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Essay / Reintegration of Previously Incarcerated Individuals into Society
Persons who have previously been incarcerated often face many negative social stigmas and prejudices upon reentry into society. This makes it difficult to find a stable job, an apartment, or the respect of their employers and others. We tend to view these formerly incarcerated individuals through a skewed lens, and soon we define them by the crimes they committed. Karter Kane Reed is one of those people who committed murder at the age of sixteen, but was lucky enough to re-enter society through parole. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an original essayReading Karter Kane Reed's article helped me better understand its history and psychology, and allowed me to know his personality before judging him. He explains that he was a mechanic, computer programmer, lecturer, avid reader, and, surprisingly, a murderer (Larson, 2014). But because I understood his story before he even said the word "murderer," I was able to evaluate him without Reed's crimes overshadowing the rest of him, and it was obvious that it was simply a case of a person who made a serious mistake and ended up killing. someone. I believe he is a prudent and intelligent person who made a bad decision. Reading Curt Brown's article did not radically change my view of Reed. Nonetheless, it gave me insight into how Reed's actions affected people close to the situation, like the Dartmouth school principal, Robinson's mother, and people directly and indirectly affected by the actions Reed's objections. While it makes sense that Robinson's mother, whose son was senselessly murdered, would have reservations about Reed being paroled, it's obvious that he is much more than this mistake he made ; he learned from his actions and his time in prison, and demonstrated incredible personal growth. I disagreed with the author of this article, because while his argument and that of the Parole Board minority were valid and reasonable, it was overshadowed by what I learned about Karter Kane Reed in his own article. They did not support his parole because they simply did not trust him, even though he had been well behaved, mentored other inmates, and demonstrated increasing maturity (Brown, 2008). We tend to be more lenient in judging someone when we know the details of their story. Rather than being seen externally as someone who committed a heinous crime, it is possible to see him as an intelligent person with a good heart who made a bad decision. As Reed says, “[He] is so much more than the things [he] has done or been” (Larson, 2014). The order in which we come into contact with information has a significant effect on our perspective. When the public first learns about a formerly incarcerated individual on the news or media, they typically see glorified headlines about the horrific acts they committed to end up in prison; However, if they heard each individual's story before labeling them, they might be able to empathize with them more, as I was able to do, simply because I heard Reed's personal story and that I first got a glimpse of his character. Reed faces negative stigma from people because our society understandably struggles to find respect for these.