I’m sitting in my kitchen wondering: What will we do after punishment? On February 3rd, 2013 we (4 graduate students) initiated an informal philosophy course at the Harlem Justice Community Program. Our fellow participants are young adults (16-24) who are currently on probation. On the first day, we stated the purpose of the course–to think together about important concepts that impact our lives on a daily basis. The first concept was power. Since then we’ve covered the following: types of authority, authority vs. domination, types of responsibility, moral responsibility, moral reasons vs. prudential reasons, and, most recently, punishment. Hence, the question: What will we do after punishment?
Admirably, though in a different sense, Mayor Bloomberg’s administration has been asking the same question. Around the fall of 2011, dismayed by bleak statistics, the Bloomberg administration, raised approximately 130 million dollars to support community-based programs working to insure that “more young [Black and Latino] men share in the American Dream.” An important front of Bloomberg’s “Young Men’s Initiative” has been the problem of recidivism–i.e., the return to prison after having already served time. Currently, a disproportionately high number of Black and Latino youth are unable to share in the American Dream, because they are caught in a cycle of legal punishment. And, because American Dream cannot be realized by those legally enslaved by the state, the “Young Men’s Initiative” has awarded grants to programs like the Harlem Justice Community Program to provide proactive opportunities for minorities who are at risk of returning to prison.
In a further effort to combat recidivism, quite recently (2/21/13), the mayor’s office announced the release of an “innovative data analysis tool” called “Individualized Correction Achievement Network” or “I-CAN.” I-CAN works by identifying those with a high-risk of recidivism so that services can be “channeled” towards these individuals. Portending the fruits of foresight, I-CAN is supposed to lower recidivism rates for those at a high-risk by 10% in the first year. With the predicted -10%, this will bring the high-risk group down to a 59% one-year recidivism rate verses the 42% average one-year recidivism rate. I’m not sure whether these statistics are impressive or remain bleak.
It would be foolish and counterproductive to oppose our small philosophy course to large-scale government projects like “The Young Men’s Initiative” and sophisticated tools like “I-CAN.” But it would be foolish and counterproductive, I think, to rest assured that the problem of recidivism will be solved by large-scale government projects and sophisticated tools alone. For this reason, I’m confident that what WE DO matters. Accordingly, I wonder in my kitchen, very specifically: What will we do after punishment?
