Powerless Because of Crime

I remember as a child coming home from a camping trip when we lived in Southern California to discover our home had been burglarized. I remember how powerless my parent's felt and even we kids were affected by the crime. 

Whether the crime is a break-in, a robbery, an assault, or nearly any other crime, the victim ends up feeling powerless and the criminal justice process does little to restore power to the victim. Instead, the process is designed to punish an offender for breaking a law, while it largely ignores empowering the victim with a voice in the outcome. 

Offenders also experience powerlessness in prison as they become completely dependent on others, whether it is family and friends or the state. Prison itself promotes a learned helplessness and dependency rather than promoting responsibility, independence, and accountability. 

Prisoners must take initiative to develop for themselves the responsibility that independence and accountability require. This means learning to manage finances and time wisely, taking an active role in taking classes offered by the prisons or through educational programs, and most importantly beginning to repair the broken relationships caused by one's crimes. 

The very nature of crime and prison creates a wake of powerlessness, but if offenders are to become a part of the process that returns power to their victims, they must begin by taking responsibility for themselves.