Topic > Reentry of Formerly Incarcerated People into Society

People who have been previously incarcerated often face a great deal of negative social stigma and prejudice upon their reentry into society. This makes it problematic to find a stable job, an apartment, or respect from your employers and other people. We tend to view these formerly incarcerated individuals through a biased lens and quickly define them by the crimes they committed. Karter Kane Reed is one of those people who committed murder when he was sixteen, but was able to reenter society on parole. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Reading Karter Kane Reed's article helped me better understand his story and psychology, and allowed me to learn about his personality before judging him. He explains that he was a mechanic, computer programmer, public speaker, avid reader, and, surprisingly, a murderer (Larson, 2014). But because I understood his story before he even mentioned the word "murderer," I could evaluate him without Reed's crimes overshadowing the rest of him, and it was clear that he was just a person who made a terrible mistake and ended up killing. someone. I believe he is a prudent, intelligent person who made a bad decision. Reading Curt Brown's article didn't dramatically change my view of Reed. Nonetheless, it gave me insight into how Reed's actions affected people close to the situation, such as Dartmouth's school superintendent, Robinson's mother, and people who were directly and indirectly affected by Reed's reprehensible actions. While it makes sense that Robinson's mother, whose son was senselessly murdered, would have reservations about releasing Reed on parole, it is clear that he is much more than that mistake he made; he has learned from his actions and time in prison and has shown incredible personal growth. I disagreed with the author of this article, because although 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 item. They did not support his parole was because they simply did not trust him even though he had performed well, served as a mentor to other inmates, and had shown growth in maturity (Brown, 2008). We tend to be more lenient in judging someone when we know the details of their story. Rather than being outwardly understood as a person who committed a heinous crime, it is possible to see him as an intelligent person with a kind 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 from the news or media, they usually see glorified headlines about the horrendous actions they committed to end up in prison; however, if they could listen to each individual's story before labeling them, they might be able to sympathize with them more, as I was able to do, simply because I listened to Reed's personal story and gained insight into his personal story first. character. Formerly incarcerated individuals like the Reeds face negative stigma from people, because our society naturally has difficulty finding respect for these “criminals.” The thesis is that people who.