A friend and I were walking by the Sheriff’s Office, re-hashing how the acceptance of personal responsibility actually gives us control over and ownership of our own lives. Although we now seem to have a large contingent of “perennial victims” in our culture, I believe most people still want to be the Captains of their Ships.
As we passed the Sheriff’s parking lot, I noticed a group of jail trustees, sitting on some benches. I said I would bet that, if asked how they got into their present pickle, they would admit it was of their own doing. Offenders tend to do that, when the Court process is over and they have nothing to gain or lose by speaking their minds. So I walked over to them, and began a conversation.
I explained who I was and said I would like to ask them something. Although they looked a little skeptical, they agreed to try to answer whatever it was. When I asked, “Whose fault is it that you are in jail,” the only woman in the group was the first one to reply, and she responded without hesitation.
“I did it,” she said, very simply. For emphasis she quickly added, “I did it, myself.” Then the others joined in. One man admitted, “It’s my own fault,” and another said, “No one else did this to me.” I was feeling pretty smug about how accurate my prediction had been, when the youngest one in the group, a man not long out of his teens, spoke up, and blew my theory to bits.
“Well,” he drawled, “I think it’s society’s fault.” All of us turned to look at him, so he explained by saying, “You can’t find a job around here because nobody will hire you.” He then made a few disparaging comments about probation officers’ lack of concern and their inability to find someone who would put him to work. His entire premise seemed to hinge on someone else looking after him.
This young man’s viewpoint ignored the fact that he had, by his own actions, amassed a rap sheet that scared off potential employers. It also ignored the fact that he had chosen the criminal behavior, for which he had been arrested and convicted. It was that self-made record which made hiring him a high risk for anyone trying to run an honest business. He didn’t see the mess as one of his own doing. Instead, he felt he was being short-changed. I won’t even try to guess at whether he finished school, or not.
It was interesting that it was the youngest trustee who was so willing to give up responsibility for, and therefore authority over, his life. The others, who were somewhat older, felt their lives were their own and they admitted that landing in jail had been largely their own doing. Unlike him, they were not willing to deed their situations and their very existence over to a nebulous concept of “society.”
From the perspective of a probation officer, that makes them a whole lot easier to treat.
