Expectations and moving on

In some ways, I am impressed by the current college students/future college graduates. In some ways, I’m terrified.  Though many of these young adults will go on to have wonderful and productive careers, some won’t cut it. 

I teach. That’s what I do and will do until I retire (and maybe even after retirement). Teaching college students is wonderful. Online teaching is convenient, but in-person is where I feel the most useful. Currently, I teach criminal justice at two colleges-one completely online and the other a mixture of online and in-person. I’m not being asked back to the in-person college. Not because I suck at teaching or have horrible reviews from students. Because I have standards that will carry over into the real world and some students cannot handle that. 

Many professors have impressive resumes-doctoral degrees and published papers. Some, however, lack experience. Being able to read about a subject and actually working in that field are two different things. I have studied criminal justice, have gotten degrees in criminal justice, and  have actually worked in the field of criminal justice. I like to think I have a great advantage-education and experience. From experience, I can tell you that punctuality is imperative. Showing up even 5 minutes late for a shift will get your ass handed to you. I was very strict about tardiness in my class because being on time is respectful and shows that you put effort in and care. I didn’t sign any of my students up for my course. They all looked at the schedule, saw the class start time, and decided they wanted to take that specific course. The least they can do is show up on time.

Maybe my standards are too high. Maybe my expectations of students being on time, thinking for themselves, and being able to write from their own perspective is too high. Maybe the school just had low standards-pass the kid so we can keep getting funded. I’m not sure what it is, but I stand 100% and ten toes down behind upholding my classroom rules. 

Part of teaching is sharing what I have learned. That’s all I am trying to do. I’m not upset over not being scheduled to teach courses next semester-which is the way we are weeded out. My talents may be better suited for another school. I’m optimistic. 

-Nicole

Prison “break”

 Thinking about the time I was working in Corrections. We were in training at one of the men’s prisons in Louisiana (Hunt Correctional Facility). Offenders were walking around, doing their usual activities. I saw one man wearing his state issued uniform. However, he had “remixed” or personalized his. His shirt was tied in the belly, jeans were tight fitting, and he had on boots. State issued boots, but, somehow, they made the outfit. His demeanor was feminine. It’s clear he had taken on a feminine persona during his incarceration. I did wonder, though, was that something he explored BEFORE he got to prison, or had prison broken him so much that he became this person he wasn’t, originally. 

It really made me think of the culture of incarceration or prison culture-as most people say. Rules in the free world are completely different from how you carry yourself inside. Being a decent person in prison is damn near non-existent. Rapes DO happen. It’s not funny, nor should it be acceptable. It is, unfortunately, a common occurrence and a part of many incarcerated people’s lives. 

I wondered if that man went into prison as a man and suffered brutality and assaults. Did that make him who he was? He very well could have been gay before he was incarcerated. That’s possible. But prison has some of the same attributes as kidnapping a child or trafficking someone. You may fight in the beginning, try to maintain some sense of normalcy-of yourself. Sometimes that isn’t enough. There are many children who were kidnapped, held out hope of being found, and eventually gave up or forgot about their previous life. It’s not their fault. The kidnapper completed their task to break the child. Same with sex trafficking. Pimps break women-allow them to be brutally and repeatedly raped. It’s designed to gain compliance, dependency, and break the spirit of the person enduring the abuse. 

That’s how prison is. You break a person until they no longer know who they are. It’s a sad cycle that does too much damage. Not all offenders are serving life sentences. Many will return to society. Most return broken, unsure of who they are, ashamed of their experiences, and without support or mental health care to help them cope. This is why we, as a society, must do better. We cannot have a justice system that just incarcerates and penalizes. We must have a system of rehabilitation and corrections. We must care about the welfare of those deemed “less than”. If society says a person has served their time, we must not repeatedly punish them. Second chances do exist. It’s not society’s job to play judge and jury. Basically, if we’re gonna have a system that releases those who have committed crimes back into society. We gotta make a way for them to survive and thrive. 

-NRS

And Justice For All……

 Welcome!

….And Justice For All is a place where the Criminal Justice system will be discussed and challenged. 

I have two degrees in CJUS and many years of experience (I float between CRJU and Education). This where I’ll post my suggestions on how to actually revamp the system, utilize the system to benefit the public by changing how we treat/penalize those in it. Differentiate between violent offenders and non-violent offenders. We’ll discuss what rehabilitation actually is and what it isn’t-the current corrections system. 

This is my little creation to share from my experience and education in the field. My perspective will be logical and rational. 

I hope you learn something. 🙂

-Nicole