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In my role in after-care support for students of
New Life Prison Ministry I go to many places: prisons, coffee shops, people’s
homes, doctor’s offices and probation and parole offices being some of them. I also go to court fairly often. This
past week my wife Lil was able to join me to observe the sentencing of a fellow
I have been visiting at a local Detention Centre. I have visited him 5 times during the past few months and he
and I have been able to talk about many things, mostly connected to is charges
and plans for life after his release from prison. He came to my attention after a fellow worker with New Life
Prison Ministry spoke to me about him.
A little later the Volunteer Coordinator at the prison called and asked
if I could connect with him. There
are concerns that every time he is released from prison he returns again within
days or weeks. After my first visit with him I understood
why that was his pattern. J has a
diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome and because he started bouncing around from
foster home to foster home at the age of 1 year, he was never able to get the
kind of loving support or consistent treatment and therapy needed to learn how
to function properly in society. He has been taught few or no coping skills or strategies.
The charges that J has pled guilty to throughout his
lengthy criminal history can all be linked directly to his condition with its
relational challenges. You see, when someone has been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum
Disorder, in J’s case, Asperger’s Syndrome, there are some characteristics that
tend to be present: (http://www.autismsocietycanada.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17&Itemid=51&lang=en). J shares many of those characteristics.
He is very challenged in relationships as he has difficulty in interpreting
social cues or in entering into the feelings and understanding of others. He has a heightened sense of what is
right and true. If he feels
someone else is slighting him or he is being lied to, he can’t let it go and it
becomes his focus and the main topic of conversation. Socially he is awkward
and therefore has a difficult time making friends and maintaining those
friendships. He is painfully aware
of his loneliness.
The justice system in Canada, for all its strengths
(and I know it does have many strengths), has some weaknesses too. The obvious one I observed in J’s
case was the inability to respond to the particular circumstances of
the “offender”, in this case a developmental disorder. J has a diagnosis
that directly relates to his offenses- that was ignored by the judge and the
crown prosecutor who only focussed on the behaviour, not the underlying reasons for it. Neither
this man, or the community are better served by a term of incarceration yet that
is what he received because, as the judge said: “it is time he is taught that his
behaviour is unacceptable to society.” The behaviour was not dangerous- deterrence was not given as a reason for the decision. J doesn't understand what he did was criminally wrong. Punishment was
the only motive for the judge’s harsh words and crushing decision. The judge
was wrong and his decision to sentence J to an extra year behind bars doesn't reflect true justice. It will, in
my opinion, only serve to damage a man and do nothing to resolve the problem.
For someone with J’s challenges, prison
will not be a positive teacher. He will be extremely vulnerable to teasing
and other forms of abuse while “inside.” In some ways, and in spite of all he has seen and lived, J
has the naïve innocence of a four year-old child. I left many of our conversations smiling because of the
simple yet profound way J has of looking at life. He genuinely doesn’t understand what he did wrong and why he
was arrested. “Isn’t lying wrong,
Tim?” he continually asked me. J contends that
he was the aggrieved person.
If
he doesn’t understand that his actions were inappropriate and unlawful, how
will he learn from the punishment the judge felt he had earned? What will a term in prison do to calm his anger and feelings of
injustice? How will he learn how
to cope in society? It is entirely
possible that he will come out in much worse shape than when he went in. And if
he does, the downward spiral of his life that started when he suffered abuse as
a child and was placed in foster care will continue.
J and I had dedicated considerable time to
come up with a plan of support for him after his release. We talked about him getting involved in
various, positive activities- like church attendance, peer support groups, and healthy
supportive relationships. We talked about him getting involved in counselling to
insure that he learn skill for coping with life’s stresses. I remain very saddened
by the way the justice system failed J. He cried as it dawned on him that his
time in detention was not going to end that day. His biggest concern was that he had missed his mother’s
birthday the day before. He begged
that he be allowed to be “free” so he could give her a hug. His other concern was that: “I am not
that kind of man people say I am.”
He just wants to be understood for who he is and judged for what is in
his heart- and who doesn’t?
For many in the court that day, an imprisoned J means
that a problem was dealt with and is now removed from view. For others his was just another case to
be closed, with many more to move on to.
But that isn’t how it is. This was an opportunity missed. Now he is a frightened and confused
man who doesn’t really understand what happened and why it has happened. He
will need hope. He will need reassurance. He will need something to look
forward to. He needs to know that not everyone is angry with him or wants to
forget about him or punish him. He needs to know
that God still cares. That is what
God has called all of us in prison ministry to do.
