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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by fayeroe on July 24, 2008, at 19:41:03
A point of view concerning why prisons are full of black young men.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/23/bia.michael.dyson/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
I am going to be thinking alot about this story.
Posted by caraher on July 25, 2008, at 14:00:53
In reply to Very interesting story on prisons, posted by fayeroe on July 24, 2008, at 19:41:03
And don't forget that in this age of privatization, incarceration is big business.
Only tangentially related, this reminds me of a piece by an instructor at Harvard:
"One of my less affluent students, the son of a postman, asked me once for advice about a financial investment. He said his friends had told him to invest "in prisons", meaning one of the private companies winning the management contracts for correctional facilities. I told him what I thought about this recommendation; but only later, when I learnt how little he had to invest ($2,000 was his total savings), did I allow myself to think I understood the significance of his question. No amount of money may be permitted to lie idle if something may be got for nothing. The capitalist theory of life as a game disallows uncapitalised advantages."
from http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=402674
Posted by fayeroe on July 25, 2008, at 19:48:42
In reply to Re: Very interesting story on prisons, posted by caraher on July 25, 2008, at 14:00:53
A friend of mine (MoveOn.org) h+as asked me for information about the prison where I work because she is writing a grant for a rehabilitation program here in Texas.
I can only imagine what the warden would do if he knew that I was talking to as many offenders as I can and taking mental notes and passing the info to my friend.
It is so for profit where I work.
They hire 18+ and train them to be correction officers. One trainee drove up, his first day, with a confederate flag stuck on one side of his pickup and the American flag on the other side. He parked so the offenders in the rec yard could see him. (that is really dumb) The warden went and yanked the flag out and sent him into the training room. THEN he got caught stealing a hog trap (you don't want to know..it is a southern thing) and spent a night in jail. He graduated from training and went to work on the floor. First thing he did was confront a man of another color and threatened to kick his ***. He had one day administrative leave and came back and threatened that same man. They kept him. This kid was finally fired after 8 weeks of being on the floor.
The point is that these corporations will hire anyone, any age, any education and they can have priors. (bad checks, speeding tickets, DUIs)
I am really going to be here for hours if I don't quit now. But, in allmy years (65) I've never seen anything work the way prisons do.
Our judicial system is not working the way it was meant to work.
And if you're curious about why I stay there, I believe that I make a big difference in the offender's lives and I never leave there without having learned something about myself. (I have a book club going with four offenders...:-) and it has turned out to be good for all of us) I am working through the Texas Dept of Corrections and Justice to teach an anger management class at night. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
This is the end of the thread.
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