We learned that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations is in a state of crisis, the prisons are currently at 210 percent of capacity and recidivism is at 70 percent. Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley sadly admitted to us that “we’re succeeding in arresting, prosecuting and warehousing people, but the state has failed at rehabilitation.”
After hearing about the systematic failures of nearly every organization involved in reforming prisons, I desperately wanted someone to blame. It seemed easy to make corrections officers’ youth, inexperience and occasionally abrasive nature the root of our prison crisis. The officers reminded us, however, that the people behind bars violated laws and statutes, and many of them had been incarcerated six to eight times. Placing the blame on poorly trained prison guards was unfair.
Inmates, meanwhile, often admitted their guilt. These young men had violated the laws that protect our society, but where were the laws to protect them from abusive parents, hunger, homelessness and violence? They recounted soul-shaking stories about abusive and drug-addicted families, incarcerated fathers and failing schools. While personal responsibility is certainly a large factor in crime, California has a 70 percent recidivism rate while New Jersey’s is 31 percent. California’s legislature and prison administrators seemed to be making things worse. After reading dozens of stories about government failures, I felt comfortable blaming public officials.
My desperate need to place the blame on a single person or group was fruitless. What I witnessed was a failure of society at nearly every level, ranging from bad parenting, poor schooling and unsuccessful social services, to ineffective laws and government blame games. Despite all this extra knowledge, however, I feel no closer to having a firm understanding of tenable solutions.
Having “broken out” of the Princeton bubble, it is now difficult to translate my newfound knowledge into action. Princeton has prepared me well for being open to new experiences and learning massive amounts of information. Our group entered strange and dangerous places, we took copious notes, asked questions and even gave a presentation to alumni in the Los Angeles area. My sense of failure does not stem from missing a learning opportunity, but from knowledge that all we have done is “raise awareness” of these issues. After people are aware, what happens next?
I feel that this is a problem shared by many groups and individuals on campus. While plenty of groups “raise awareness,” only a handful create tangible benefits. While I recognize that discussion and communication foster understanding, I also wish there was more of a kicking-down-doors approach to alleviating racial disparity or ending poverty.
The Pace center and the Wilson School both provide avenues for the precarious transition from knowledge to action, but actually walking down that path is difficult. For all the opportunities provided to Princeton students, it seems many don’t take advantage. With a mental-breakdown inducing workload and endless pressure to apply for internships and build a resume, it’s no surprise that many find it difficult to participate in extracurricular activities.
My experience has given me a new respect for dedicated individuals like Mark Delgado ’96 ,who’s coordinating a program that ensures convicted criminals receive social services, or Alan MacKenzie ’61, who’s innovative social entrepreneurship program plans re-entry programs for recently released inmates.
Navigating the mind-numbingly massive highways of Los Angeles our small and dedicated group covered hundreds of miles, met dozens of people and learned an overwhelming amount of horrifying statistics. The failures of the California criminal justice system stand as an ominous portent of what America could become without a serious reassessment of our current policies regarding drugs, gang violence, mental healthcare, affordable housing and criminal rehabilitation.
The failures also stand as a pertinent reminder to the good work that Princeton students can do in this field.
Michael Collins is a freshman from Glastonbury, Conn. He can be reached at mjcollin@princeton.edu.
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