2.
The pseudo-rehabilitated "career ex-con"
The topic is the "convicted felon" who wears a criminal record like a uniform, who uses his or her past as a career opportunity.
Do I have any right to criticize such individuals? After all, here's a website that announces my own status as a convicted felon to everyone in the world who has access to the internet. The cover of my book boldly labels me an ex-convict. But the individuals I'm talking about are different in some very important ways.
In April, 2005, Stephen Stanko was arrested for rape and murder. Stanko had co-authored the book "Living in Prison," along with two criminologists, in which he had a wealth of criticism for the criminal justice system. He had also started a rehabilitation program for youthful offenders, had written two novels, and was seeking a publisher for his autobiography. At first glance, Stanko looked like a model ex-convict, but the overwhelmingly strong case against him reveals an unrepentant predator, devoid of conscience.
One Stephen Stanko can create a greater impression than a hundred thousand former offenders who live respectable, law-abiding lives, who have regretted their past transgressions against society, who wish to harm no one. Cases like this provide ammunition for those who say "rehabilitation doesn't work" and "just lock them up and throw away the key." It's amazing that Stanko had only served eight years in prison for kidnapping , and that he was able to play the good guy role well enough to deceive two criminologists.
Perhaps you remember Jack Abbott, author of "In the Belly of the Beast." Abbott's book expressed little remorse for his crimes, but complained bitterly over what he considered mistreatment he suffered. Author Norman Mailer was impressed with Abbott, and used his influence to bring about an early release. Interestingly, Mailer had described Abbott as "brave" because of his often violent resistance to authority. Unfortunately, Mailer didn't understand the difference between a truly brave person and a psychopath who doesn't value human life, including his own. Not long after Abbott's release he stabbed to death a waiter who had refused to allow him to use a rest room.
That was another winner for the "lock them up and throw away the key" crowd.
Very different from these are those ex-convicts I've met who are employed at halfway houses and similar facilities. They use their own experiences to help those who are making the transition, and earn a living in the process, without publicly declaring themselves experts on every aspect of crime and corrections. Does filling that helper role make it easier for these individuals to stay out of the criminal role? Maybe for some. To me, that's not much of a problem. Perhaps an ex-convict client of one of their facilities, who happened to know this to be true, could say "you're here making a living out of leading us on the road to respectability, and using this to keep your own demons in check. But what about all the rest of us? We can't all walk into jobs like yours." Hopefully the person to whom that question were directed would answer something like "perhaps you're right, perhaps this is one of the ways I keep myself straight. That's what works for me, but it's not the only answer. You can find your own ways to stay straight if you really want to." In any event, workers like these are a far cry from those high-profile former offenders who've turned their criminal records into bonanzas.
One man I met who'd become a motivational speaker while still on parole for armed robbery said that he had no reason to return to crime because he was making such good money on the lecture circuit! Does that mean he'll consider armed robbery again if the lecture business dries up? What about remorse, pride, conscience, responsibility? Aren't those more important reasons to stay away from crime? What about those who stay away from crime while working for meager wages in difficult, non-glamorous jobs? What about those whose crimes weren't committed for monetary profit? What's to keep them straight if it's only a matter of dollars and cents?
There's another category, more or less separate from the others. That's those who become zealots for some one-size-fits-all philosophy. Charles Colson, one of Richard Nixon's henchmen, discovered a fundamentalist brand of Christianity in prison, which he now preaches far and wide. No doubt some have been helped by his approach, but I think it likely that many more have been alienated by his fanaticism, his railing against gays, his mingling of rehabilitation with a right-wing agenda. Whether Charles Colson fills you with admiration and respect, or leaves a bad taste in your mouth, his influence is certainly far different from that of famous and allegedly rehabilitated former offenders who go on to commit heinous crimes.
It's important to remember that not all former offenders, even those who've served time in prison, are the same. The majority of those who get straight and stay straight don't broadcast their histories to the whole world, and they don't walk out of prison with a manuscript in hand looking for a publisher. We all have a right to expect such people to prove themselves, by establishing a solid history of honest work and law-abiding pro-social behavior, and all former offenders deserve an opportunity to do so.
This essay isn't supposed to be about me, but I can't resist the urge to point out that for decades, very few people heard of my criminal history, that I supported myself and my family in everything from common labor to advertising and, eventually, psychology. I've "gone public," so to speak, not because I need or expect it to make money for me, but because I hope to repay some of what I took from society, to encourage rational re-thinking of our criminal justice agendas, and to help at least a few people find respectability and contentment, living at peace with themselves and society.
To sum it up:
Not all former offenders are stamped out of the same mold. Please don't let the Stephen Stankos and Jack Abbotts dictate your assessment of everyone with a record.
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