This has been a problem with me for a while and it frustrates me that I don't know what the solution is.
When someone is released from prison, they have a choice to make between two general categories.
1. Be a good boy and attempt to operate within the legal society
2. Be a bad boy and attempt to operate within the illegal society.
We, as a society would prefer this person to choose option 1. But let's look at the realities of option 1
Being a "good boy" will probably result in one or more of the following happening
1. Minimum wage job and the resulting low standard of living
2. Menial labour or a job with little self-actualization and little social prestige.
3. Being shunned by the legal society because this person is an ex-
CON (you are not one of us)
4. Being shunned by the illegal society because this person is an
EX-con (you are not one of us)
Faced with one or more of these does not make "being a good boy" an attractive future. It may make going back to being a "bad boy" seem more attractive. And that is not what we want to happen.
What, as a society can we do? I just don't know.
1 and 2? Can't really reward being a bad boy by giving them high paying and prestigious jobs
Besides not all criminals are capable of higher paying jobs.
4? We really don't have any control over 4
Perhaps as a society we can start de-glamorizing criminals, but that will have little influence.
That leaves 3. And the question I can't answer is can/should society do anything with respect to 3? There have been some small community integration projects in the mid-west that have had some success, but it does not seem to be scalable to anywhere new our prison population.
We can always be internet tough guys and just say "F em" they made the choice to be criminals, society should not do anything. That may make us feel emotionally better, is that attitude going to "solve the problem"?
I just don't know. I guess in the mean time we will be building a lot more prisons.