not believe that the founding fathers meant for every man, woman, and child to have a piece of equipment designed for the act of war and the sole purpose of killing each other.

 

I have no problem with individuals having guns designed for self protection or hunting, but we have opened  the door for citizens, both criminal and law abiding alike, to purchase weapons of human destruction with little concern for who and how they are used. Universal background checks won't stop all the possibilities for mass shootings but would be a start. A person needs to renew his/her drivers license but no their gun permit. You need a permit to fish but not to buy a gun. While changes like these to the system will not stop the killings they will surely slow them down.

 

The place to start though is the gun manufacturers. Seeing that we live in a capitalistic society these companies are all about profits and selling more guns, not less. As with anything in America, you should always follow the money to find the root cause or solution to a problem. I would venture to say that the NRA and its member companies make more guns than any other country in the world. And you would think that selling military grade guns to our military and the militaries of our allies would be enough. It isn't!!! They would like it if everyone was strapped like in the old west. This is their idea of protecting us from each other, while they get rich. The bad news is many of us believe the same thing. I often wonder why and how the idea of every cowboy having a pistol was overcome. Could it be to institute some semblance of law and order.

 

Again, to repeat, I do not want to eliminate guns, or take away peoples rights to have them for protection, hunting , or enjoyment. I just think we can do it in a more responsible way, thinking about the moral cost instead of the profit. Those manufacturers who I refer to will say they have a legitimate business, and the right to sell as many and whatever kind of weapons they like. They would be right. The tobacco industry said the same thing until society said you are killing people, and we will regulate and control you to try and reduce the killing.