Twenty Years of Incarceration in the Garden State: Reflecting on the Barriers and Facilitators in the Desistance Process
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Fast forward to the present, I encouraged Stephon to write more about his lived experiences and to consider submitting parts of his story to this special issue.Again, Stephon was intrigued by the possibility, eager to tell the alltoo-often forgotten perspective.Thus, in the following essay he refl ects on his prison time and the consequential events, practices, institutions, and processes that shaped him for better or worse.A few of these experiences acted as facilitators of desistance -they helped his own personal growth -while many others were barriers that diminished opportunities and the possibility of positive change.In some cases, these barriers even increased antisocial behaviour, and he elucidates these processes with rich and compelling examples.Stephon can identify the life factors that motivated him and helped to bring about change.He focuses on the importance of family and visitation, religion and education, and how these led to changes in personal identity and goals.Research supporting the role of these institutions in the desistance process exists (e.g. Brown & Bloom, 2018;Sampson & Laub, 1995), yet he is able to colour in some of those general research ideas with detailed personal narratives, off ering fresh insights into why they matter.Stephon takes a highly critical stance toward the police and the prison system.The criticisms of prisons can be broadly categorized into three inter-related themes: 1) dehumanization and degradation; 2) a lack of work and income opportunities; and 3) cultures of violence and abuse.With few exceptions (e.g.Christian, 2005), the desistance literature places a greater emphasis on aspects that help to facilitate positive change, while relatively less research focuses on the specifi c state-sanctioned practices and processes that serve to diminish or even eliminate the possibility of growth and desistance.Heavily focusing on these highly problematic aspects of the system, Stephon's ultimate goal is to accelerate the crescendo calling for a total overhaul of dehumanizing prisons and the unjust societies that overfeed them.Toward this end, one of his more immediate objectives is to illuminate the critical barriers -ones that can be addressed through advocacy and policy reform -that incarcerated people face in their process of desisting from crime.He achieves this well and should be applauded for his detailed examples and insights, as well as for the bravery to refl ect in public on a lifetime of adversity.-Nathan W. Link
Source: Journal of Prisoners on Prisons
Authors: Stephon Whitley, Nathan W. Link
Institution: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4283815305