Modern Day Time Travelers
In an era where technology brings people closer than ever before, it also forages a cultural divide leaving those in need even further behind.
In today’s constantly developing technological age, prison has become a time machine and those released become the travelers.
According to the United States Department of Justice, “over 10,000 ex-prisoners are released from America’s state and federal prisons every week and arrive on the doorsteps of our nations communities.” Upon their release, they are thrown into a world that often seems unfamiliar to them. Many people who move away from their hometown for a few years find themselves shocked by how much it changed in a few short years. That experience of confusion is mirrored on an intensely magnified scale for people recently released from incarceration.
Defined by the National Institute of Justice as “a person’s relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime,” recidivism is one of the most restricting and systematically imposed challenges individuals face when released from prison.
Physically removing criminals from society prevents them from re-committing past crimes by making it practiaclly impossible, but the time in prison itself may actually encourage recidivism due to the resulting difficulty people have when adjusting to a world that significantly developed while they were in prison.
While the prison system still would have to undergo years of reform before it could be considered a form of rehabilitation, there are programs across the country that exist to provide aid in the reintegration process.
The Francisco Homes, a group of transitional living homes for men recently released from prison, offer necessary support and skills to help the residents foster a better future.
There are seven Francisco Homes in the Los Angeles area. The neighborhood that the Francisco Homes are located in is characterized as having “an extremely large population density” and a median household income of $26,796 according to the United States Zip Codes.
Sister Theresa Groth, the Executive Director at Francisco homes, routinely sits down with the volunteers for an orientation session before they begin their work. She commonly shares an anecdote with the volunteers—one of the many snippets she shares to represent the struggles she has seen men overcome at the homes. She said one of the men who had lived in the Francisco Homes told her when he was first released he felt like he was in “Gotham city” as he navigated through the once familiar streets of Los Angeles.
Everything he knew had changed. Self-driving cars that once existed only in his imagination whizzed by. Sidewalks were filled with people walking around—eyes glued to their facial-recognizing cell phones. He was surrounded by a city he didn’t recognize, in a technological age that paralleled Sci-Fi movies.
People commonly turn to employer preferences and high rates of recidivism as the main roadblocks previously incarcerated individuals face while beginning their integration into society. Not many people consider the technological factors that prohibit people from integrating easily.
Technology, something many consider to be the driving force in an increasingly connected society, stands as a barrier for many former inmates who lack the experience and technological literacy to be a part of the digital world.
Not only can it be difficult for former inmates to navigate the ins and outs of modern technological devices, but the use of technology is so deeply rooted in our society that almost all aspects of building a new life lean on the expectation of technological literacy.
“Due to the shift in how jobs are advertised—print ads to online job boards and social media websites—it is imperative that ex-offenders have access to computers and acquire skills in using the Internet,” according to a report released by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). “This process should begin before release, so ex-offenders are immediately prepared for the job application process, reinforcing the importance of obtaining employment,” it stated.
The NIJ reported on a study that tracked 404,638 prisoners in 30 states after their release from prison in 2005 and “within three years of release, about two-thirds (67.8 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested.” To reduce recidivism, people recently released from prison must be provided with a new reality—a lifestyle different from the one they lived before incarceration.
After many years in prison, parolees don’t know what to expect when returning to a society that they’ve been absent from for so long. Society expects them to reintegrate using the same technology they’ve been separated from, only making the already daunting process more difficult.
Despite the importance that has been placed on employment after release as a way to combat high rates of recidivism, the prison system still fails to help most inmates start their path to reintegration.
“We put the resources into longer and harsher sentences, versus putting resources into smart sentences and effective transition programs,” Marc Morial, head of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans told The Washington Post.
A 2015 study that focused on a digital literacy acquisition program conducted by researchers from Portland State University found that the program not only taught participants key skills, like how to submit an online job application, but it also increased their self-confidence.
“Without knowing how to get on and access a computer, we are pretty much lost. We of no value in a lot of jobs because they require you to be able to access computers,” said Travis, a participant in the digital literacy acquisition program.
As a volunteer, I sat beside the front desk of the Francisco Homes office. Smitty, the program manager at Francisco Homes, sits at the front desk diligently working on different group therapy models and events for the residents.
Throughout my time in that office, I spent many hours folding pamphlets to send to men who are currently in prisons across the state of California to advertise an option for housing after their release. One Thursday afternoon, a resident I’d never met came into the office. He turned to Smitty and said he was struggling with his phone.
Smitty redirected the resident to me, adorning me with the title “in house technology expert.” As he approached, I began to panic. Not because I was fearful of him, but because I didn’t want him to ask me a question about his phone I couldn’t answer.
“How do I make a phone call?” he asked.
I was relieved. At the face of the question, the answer seemed very simple. Click on the green app that looks like a phone, type in the area code and phone number—and wait for it to ring. What I failed to consider were all of the different elements—prerequisites to understanding—that I overlook when dialing a phone number.
Apps, telephones, even the internet were invented after many of these individuals entered prison. The gradual progression of iPhones can seem daunting even for those who consider themselves in tech-savvy, imagine the impact being separated from tech for more than a decade has learning and adaptability to developments. Smitty estimated that the average time residents spent in prison before coming to the Francisco Homes is 30 years.
After I explained to the resident how to call someone, I transitioned to how the contact book works and how to connect to WIFI. However, as I tried to spill as much information I could to help him in any way, I glanced up and found myself looking into confused and overwhelmed eyes. “Take it slow,” I thought to myself.
Not all of the residents at The Francisco Homes struggle at the same levels or with the same advancements in technology. One resident, Jonathan Clyman, said he’s “pretty self-sufficient” but has been having some difficulty with the Bluetooth on his motorcycle helmet. It wasn’t connecting to his phone, and he frequently found himself lost in the busy streets of Los Angeles without Google Maps navigating through his headphones.
I tried to help him by going through the user manual and trying all my usual tricks. Nothing worked, and I realized that I too struggle with some of the same technological questions he did and I’ve had a phone in my pocket since the day I started walking home alone from fifth grade.
I was surprised how often I was asked the question “how do I make a phone call?” while at the Francisco Homes. One of the residents, Joe Ybarra, a short, older man with small frameless glasses, had a list of unknown phone numbers that he had received calls from. We spent some time dialing the numbers to discover who called, and practiced how to make a phone call and what to do when the phone rings.
While we worked together on his phone calls, he told me about the first time he went to prison. He said he was framed by someone he thought was his friend, but as an 18-year-old facing life in jail, he pleaded guilty out of fear and in exchange for a shorter sentence. After he spent 18 months in prison, he fell into a cycle of recidivism fueled by his struggle with drug abuse until he found the Francisco Homes.
Francisco Homes work to provide information and assistance for their residents to have a smoother transition, however, the roadblock’s put in place by quick and consistent technological advancements still play a large role in the struggle of reintegration. The bottom line is that as technology continues to be updated, the American prison system also needs a serious update. Focus needs to shift from implementing policies that reinforce recidivism to building education and rehabilitation programs to break the cycle of crime.
While increasing technological literacy among inmates and those released from prison is not an end-all-be-all solution, it undoubtedly provides needed information and skills for parolees to take their first steps toward building a new life. The growth through learning, healing sessions and networks support that the Francisco Homes have fostered between their walls ensure the last time their residents were released from prison is truly their last time.