I might find ideology more appealing if in today's society it was less a reason for inaction than a cause. I also might find ideology more appealing if it was less a blunt instrument with which to beat people and more of a "because of this, I propose this."
But that is not the fate of ideology today.
Sadly, ideology today does not facilitate dialogue or conversation, but rather provides the background for shrill debate in which no one listens because no one has anything to learn and certainly not any truth ungrasp.
Ideology today is not beginning with ideas rather the spewing forth of dogma both heard and repeated but unable to stand the scrutiny of anyone not as dogmatic as oneself on exactly the same issues. In fact what attempts to pass for conversation and discussion in America today is more like a mediocre sound system poorly adjusted resulting in a echo ring of annoying proportions.
Perhaps what is most annoying about ideology today is its perverted misuse to justify the paralyzing inaction of leaders in a time that has no time for inaction or delay. So, all that happens is noise, raised voices, invectives, pointed fingers, criticism and--inaction. That is not leadership. That has never been leadership. Nor will it ever pass for leadership except among those who either have lost sight of what leadership is or wrongly believe leadership is about being an impasse to action.
If the fast paced world of business adopted the model of leadership we frankly do not see among the public sector elected government legislators and congressional representatives, they would have marched their companies into insolvency.
Oh, wait, that is what they did. But, what business did was turn to the government to bail them out financially. Where shall the "leaders" of government turn?
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Posting without insight
Immigration and immigration reform are serious issues in the West. Ignoring this seems to me to be rather foolish. However, the inability of nations of the West to find workable solutions is a continuing source of both debate and ill will toward those who find their way to "our" shores.
Recently, there has been a rather unhelpful post circulating on Facebook on this issue. It goes something like this: if you came across the border illegally into North Vietnam/Russia/Iran you would be arrested, tried, imprisoned. After that, the focus changes to how illegal immigrants are treated in the United States. And of course, it is overly generous, infuriating, and a tax burden for schools, medical care and welfare.
This post is troubling at several levels. First, the lack of insight in comparing bankrupt tyrannies in which citizens attempt to flee oppression and starvation to a thriving freedom driven country is just silly.
Additionally, the dismiss the economic factors of illegal migration are shallow and disingenuous. People aren't flocking to infiltrate impoverished economies. Duh! People attempt to get to places where they can earn money to support their families.
So, perhaps what small hearted Americans should do is to ask God to take away the money and take away the freedom, and that will solve the illegal immigrations problem.
Recently, there has been a rather unhelpful post circulating on Facebook on this issue. It goes something like this: if you came across the border illegally into North Vietnam/Russia/Iran you would be arrested, tried, imprisoned. After that, the focus changes to how illegal immigrants are treated in the United States. And of course, it is overly generous, infuriating, and a tax burden for schools, medical care and welfare.
This post is troubling at several levels. First, the lack of insight in comparing bankrupt tyrannies in which citizens attempt to flee oppression and starvation to a thriving freedom driven country is just silly.
Additionally, the dismiss the economic factors of illegal migration are shallow and disingenuous. People aren't flocking to infiltrate impoverished economies. Duh! People attempt to get to places where they can earn money to support their families.
So, perhaps what small hearted Americans should do is to ask God to take away the money and take away the freedom, and that will solve the illegal immigrations problem.
Adverse Outcome
Wednesday, we had an "adverse outcome" at work. Such words are a euphemism for someone died. Of course in our environment, there will be an autopsy because---in our setting, things are never what they seem.
So, on the surface, it appears the death was self inflicted.
In the prison setting, the threat of suicide is another bargaining chip the offender has to manipulate for practically anything. If one does not like his cell mate, he can threaten self harm. If he does not like his cell location, he can threaten suicide. If he does not like the security officers on his shift, he can threaten suicide. If he does not get his demands met soon enough, he can threaten suicide.
The issue of suicide in the correctional setting has come to have the flash point it has because it gives an emotional message that offenders feel hopeless, neglected, and abused therefore killing themselves is the only way out. Sometimes that is true.
Prison, at least the prison in which I work, is not a hopeful place. Nothing about it is hopeful. The building are poorly built, not air conditioned, stale aired, grey walled, loud, and full of people judged by society as unwilling to live by the rules of conduct the rest of the world lives by. One 18 year old offender told me "these are not nice people." No, they are not and one of these not so nice persons will be one's cellie.
Additionally, the food is barely palatable, security officers often unqualified and emotionally unsuitable for their jobs. Freedom is non existent, and everything is regimented. The snotty nosed teenager whose surly "Nobody going to tell me what to do" has no idea the Hell he will be in when he ends up in prison. The offender is told what he can wear, when he can sleep, where he can work, what he can eat, when he can shower, when he can shave, how can share a cell with him and what he can keep and what he can possess.
What medical and mental health care is available is parceled out often at maddening levels.
It should not be surprising that suicide is an issue in prison. And it should not be surprising that institutional prison administration should be hyper sensitive about the issue. Nothing so unmasks the facade of adequacy of prison care as a suicide.
However, given the hypersensitivity of the issue, offenders have found another way to attempt to manipulate a tired and often unresponsive system.
Additionally, the incarcerated setting has a higher than normal percentage of felons with personality disorders. The most troublesome lot are those who have "cluster B" personality disorders: which are identified as Borderlines, Antisocials, Histrionics, and Narcissitics. Simply explained these are folks who have a pervasive disregard of the presence, the rights, the needs, and the existence of others. Their worlds are very small with themselves at the center of the universe and pretty much the only one who matters at any given moment.
If this pervasive view of the world were not enough, Cluster B folks have great difficulty regulating their emotions and mood. So, when they are frustrated, it is not unusual for these folks run to the outcry of self harm or the attempt at self harm.
The most mind bending moment for me has been when an offender says, "If I don't get _________(you fill in the blank) I am going to cut my throat/hang myself/take this handful of pills/jump off my top bunk."
I know the anticipated response and the professional response is supposed to be "Oh, please don't do that." However, I find myself thinking,"Oh, OK, mind if I watch? I fail to grasp why that threat should motivate me to do anything to mediate your threat."
Institutionally, that is not the right answer. We don't want offenders to self harm because--well, there are too many papers to fill out, and well, it just don't look good.
My therapeutic approach is the old familiar "call their bluff." Institutionally, we are not equipped to do that.
So, as long as the institution responds with a frantic knee jerk reaction, offenders will continue to threaten self harm. And with the frequency of the threats, there will inevitably be "adverse outcomes." Not because they intended such an end, but because like everything else in most of their lives, they were as good at bluffing as they were successful as criminals.
So, on the surface, it appears the death was self inflicted.
In the prison setting, the threat of suicide is another bargaining chip the offender has to manipulate for practically anything. If one does not like his cell mate, he can threaten self harm. If he does not like his cell location, he can threaten suicide. If he does not like the security officers on his shift, he can threaten suicide. If he does not get his demands met soon enough, he can threaten suicide.
The issue of suicide in the correctional setting has come to have the flash point it has because it gives an emotional message that offenders feel hopeless, neglected, and abused therefore killing themselves is the only way out. Sometimes that is true.
Prison, at least the prison in which I work, is not a hopeful place. Nothing about it is hopeful. The building are poorly built, not air conditioned, stale aired, grey walled, loud, and full of people judged by society as unwilling to live by the rules of conduct the rest of the world lives by. One 18 year old offender told me "these are not nice people." No, they are not and one of these not so nice persons will be one's cellie.
Additionally, the food is barely palatable, security officers often unqualified and emotionally unsuitable for their jobs. Freedom is non existent, and everything is regimented. The snotty nosed teenager whose surly "Nobody going to tell me what to do" has no idea the Hell he will be in when he ends up in prison. The offender is told what he can wear, when he can sleep, where he can work, what he can eat, when he can shower, when he can shave, how can share a cell with him and what he can keep and what he can possess.
What medical and mental health care is available is parceled out often at maddening levels.
It should not be surprising that suicide is an issue in prison. And it should not be surprising that institutional prison administration should be hyper sensitive about the issue. Nothing so unmasks the facade of adequacy of prison care as a suicide.
However, given the hypersensitivity of the issue, offenders have found another way to attempt to manipulate a tired and often unresponsive system.
Additionally, the incarcerated setting has a higher than normal percentage of felons with personality disorders. The most troublesome lot are those who have "cluster B" personality disorders: which are identified as Borderlines, Antisocials, Histrionics, and Narcissitics. Simply explained these are folks who have a pervasive disregard of the presence, the rights, the needs, and the existence of others. Their worlds are very small with themselves at the center of the universe and pretty much the only one who matters at any given moment.
If this pervasive view of the world were not enough, Cluster B folks have great difficulty regulating their emotions and mood. So, when they are frustrated, it is not unusual for these folks run to the outcry of self harm or the attempt at self harm.
The most mind bending moment for me has been when an offender says, "If I don't get _________(you fill in the blank) I am going to cut my throat/hang myself/take this handful of pills/jump off my top bunk."
I know the anticipated response and the professional response is supposed to be "Oh, please don't do that." However, I find myself thinking,"Oh, OK, mind if I watch? I fail to grasp why that threat should motivate me to do anything to mediate your threat."
Institutionally, that is not the right answer. We don't want offenders to self harm because--well, there are too many papers to fill out, and well, it just don't look good.
My therapeutic approach is the old familiar "call their bluff." Institutionally, we are not equipped to do that.
So, as long as the institution responds with a frantic knee jerk reaction, offenders will continue to threaten self harm. And with the frequency of the threats, there will inevitably be "adverse outcomes." Not because they intended such an end, but because like everything else in most of their lives, they were as good at bluffing as they were successful as criminals.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
10 years later
September 11, 2001, is one of those seminal events assaulting all other experiences pushing them to the bar ditches of memory.
As if what is unfolding is unfathomable enough, the swirling waves of uncertainties multiply the clouds of confusion and disorientation. Such it was for most all in the United States that morning.
Our two sons were out of the country, out of reach, out of sight, but very much in our hearts. Our need to connect and reassure ourselves that scattered as we were, we were all safe.
I am not sure we have learned all the lessons 9/11 had to teach us and not really sure we have learned any of the lessons 9/11 had to teach us.
Ten years after, a nation that should be more safe is not necessarily so. A country that should be more tolerant is certainly not so, and a country that should understand the basic tenants of living together, sharing together is absolutely not so.
This weekend has been a soul searching time for me. I watched posts on the internet and grieved that Christian people are so easily misled by the loud arrogant militant doomsayers who appeal to the worst in all of us. In the late 1970's a small, self absorbed, strident band of morally superior preachers began to push their agenda and way to the front of the political spectrum. They managed to polarize, obscure, and misdirect the energies and lives of millions of people while making the American experience more toxic and less secure. By shading the history of America, leaving out significant facts in the tapestry of the shaping of the nation, by pushing forward an entitlement that never belonged, and ignoring some of the founding father's concerns about government and religion, we are now bearing the putrid fruit of that bastard movement.
The talk is more strident, the truth more blurred, the emotions more raw, the dialogue melting into escalating debate, the positions more intractable and problems neglected become more complex because of fewer options.
I am profoundly disappointed in how easily "protecting freedom" becomes "protecting the status quo." People being what they are allow themselves to think less critically and be more easily manipulated. Freedoms hammered out under the threat of a watchful tyranny, as slowly given away, slowly modified, and slowly corrupted.
So we move past this anniversary, convinced our greatest enemies are off shore.
I am less convinced and more troubled.
As if what is unfolding is unfathomable enough, the swirling waves of uncertainties multiply the clouds of confusion and disorientation. Such it was for most all in the United States that morning.
Our two sons were out of the country, out of reach, out of sight, but very much in our hearts. Our need to connect and reassure ourselves that scattered as we were, we were all safe.
I am not sure we have learned all the lessons 9/11 had to teach us and not really sure we have learned any of the lessons 9/11 had to teach us.
Ten years after, a nation that should be more safe is not necessarily so. A country that should be more tolerant is certainly not so, and a country that should understand the basic tenants of living together, sharing together is absolutely not so.
This weekend has been a soul searching time for me. I watched posts on the internet and grieved that Christian people are so easily misled by the loud arrogant militant doomsayers who appeal to the worst in all of us. In the late 1970's a small, self absorbed, strident band of morally superior preachers began to push their agenda and way to the front of the political spectrum. They managed to polarize, obscure, and misdirect the energies and lives of millions of people while making the American experience more toxic and less secure. By shading the history of America, leaving out significant facts in the tapestry of the shaping of the nation, by pushing forward an entitlement that never belonged, and ignoring some of the founding father's concerns about government and religion, we are now bearing the putrid fruit of that bastard movement.
The talk is more strident, the truth more blurred, the emotions more raw, the dialogue melting into escalating debate, the positions more intractable and problems neglected become more complex because of fewer options.
I am profoundly disappointed in how easily "protecting freedom" becomes "protecting the status quo." People being what they are allow themselves to think less critically and be more easily manipulated. Freedoms hammered out under the threat of a watchful tyranny, as slowly given away, slowly modified, and slowly corrupted.
So we move past this anniversary, convinced our greatest enemies are off shore.
I am less convinced and more troubled.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
The problem with tax money
Tax money is a never ending fountain of funding. "Never ending" is the problem.
Therefore, what is connected to the trough of public funding face intrinsic issues of accountability, relevance, and effectiveness.
As bad as business can get, generally in a capitalistic economy, the inefficient, the bloated, the ineffective, and the incompetent shrink and disappear. Funding, financing, and sales disappear. So does the product and the brand. (unless one is GM or Chrysler, or Citibank, etc.)
Government is different. Government is funded by taxes and taxes don't go away. So, over time, what does happen is government becomes less efficient, less responsive, less accountable, less relevant and less effective.
So the Texas legislature recently lowered the budgets for Texas agencies that feed at the trough of Texas taxpayers. In our agency's case, what is going to happen is that the meager services we were actually providing will go away. However, pending the renegotiating of a new contract, what will remain is a process and an unwieldy process at that. The process is simply documenting services that cannot be realistically provided but are contractually required so must be documented as being provided. (Wink! Wink!)
If that sounds confusing, you have not crossed over. If it sounds logical you have just crossed over into the world of the bureaucrat. If it is documented it happened. If it is not documented, it never happened.
So trust me, in the coming two years, the documents will show what is impractical, what is impossible, what is ridiculously unrealistic happened every day--however impractical, however impossible, however unrealistic and however ridiculous (Wink! Wink!) Because...
Therefore, what is connected to the trough of public funding face intrinsic issues of accountability, relevance, and effectiveness.
As bad as business can get, generally in a capitalistic economy, the inefficient, the bloated, the ineffective, and the incompetent shrink and disappear. Funding, financing, and sales disappear. So does the product and the brand. (unless one is GM or Chrysler, or Citibank, etc.)
Government is different. Government is funded by taxes and taxes don't go away. So, over time, what does happen is government becomes less efficient, less responsive, less accountable, less relevant and less effective.
So the Texas legislature recently lowered the budgets for Texas agencies that feed at the trough of Texas taxpayers. In our agency's case, what is going to happen is that the meager services we were actually providing will go away. However, pending the renegotiating of a new contract, what will remain is a process and an unwieldy process at that. The process is simply documenting services that cannot be realistically provided but are contractually required so must be documented as being provided. (Wink! Wink!)
If that sounds confusing, you have not crossed over. If it sounds logical you have just crossed over into the world of the bureaucrat. If it is documented it happened. If it is not documented, it never happened.
So trust me, in the coming two years, the documents will show what is impractical, what is impossible, what is ridiculously unrealistic happened every day--however impractical, however impossible, however unrealistic and however ridiculous (Wink! Wink!) Because...
Norway Grieves
Norway convulses in the face of inexpressive grief from what appears to be domestic terrorism.
My heart goes out to them, as the death toll rises in the face of a terrorist strike.
The picture is very sketchy, very tentative, and early in the unfolding drama. I think we there is a pointer.
Hate has historically motivated and driven the madness of murder. What fuels such madness? I think there is an sense of entitlement. There is also an enemy that appears to threaten to remove or destroy the entitlement. There is also the belief that powers of influence are indifferent to the danger and risks. I believe there is also a catalyst or voice or voices that drive the vulnerable to believe and to act.
I would call this the "weaponizing" of fear and hate.
My heart goes out to them, as the death toll rises in the face of a terrorist strike.
The picture is very sketchy, very tentative, and early in the unfolding drama. I think we there is a pointer.
Hate has historically motivated and driven the madness of murder. What fuels such madness? I think there is an sense of entitlement. There is also an enemy that appears to threaten to remove or destroy the entitlement. There is also the belief that powers of influence are indifferent to the danger and risks. I believe there is also a catalyst or voice or voices that drive the vulnerable to believe and to act.
I would call this the "weaponizing" of fear and hate.
Immigrants
Most civilized countries that enjoy some kind of participatory government have to deal with terrorism: from without and within.
In Norway, it appears to be from at least one person who believed that immigrants from the Middle East were destroying the Norwegian way of life.
I remember being in Norway twice and both times were extraordinary. Both times, I remember hearing concerns about the flood of immigrants whose final destination was Norway. One only had to look on a map to understand one could really not move further north. So Norway became a destination. It was so because there was a wonderful standard of living, exhaustive social services, a small population, and democracy.
Every western nation or those identified as "western" appears to face the same issues related to immigrants and for the same reasons. However, depending on the nation the "face" of the immigrants change. Their national origin may blur but the reasons for immigrating is generally economic and desperation. People really do yearn to be free and safe. For all its struggles "the West" has both large margins of safety and freedom.
And so they come. As long as the economies are decent and freedom is widespread in a world in which most live in poverty and without safety.
Perhaps the way to stop the flood of immigrants is to invest more in assisting their countries of origin to feed their populations in societies that are free and safe.
In Norway, it appears to be from at least one person who believed that immigrants from the Middle East were destroying the Norwegian way of life.
I remember being in Norway twice and both times were extraordinary. Both times, I remember hearing concerns about the flood of immigrants whose final destination was Norway. One only had to look on a map to understand one could really not move further north. So Norway became a destination. It was so because there was a wonderful standard of living, exhaustive social services, a small population, and democracy.
Every western nation or those identified as "western" appears to face the same issues related to immigrants and for the same reasons. However, depending on the nation the "face" of the immigrants change. Their national origin may blur but the reasons for immigrating is generally economic and desperation. People really do yearn to be free and safe. For all its struggles "the West" has both large margins of safety and freedom.
And so they come. As long as the economies are decent and freedom is widespread in a world in which most live in poverty and without safety.
Perhaps the way to stop the flood of immigrants is to invest more in assisting their countries of origin to feed their populations in societies that are free and safe.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Lied to again
I think I have been lied to--again.
Not that being lied to is that unusual. In fact, it is more likely getting told the truth is more rare. Working in a maximum security prison and having access to the one who has access to psychotropic medications makes getting lied to more likely. In fact, feigning mental illness in the correctional setting is a hobby for some and attempted art for others. However, one expects lying in the workplace--especially my workplace.
What I don't expect is being lied to by people who have no reason to lie. And yet it happens time and time again. There was the former university president(not deceased) who went on to work in the Baptist Building who was a liar of the pathological kind. I still remember the meeting in which he was the "resource" person appointed by the Executive Director, when it dawned on me the man was lying and had been lying.
Then there was the recent employee who is no longer an employee. His issues were such that lying was as necessary as breathing. Sadly, there was no real reason. When one fails and has nothing to talk about or brag about, or as Robert Frost said, "Nothing to look back on with pride and nothing to look forward to with hope," one can understand lying. One reshapes the past to imagine achievements that only exist in one's mind. But, in the real world where some achievements were made--apparently not enough.
Which brings me to the one recent liar. It appears to be a small thing, but it becomes a flag that causes the thoughtful person to look more sceptically. And when one looks more carefully, one realizes that there is no such thing as "just one lie."
Not that being lied to is that unusual. In fact, it is more likely getting told the truth is more rare. Working in a maximum security prison and having access to the one who has access to psychotropic medications makes getting lied to more likely. In fact, feigning mental illness in the correctional setting is a hobby for some and attempted art for others. However, one expects lying in the workplace--especially my workplace.
What I don't expect is being lied to by people who have no reason to lie. And yet it happens time and time again. There was the former university president(not deceased) who went on to work in the Baptist Building who was a liar of the pathological kind. I still remember the meeting in which he was the "resource" person appointed by the Executive Director, when it dawned on me the man was lying and had been lying.
Then there was the recent employee who is no longer an employee. His issues were such that lying was as necessary as breathing. Sadly, there was no real reason. When one fails and has nothing to talk about or brag about, or as Robert Frost said, "Nothing to look back on with pride and nothing to look forward to with hope," one can understand lying. One reshapes the past to imagine achievements that only exist in one's mind. But, in the real world where some achievements were made--apparently not enough.
Which brings me to the one recent liar. It appears to be a small thing, but it becomes a flag that causes the thoughtful person to look more sceptically. And when one looks more carefully, one realizes that there is no such thing as "just one lie."
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
What's wrong with this picture?
For the upteenth zillonith time, my cable went out. We called the cable company for the upteenth zillonith time. And eventually a repairman came out.
He assessed the issue and replaced the defective part.
I said to him, "This is really frustrating because the cable keeps going out and we call and you guys come out and nothing much changes. In fact, it goes out so often we don't call most of the time because we know it will be eventually come back on."
The middle aged cable man said, "Yea, when I subscribed to this cable system, it went out four or five times a week and I had to fix it when I got home. I got tired of it and switched to Direct TV."
I thought for a few seconds and said, "That's not a good recommendation for the company you work for."
And he walked out the door.
So, does that mean that Livingston is cable is so lousy that even its employees use something else? I guess so.
He assessed the issue and replaced the defective part.
I said to him, "This is really frustrating because the cable keeps going out and we call and you guys come out and nothing much changes. In fact, it goes out so often we don't call most of the time because we know it will be eventually come back on."
The middle aged cable man said, "Yea, when I subscribed to this cable system, it went out four or five times a week and I had to fix it when I got home. I got tired of it and switched to Direct TV."
I thought for a few seconds and said, "That's not a good recommendation for the company you work for."
And he walked out the door.
So, does that mean that Livingston is cable is so lousy that even its employees use something else? I guess so.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Why pass along lies?
Across a lifetime, I had wondered, puzzled, and shaken my head at how easily religious people pass along information that is not true. For years, it was the petitions passed around from church member to church member on a myriad of issues from an atheist trying to stop religious broadcasting or demonic symbols embedded in business logos.
Because I read and remember, I began making a file about these ongoing rumors, and would pull it out, make a copy of the truth, and find the person who had been duped was actually upset with me. That was my first clue something was tragically wrong.
For people who are supposed to value truth, practice truth telling, religious folks have little loyalty to what is true. Rather, it seems to me that religious folks often want snippets of information they find important to be true. And if they feel passionately about it, it must be true. It really is the ultimate idolatry. Against all facts, all truths, we decide what is truth and what we will do with it.
These day because conservative Christians have a deep antipathy toward the sitting President, I guess that makes it alright to pass along lies about his birth origins, his faith, and pretty much anything that can incite others to think badly of him.
I have noticed that when the facts come out, the swarm move on to another subject, never apologizing, never admitting they have slandered a national leader, never feeling badly about violating basic Biblical teaching about gossip, lies, and slander. Just move on, murmuring under one's breath.
Tragically, the full measure of who we really are is revealed when we move through uncertain times with folks we had rather not be our leaders moving us in directions we prefer not to go. More than that, despite the prevailing opinions to the contrary, people of deep religious faith can hold different, passionate viewpoints about economics, law, justice, immigration, money, and the place of government in the lives of people.
One does not need to agree with leadership. In America, one does not need to support candidates for leadership. However, we are commanded to pray for our leaders and people of faith should respect those who try to lead us. On, yea, and you really should speak truth and pass truth on. Anything less than--well, is a lie, but then you knew that.
Because I read and remember, I began making a file about these ongoing rumors, and would pull it out, make a copy of the truth, and find the person who had been duped was actually upset with me. That was my first clue something was tragically wrong.
For people who are supposed to value truth, practice truth telling, religious folks have little loyalty to what is true. Rather, it seems to me that religious folks often want snippets of information they find important to be true. And if they feel passionately about it, it must be true. It really is the ultimate idolatry. Against all facts, all truths, we decide what is truth and what we will do with it.
These day because conservative Christians have a deep antipathy toward the sitting President, I guess that makes it alright to pass along lies about his birth origins, his faith, and pretty much anything that can incite others to think badly of him.
I have noticed that when the facts come out, the swarm move on to another subject, never apologizing, never admitting they have slandered a national leader, never feeling badly about violating basic Biblical teaching about gossip, lies, and slander. Just move on, murmuring under one's breath.
Tragically, the full measure of who we really are is revealed when we move through uncertain times with folks we had rather not be our leaders moving us in directions we prefer not to go. More than that, despite the prevailing opinions to the contrary, people of deep religious faith can hold different, passionate viewpoints about economics, law, justice, immigration, money, and the place of government in the lives of people.
One does not need to agree with leadership. In America, one does not need to support candidates for leadership. However, we are commanded to pray for our leaders and people of faith should respect those who try to lead us. On, yea, and you really should speak truth and pass truth on. Anything less than--well, is a lie, but then you knew that.
Waiting
Curious thing about hospitals, one can always find people waiting.
Anna arrived early for her heart cath because, we can do that and should do that. People show up early for appointments out of respect, even if those for whom we wait can't get organized enough to see their appointments on time. Two hours later, she is taken back for the "stand you on your head till all your coins fall out" procedure. Not too bad if one has insurance which always includes our contribution to medical expenses for those who don't do their part, or pay their bills, or carry insurance.
Then we go to the procedure prep room. After that is done, assured it was going to be " a while" in hospital speak, I run off to find some lunch because it is going to be a long afternoon.
And after a quick lunch, I arrive back at the procedure room, and Anna is gone. Apparently "a while" is no longer as long as it used to be. She is bumped to the top of the list. I am reasonably sure it has nothing to do with any seriousness of her condition, more likely she had insurance and the cardiologist's boat payment was more assured than the other person waiting who may not have had insurance. So, I sit in the waiting room--waiting.
I have no deep concerns about how Anna will do because she is strong, vibrant, and does most everything to keep her heart healthy. She is a woman of faith and grace infused with the most incredible kind strength and courage.
The concern is what hereditary plays in this wonder mix of genes, environment, and lifestyle.
So I wait.
Anna arrived early for her heart cath because, we can do that and should do that. People show up early for appointments out of respect, even if those for whom we wait can't get organized enough to see their appointments on time. Two hours later, she is taken back for the "stand you on your head till all your coins fall out" procedure. Not too bad if one has insurance which always includes our contribution to medical expenses for those who don't do their part, or pay their bills, or carry insurance.
Then we go to the procedure prep room. After that is done, assured it was going to be " a while" in hospital speak, I run off to find some lunch because it is going to be a long afternoon.
And after a quick lunch, I arrive back at the procedure room, and Anna is gone. Apparently "a while" is no longer as long as it used to be. She is bumped to the top of the list. I am reasonably sure it has nothing to do with any seriousness of her condition, more likely she had insurance and the cardiologist's boat payment was more assured than the other person waiting who may not have had insurance. So, I sit in the waiting room--waiting.
I have no deep concerns about how Anna will do because she is strong, vibrant, and does most everything to keep her heart healthy. She is a woman of faith and grace infused with the most incredible kind strength and courage.
The concern is what hereditary plays in this wonder mix of genes, environment, and lifestyle.
So I wait.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Perry for President?
If America ever needed a well coiffured president, Governor Perry would certainly be at the front of the line of males who are considering a run for the office. Women generally have that feature nailed from the start.
I could certainly support any effort he made to not be the Governor of Texas. However, the list thus ends for why this would be a good decision for Texas and America.
Perhaps we will all be better off when Governor Perry jumps on the bandwagon of those who won't run for president. When he gets on that wagon, he should sit next to "the Donald." The contrast would be interesting and a great photo op.
I could certainly support any effort he made to not be the Governor of Texas. However, the list thus ends for why this would be a good decision for Texas and America.
Perhaps we will all be better off when Governor Perry jumps on the bandwagon of those who won't run for president. When he gets on that wagon, he should sit next to "the Donald." The contrast would be interesting and a great photo op.
Treating the Mentally Ill in prison
So, how are the Mentally Ill treated in prison?
Basically, they are treated poorly. However, for some, this is better than their free world care because in the free world they get no care and can generally not afford any kind of care.
Why are the Mentally Ill treated poorly in prison? Perhaps it is because the unspoken model in prison is a skewed perception of the free world. In the free world, the Mentally Ill are treated poorly. MI folks are treated poorly because they are not easily understood. The simple descriptor "crazy" is a sloppy way of understanding and dismissing people who are different. Many MI folks are "different." What we presently understand about the organic basis of hallucinations and delusions tell us the MI see a different world, experience a different world, and feel differently about the world that is uniquely theirs. There is a great gulf fixed between the world of the MI and the world of those who are schizophrenic, or psychotic or profoundly unstable in mood.
The MI can be a little scary at times. The actively psychotic person can inspire a fear in us that is both sobering and wise. Being drawn in to the psychotic's experience can raise profound concerns in us about our perception and processing of reality which can raise momentary doubts about our own anchor holding in the face of challenging times. More than that, we tend to respond in fear to the experiences we do not understand but sense are anguishing to the person into whose world we have been drawn.
In the free world we have interesting ways of fleeing what makes us afraid. Moving away or moving "them" away. Both are isolating and except in very few instances can be experienced as abandonment.
So, in the prison setting, moving away and moving "them" away is very limited. In prison, MI offenders become the possession on the Mental Health Department. Largely, I think, security and administration don't feel a need to understand the MI because "they" are Mental Health's problem.
In some ways, the indigent MI have a "fair" existence in prison. Promised a dry bed, meals, clothes, psychiatric treatment, medications and monitoring is often above and beyond what they would get if left on their own to fend for themselves.
The downside of prison for the MI is they are often victimized by the "stronger." Their stuff is always at risk, their resources may be extorted and they may be used for sport. Additionally, unlike the free world, psychotropic meds may be the only sure supply of mind altering and mood altering fixes accessible to the non MI (which requires an exhausting kind of additional work from Mental Health providers because of the rewards of pretending to be MI). Offenders have found numerous ways to take legal medications and adapt them to act like the coke, marijuana, and other substances they used and sold in the world. Indigent MI may even find that "selling" their meds can give them a little "money" to spend. So some take a dose and sell a dose.
Finally, the MI become ensnared in a web that has up to an 80% recidivism rate. That means when they get out, it is rather difficult to stay out. The severely MI once sent to prison may stay in a cycle of returning and returning until they become "habitual."
When the governments of the US decided that institutionalize the MI was too extreme for most, they did not provide sufficient alternatives for those who needed services, structure, and supervision. So pt's moved from "state hospitals" to state prisons over time. For the taxpayer paying the bill, the people put at risk by their lack of supervision, and the prison alternative, this sad approach needs to be rethought.
While the MI are largely a benign group, most every law enforcement agency across the country has a least one death of an officer killed in the line of duty because of encountering a MI person who was not compliant with their treatment or a "never diagnosed" but should have been.
More and better choices would serve the public, the MI and the state better than what we currently provide.
Like the poor, the MI are going to be with us for a long time. It's about time we did a better job with their care.
Basically, they are treated poorly. However, for some, this is better than their free world care because in the free world they get no care and can generally not afford any kind of care.
Why are the Mentally Ill treated poorly in prison? Perhaps it is because the unspoken model in prison is a skewed perception of the free world. In the free world, the Mentally Ill are treated poorly. MI folks are treated poorly because they are not easily understood. The simple descriptor "crazy" is a sloppy way of understanding and dismissing people who are different. Many MI folks are "different." What we presently understand about the organic basis of hallucinations and delusions tell us the MI see a different world, experience a different world, and feel differently about the world that is uniquely theirs. There is a great gulf fixed between the world of the MI and the world of those who are schizophrenic, or psychotic or profoundly unstable in mood.
The MI can be a little scary at times. The actively psychotic person can inspire a fear in us that is both sobering and wise. Being drawn in to the psychotic's experience can raise profound concerns in us about our perception and processing of reality which can raise momentary doubts about our own anchor holding in the face of challenging times. More than that, we tend to respond in fear to the experiences we do not understand but sense are anguishing to the person into whose world we have been drawn.
In the free world we have interesting ways of fleeing what makes us afraid. Moving away or moving "them" away. Both are isolating and except in very few instances can be experienced as abandonment.
So, in the prison setting, moving away and moving "them" away is very limited. In prison, MI offenders become the possession on the Mental Health Department. Largely, I think, security and administration don't feel a need to understand the MI because "they" are Mental Health's problem.
In some ways, the indigent MI have a "fair" existence in prison. Promised a dry bed, meals, clothes, psychiatric treatment, medications and monitoring is often above and beyond what they would get if left on their own to fend for themselves.
The downside of prison for the MI is they are often victimized by the "stronger." Their stuff is always at risk, their resources may be extorted and they may be used for sport. Additionally, unlike the free world, psychotropic meds may be the only sure supply of mind altering and mood altering fixes accessible to the non MI (which requires an exhausting kind of additional work from Mental Health providers because of the rewards of pretending to be MI). Offenders have found numerous ways to take legal medications and adapt them to act like the coke, marijuana, and other substances they used and sold in the world. Indigent MI may even find that "selling" their meds can give them a little "money" to spend. So some take a dose and sell a dose.
Finally, the MI become ensnared in a web that has up to an 80% recidivism rate. That means when they get out, it is rather difficult to stay out. The severely MI once sent to prison may stay in a cycle of returning and returning until they become "habitual."
When the governments of the US decided that institutionalize the MI was too extreme for most, they did not provide sufficient alternatives for those who needed services, structure, and supervision. So pt's moved from "state hospitals" to state prisons over time. For the taxpayer paying the bill, the people put at risk by their lack of supervision, and the prison alternative, this sad approach needs to be rethought.
While the MI are largely a benign group, most every law enforcement agency across the country has a least one death of an officer killed in the line of duty because of encountering a MI person who was not compliant with their treatment or a "never diagnosed" but should have been.
More and better choices would serve the public, the MI and the state better than what we currently provide.
Like the poor, the MI are going to be with us for a long time. It's about time we did a better job with their care.
Prisons and the American way of Justice
Perhaps, in my judgement, the most serious issue with prisons are the deep connections they intrinsically have with a deeply flawed system of justice.
In America, justice is flawed because it is slow, blindly punitive and deeply, perhaps, tragically strangled and perverted by money.
Go waste your day with a jury summons. Jury duty gives you a snapshot of what is wrong with justice in America, legislation in America and American government.
The goal of jury summons is not to find a jury but to find the right jury. Of course the right jury means different things to a prosecutor or a defense attorney. Therein starts the compromise that ends with some kind of decision that somewhat addresses the charges that have been brought. The notion that a jury of my peers could render a verdict has long been relegated to the garbage heap. "A peer" can mean so many things, until it takes 60 people showing up to find 6 or 12 who will "do."
Are we all so clueless?
Are we all so stupid? Does it really take 30-60 people have their lives confiscated for an indefinite period of time to find 12 who are good enough? Really, lawyers have spent way too much time in their own company becoming convinced that everyone is as stupid and soul less and them and their colleagues. So, the case has to be "pre-tried" to see if anyone will not do. It is no wonder prison has so many innocent people. The American way of justice is a matter of "charges, procedure, technicalities, and competent representation. By the time the accused is finally brought to trial, the crime, the victim, the social consequences hardly matter at all. By the time "justice" has run its course, punishment is light years from the crime.
In my personal opinion, the problem with the death penalty is not a problem with the penalty. It is a problem with the years it takes to finally get the execution of the sentence. And, quite frankly, we have the lawyers and the courts to thank for that.
There are some folks the "state" has a vested interest in executing. These are criminals who have done horrific crimes and disfigured innocent families for generations. The only reason their carnage is not more widespread is because the offender was caught or did not achieve the opportunity and power to do more evil. It is inhumane for a just society to allow them to continue to live and continue to live among us. Yet, 15 years of waiting for a sentence to be carried out is both unbelievable and incredibly foolish and frankly cruel and usual punishment for the victim's family. The only reason why many DR offenders do not rise to the level of evil of a Hitler is because they lack opportunity not evil.
The American "way" of justice is deeply flawed. Until we "reform" justice in America, expecting different outcomes from our prisons is frankly silly.
In America, justice is flawed because it is slow, blindly punitive and deeply, perhaps, tragically strangled and perverted by money.
Go waste your day with a jury summons. Jury duty gives you a snapshot of what is wrong with justice in America, legislation in America and American government.
The goal of jury summons is not to find a jury but to find the right jury. Of course the right jury means different things to a prosecutor or a defense attorney. Therein starts the compromise that ends with some kind of decision that somewhat addresses the charges that have been brought. The notion that a jury of my peers could render a verdict has long been relegated to the garbage heap. "A peer" can mean so many things, until it takes 60 people showing up to find 6 or 12 who will "do."
Are we all so clueless?
Are we all so stupid? Does it really take 30-60 people have their lives confiscated for an indefinite period of time to find 12 who are good enough? Really, lawyers have spent way too much time in their own company becoming convinced that everyone is as stupid and soul less and them and their colleagues. So, the case has to be "pre-tried" to see if anyone will not do. It is no wonder prison has so many innocent people. The American way of justice is a matter of "charges, procedure, technicalities, and competent representation. By the time the accused is finally brought to trial, the crime, the victim, the social consequences hardly matter at all. By the time "justice" has run its course, punishment is light years from the crime.
In my personal opinion, the problem with the death penalty is not a problem with the penalty. It is a problem with the years it takes to finally get the execution of the sentence. And, quite frankly, we have the lawyers and the courts to thank for that.
There are some folks the "state" has a vested interest in executing. These are criminals who have done horrific crimes and disfigured innocent families for generations. The only reason their carnage is not more widespread is because the offender was caught or did not achieve the opportunity and power to do more evil. It is inhumane for a just society to allow them to continue to live and continue to live among us. Yet, 15 years of waiting for a sentence to be carried out is both unbelievable and incredibly foolish and frankly cruel and usual punishment for the victim's family. The only reason why many DR offenders do not rise to the level of evil of a Hitler is because they lack opportunity not evil.
The American "way" of justice is deeply flawed. Until we "reform" justice in America, expecting different outcomes from our prisons is frankly silly.
The awkward question about the meaning of prisons in America
There is an awkward question about prisons in America that is not generally discussed in polite society. By polite society, I mean those people who should be discussing the question and holding themselves accountable for answers and solutions.
Just exactly what are prisons supposed to do? I have heard several rather evasive answers whenever that question is squeezed out in a conversation like flatulence in a stuffy room. There is sniffing, looking around, awkward silence, and descent into gibberish.
The rationale for spending $38,000+ per offender per year is generally "well, we need to keep the public safe." Separating offenders from their criminal friends and families (sometimes the lines blur between which is which) and society at large is supposed to do this.
It doesn't! And it doesn't for several reasons. Criminal friends and family still have contact with the offender. Prison does not become an isolation ward for the dangerous to protect the public, but more often that not operates as the main offices of "Crime Inc." Prisons are organized and deeply influenced by the offenders housed within, rather than by prison officials, guards, and administrators.
And perhaps the most important reason this does not work, prisons act as a toxic spill that creeps and seeps into everything that surrounds them and touches them. Employees of prisons, in fact, all law enforcement personnel are all badly influenced by continual contact with offenders. It affects the way they think, the way they consider others, their world view, their values, their morals, their marriages, their parenting, and their very souls. And through these contacts and associations, the free world is profoundly impacted. The offender may not be physically present, but his influence is felt in big and small ways.
Just exactly what are prisons supposed to do? I have heard several rather evasive answers whenever that question is squeezed out in a conversation like flatulence in a stuffy room. There is sniffing, looking around, awkward silence, and descent into gibberish.
The rationale for spending $38,000+ per offender per year is generally "well, we need to keep the public safe." Separating offenders from their criminal friends and families (sometimes the lines blur between which is which) and society at large is supposed to do this.
It doesn't! And it doesn't for several reasons. Criminal friends and family still have contact with the offender. Prison does not become an isolation ward for the dangerous to protect the public, but more often that not operates as the main offices of "Crime Inc." Prisons are organized and deeply influenced by the offenders housed within, rather than by prison officials, guards, and administrators.
And perhaps the most important reason this does not work, prisons act as a toxic spill that creeps and seeps into everything that surrounds them and touches them. Employees of prisons, in fact, all law enforcement personnel are all badly influenced by continual contact with offenders. It affects the way they think, the way they consider others, their world view, their values, their morals, their marriages, their parenting, and their very souls. And through these contacts and associations, the free world is profoundly impacted. The offender may not be physically present, but his influence is felt in big and small ways.
The awkward question about the meaning of prisons in America part III
So, if the isolation rationale is not totally what it appears, if rehabilitation is not happening, perhaps we can feel better about the notion our rather expensive prisons are "punishing" offenders for the wrong they have done.
Obviously, you have never visited in a prison. Talking heads decry the luxurious life of the offender incarcerated in Texas, but again, such folks largely speak from ignorance. I am sure there are folks in Texas whose lives of grinding poverty would find prison a step up.
Most would not. Space is cramped, cell mates are almost always undesirables (this is prison not the Hilton), food is available but much more than that description might be disrespectful to other things that are described as "food." Clothes supplied by the system( which is only what you are allowed to wear) seem to been purchased worn out but that's alright because offender areas in most prisons are without air conditioning and more often than not are hot and stuffy.
More troublesome than all this is the surrender of freedom that comes when one is incarcerated. It is one of the great ironies of life that people who don't want to have people telling them what to do end up in prisons where folks are always--telling them what to do. You can only be where you are told to be. You can only shower when you are told to shower. You can only watch TV when you are told to watch TV and you share that TV with 40 other people, the biggest of which determines what the channel is set on. You are told when you can eat and what you can eat and what you can possess and where you can walk and when you can visit your family and when they can visit you and if and when you get to get out of your cell and out of prison.
Although such an environment may begin to sound a little like "punishment," in order for that to work, it is necessary for an offender to grasp the idea they are guilty of something. Although there are over 150,000 offenders in Texas prisons, a guilty person is hard to find. They either didn't do what they are accused of, or they didn't do it like the courts said they did it, or there were mitigating circumstances that leaves them innocent in their own minds. And what would those circumstances be: well the person they killed was warned to quit messing with them; or they were just defending themselves or their stuff, or the other person(s) that were helping them got away, or the person they robbed/assaulted/killed was a worthless piece of s***.
So there we have it: innocent people locked away in "god forsaken" prisons being disrespected and denied their rights.
In the absence of genuine feeling of guilt, there is little chance for remorse, and less chance for change. In fact, for many, prison become a school where the goal is to learn how to do the same thing and not get caught.
Right!
Obviously, you have never visited in a prison. Talking heads decry the luxurious life of the offender incarcerated in Texas, but again, such folks largely speak from ignorance. I am sure there are folks in Texas whose lives of grinding poverty would find prison a step up.
Most would not. Space is cramped, cell mates are almost always undesirables (this is prison not the Hilton), food is available but much more than that description might be disrespectful to other things that are described as "food." Clothes supplied by the system( which is only what you are allowed to wear) seem to been purchased worn out but that's alright because offender areas in most prisons are without air conditioning and more often than not are hot and stuffy.
More troublesome than all this is the surrender of freedom that comes when one is incarcerated. It is one of the great ironies of life that people who don't want to have people telling them what to do end up in prisons where folks are always--telling them what to do. You can only be where you are told to be. You can only shower when you are told to shower. You can only watch TV when you are told to watch TV and you share that TV with 40 other people, the biggest of which determines what the channel is set on. You are told when you can eat and what you can eat and what you can possess and where you can walk and when you can visit your family and when they can visit you and if and when you get to get out of your cell and out of prison.
Although such an environment may begin to sound a little like "punishment," in order for that to work, it is necessary for an offender to grasp the idea they are guilty of something. Although there are over 150,000 offenders in Texas prisons, a guilty person is hard to find. They either didn't do what they are accused of, or they didn't do it like the courts said they did it, or there were mitigating circumstances that leaves them innocent in their own minds. And what would those circumstances be: well the person they killed was warned to quit messing with them; or they were just defending themselves or their stuff, or the other person(s) that were helping them got away, or the person they robbed/assaulted/killed was a worthless piece of s***.
So there we have it: innocent people locked away in "god forsaken" prisons being disrespected and denied their rights.
In the absence of genuine feeling of guilt, there is little chance for remorse, and less chance for change. In fact, for many, prison become a school where the goal is to learn how to do the same thing and not get caught.
Right!
The awkward question about the meaning of prisons in America part II
Prisons in America are perceived by some as being opportunities of rehabilitation.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In Texas, most of the money spend on offenders is for their room and board and security. A modicum of money is spent on any kind of efforts at rehabilitation. The Windham school is a modest effort thrown at the huge issue of offenders' inability to read, write, and be educated. Medical and Mental Health Services are managed care driven contracts that offer nurse driven medical essential services and mental health symptom management by scarce psychiatric providers and Master level unlicensed clinicians. Additionally, in the Mental Health field, much of the prison behavior is driven by what is understood to be personality disordered individuals that Master level clinicians are marginally exposed to, and through out the field is regarded as "untreatable." In the incarcerated setting, making head way with a personality disordered individual is nothing short of a miracle. And sadly, whatever progress is made with one, 10 more arrive on the chain bus on given unit on any given week.
What this translates into is a large population of offenders who have nothing better to do the larger part of their day except hone their already substantial abilities to think wrong, feel wrong, and do wrong. Grandma was right in this regard, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop." I would add, "idle minds, idle hearts, and idle spirits." Efforts in TDC to rehabilitate anyone regarding any self defeating habit are under available, understaffed, underfunded, perhaps worse of all largely ineffective.
The way Texas has chosen to deal with this program is to create a stealth institution (TDCJ) whose presence is only noted at budget time and when an offender escapes. The rest of the time, citizens are encouraged to refocus their attention on the next court case or on issues of more substance like the Rangers or the Astros.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In Texas, most of the money spend on offenders is for their room and board and security. A modicum of money is spent on any kind of efforts at rehabilitation. The Windham school is a modest effort thrown at the huge issue of offenders' inability to read, write, and be educated. Medical and Mental Health Services are managed care driven contracts that offer nurse driven medical essential services and mental health symptom management by scarce psychiatric providers and Master level unlicensed clinicians. Additionally, in the Mental Health field, much of the prison behavior is driven by what is understood to be personality disordered individuals that Master level clinicians are marginally exposed to, and through out the field is regarded as "untreatable." In the incarcerated setting, making head way with a personality disordered individual is nothing short of a miracle. And sadly, whatever progress is made with one, 10 more arrive on the chain bus on given unit on any given week.
What this translates into is a large population of offenders who have nothing better to do the larger part of their day except hone their already substantial abilities to think wrong, feel wrong, and do wrong. Grandma was right in this regard, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop." I would add, "idle minds, idle hearts, and idle spirits." Efforts in TDC to rehabilitate anyone regarding any self defeating habit are under available, understaffed, underfunded, perhaps worse of all largely ineffective.
The way Texas has chosen to deal with this program is to create a stealth institution (TDCJ) whose presence is only noted at budget time and when an offender escapes. The rest of the time, citizens are encouraged to refocus their attention on the next court case or on issues of more substance like the Rangers or the Astros.
The Mentally Ill In Prison
In the free world(life outside a prison) Mental Illness is a label and term that is generally applied very specifically and narrowly. Lots of folks who battle depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity disorder, would never think of themselves as Mentally Ill and are not really labelled or described in that way. In the free world, Mental Illness as both a label and a category are reserved for schizophrenia, psychosis, extreme bipolars, and the mentally retarded.
However, in prison, Mental Illness and the treatment of Mental Illness is the domain of psychiatry and Mental Health Departments. The label and the category are broad. In fact, when offenders are screened for Mental Illness, we look at present behaviors and past history. What are we looking for? If a person has a free world history of treatment by psychiatrist or an inpatient stay at the Mental Hospital, if the person has ever attempted suicide, or has ever reported taking a medication that is designated as a psychotropic medication, or has seen a counselor for any reason; been diagnosed as a child with any number of issues such a Attention Deficit Disorder or Hyperactive disorder, or is Mentally retarded or Borderline Mental Functioning. We also screen for all the above list of situations, diagnoses, services while in the prison system. So, Mental Illness is broad, very broad.
What is challenging to learn and experience is in Texas, the largest providers of Mental Health services are not medically trained personnel or clinically trained counselors or psychotherapists or psychologists, but police officers, jailors, and correctional officers.
And generally, this large group of folks, in both the free world and prison are largely not interested in identifying or understanding Mental Illnesses. So, the keepers and the daily minders of the ill basically have no interest in their illness.
Sad irony that more often that not ends in tragedy.
However, in prison, Mental Illness and the treatment of Mental Illness is the domain of psychiatry and Mental Health Departments. The label and the category are broad. In fact, when offenders are screened for Mental Illness, we look at present behaviors and past history. What are we looking for? If a person has a free world history of treatment by psychiatrist or an inpatient stay at the Mental Hospital, if the person has ever attempted suicide, or has ever reported taking a medication that is designated as a psychotropic medication, or has seen a counselor for any reason; been diagnosed as a child with any number of issues such a Attention Deficit Disorder or Hyperactive disorder, or is Mentally retarded or Borderline Mental Functioning. We also screen for all the above list of situations, diagnoses, services while in the prison system. So, Mental Illness is broad, very broad.
What is challenging to learn and experience is in Texas, the largest providers of Mental Health services are not medically trained personnel or clinically trained counselors or psychotherapists or psychologists, but police officers, jailors, and correctional officers.
And generally, this large group of folks, in both the free world and prison are largely not interested in identifying or understanding Mental Illnesses. So, the keepers and the daily minders of the ill basically have no interest in their illness.
Sad irony that more often that not ends in tragedy.
Survival
When one is sentenced to prison, the most important issue with no close rivals is survival: physical; emotional; spiritual; and perhaps at the bottom of the list--intellectual. I would put intellectual at the bottom of the list because prison is really not a great place to learn much that is helpful, and as the recidivism rates show what offenders do learn only makes them more prone to commit more crimes.
Physical survival may surprise some, but one only as to think about who gets sent to prison. At our place, we have a mix of offenders from folks who have moderately serious drug offenses to serial killers on Death Row. Many of our population are not professional thugs or killers, but they have been sentenced and housed with professional thugs, gang bangers and killers. Add to that mix sex offenders some of whom are predators, and men who have trouble with anger, aggressiveness, and personality disorders best described as believing they are the only one living on the planet and they are entitled. "Entitled to what?" You ask. Well just fill in the blank. More food, better food, first in line, not kept waiting, and the list goes on and one.
Since everything in prison tends to devolve into either a tattoo needle or a shank (weapon), it is easy to see why survival can be the paramount issue. This is especially true if one is small of stature, effeminate, scared, serious mentally ill or not associated with someone bigger and badder.
When one talks of physical safety, it is all about not getting injured/and or killed for any number of reasons: you don't belong to a gang, don't belong to the other gang, won't allow yourself to be extorted for soup, favors, or various and sundry items, or are perceived as being a snitch. You might be taking some medication that others would like to take instead. Or, you have something of extreme value someone else wants like a cheap fan or writing paper.
What is not valuable in prison is a human life. Curios to me that is because so many of the offenders are in prison because they did some crime against a person or persons. It is sort of like being sent to the one place where no one really gives any thought to you--because in the free world, you did not think of others. If it sounds like a snap shot of hell, it is!
Physical survival may surprise some, but one only as to think about who gets sent to prison. At our place, we have a mix of offenders from folks who have moderately serious drug offenses to serial killers on Death Row. Many of our population are not professional thugs or killers, but they have been sentenced and housed with professional thugs, gang bangers and killers. Add to that mix sex offenders some of whom are predators, and men who have trouble with anger, aggressiveness, and personality disorders best described as believing they are the only one living on the planet and they are entitled. "Entitled to what?" You ask. Well just fill in the blank. More food, better food, first in line, not kept waiting, and the list goes on and one.
Since everything in prison tends to devolve into either a tattoo needle or a shank (weapon), it is easy to see why survival can be the paramount issue. This is especially true if one is small of stature, effeminate, scared, serious mentally ill or not associated with someone bigger and badder.
When one talks of physical safety, it is all about not getting injured/and or killed for any number of reasons: you don't belong to a gang, don't belong to the other gang, won't allow yourself to be extorted for soup, favors, or various and sundry items, or are perceived as being a snitch. You might be taking some medication that others would like to take instead. Or, you have something of extreme value someone else wants like a cheap fan or writing paper.
What is not valuable in prison is a human life. Curios to me that is because so many of the offenders are in prison because they did some crime against a person or persons. It is sort of like being sent to the one place where no one really gives any thought to you--because in the free world, you did not think of others. If it sounds like a snap shot of hell, it is!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
The Texas way of Mental Health Care for the poor
If you are poor, live in Texas and have schizophrenia, your best chance at care will be in prison. Go figure the logic of this. If one is able to be treated with the generics out there, prescribed by a competent psychiatrist, the taxpayer costs could rise to $5,000. a year max. However, if one takes the Texas approach, we pay $38,000-40,000 a year to keep an offender behind bars, and we throw in psychiatric care and meds--for free?
The ruptured rapture
Yesterday, at 6:00 pm, it was all supposed to be over. An old, dithering duffer whose should have known better but didn't, predicted the Rapture would take place. For reasons that always escape me, people listened, and of course the news media took note, and off we go for a short lived ride that ultimately ends with some foolish disappointed person having a faith meltdown on camera.
Such predictions have always seemed to me to be "prophets behaving badly." Foolishly, they keep doing it and religious people keep believing the silly pronouncements, never mind that Jesus said that no one knows. Apparently, "no one" is the only thing up for interpretation.
So here we are, the day after the end of time. Hum, what a curious time to be!
Such predictions have always seemed to me to be "prophets behaving badly." Foolishly, they keep doing it and religious people keep believing the silly pronouncements, never mind that Jesus said that no one knows. Apparently, "no one" is the only thing up for interpretation.
So here we are, the day after the end of time. Hum, what a curious time to be!
Back Again after a two year absence
It has been about 2 years and 2 months since I last posted to this blog.
In that period of time:
My family moved into a new home at a time when property sales and purchases were at an all time low. My mother-in-law had continued her health and mental health free fall, now residing in a Nursing home with good days and bad days. Good days mean happy delusions and bad days are rather traumatic delusions.
The national economy appears to have ended it's rapid descent while the blaming continues at almost shrill levels.
Big American banks and American auto makers are back to business as usual with an amnesia that can be breathtaking.
Texas has gone from riches to rags while the sitting governor is well--still sitting and telling us that Texas is the "envy" of the country.
Natural disasters have run the gamut from volcano eruptions, earthquakes,tsunamis, and the tornadoes, flooding, and these have happened pretty much all over the world. Sadly, one can choose a particular kind of disaster to donate to and whatever one gives will not be enough.
I continued to be challenged in my new work of overseeing the mental health care of offenders at a maximum security prison. My work is such that my favorite slogan for the week was something I ran across on the internet, "I have run away to join a different circus."
And I discovered Ian Rankin, a Scottish mystery writer whose plots surpass Christi in complexity and darkness.
Writing has always been good therapy for me, and these days, given all that has happened world-wide the last two years, a little therapy can't hurt anyone--too much
In that period of time:
My family moved into a new home at a time when property sales and purchases were at an all time low. My mother-in-law had continued her health and mental health free fall, now residing in a Nursing home with good days and bad days. Good days mean happy delusions and bad days are rather traumatic delusions.
The national economy appears to have ended it's rapid descent while the blaming continues at almost shrill levels.
Big American banks and American auto makers are back to business as usual with an amnesia that can be breathtaking.
Texas has gone from riches to rags while the sitting governor is well--still sitting and telling us that Texas is the "envy" of the country.
Natural disasters have run the gamut from volcano eruptions, earthquakes,tsunamis, and the tornadoes, flooding, and these have happened pretty much all over the world. Sadly, one can choose a particular kind of disaster to donate to and whatever one gives will not be enough.
I continued to be challenged in my new work of overseeing the mental health care of offenders at a maximum security prison. My work is such that my favorite slogan for the week was something I ran across on the internet, "I have run away to join a different circus."
And I discovered Ian Rankin, a Scottish mystery writer whose plots surpass Christi in complexity and darkness.
Writing has always been good therapy for me, and these days, given all that has happened world-wide the last two years, a little therapy can't hurt anyone--too much
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