NCJ Number
80297
Journal
Angolite Volume: 6 Issue: 5 Dated: (November/December 1981) Pages: 29-43
Editor(s)
W Rideau,
B Sinclair
Date Published
1981
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Written by Louisiana State Penitentiary inmates, this article describes the problems faced by ex-offenders as a result of the nature of the prison experience and the efforts of such organizations as The Fortune Society to aid ex-offenders.
Abstract
The Fortune Society was formed by David Rothenberg, a theatrical publicist, and a group of ex-convicts. The society discovered that ex-convicts found it hard to make everyday decisions; were unable to socialize with other people; and had no jobs, money, or places to stay. Prison breeds dependency because of its routines and regimentations. It also breeds irresponsibility because it operates on a basic law of survivial and stifles individuality. Prisoners too often enter the free community with unrealistic expectations accumulated over years of deprivation. The Fortune Society aims to help meet such immediate needs as finding a place to stay. It tries to let offenders build their confidence gradually, rather than pushing them immediately into a job. Besides providing job placement, counseling, and living quarters for ex-offenders, The Fortune Society also conducts a successful tutoring program in reading and math. The oldest and most respected ex-offender agency in Louisiana, the Community Service Center, was established in 1965 and helps 400 to 500 people each year. Funding comes mainly from the private sector. The center conducts a training class for the high school equivalency examination, offers job placement assistance, provides individual counseling, serves as a referral agency, and makes arrangements for emergency lodging. The Louisiana Legislature has not provided assistance for ex-offender programs. Such assistance might well be cost-effective, given the $10,000 it costs Louisiana each year to keep a person in prison. The results achieved by the Safer Foundation, an ex-offender assistance program in Chicago, indicate that substantial reductions in recidivism and increases in ex-offender employment can be achieved by programs to assist ex-offenders. Meanwhile, both taxpayers' money and human resources are being wasted to incarcerate thousands of nondangerous offenders.