We need rehabilitation not retribution in our prisons, says Pat Schnapp, RSM, assistant professor of English. The St. Anthony Messenger, published since 1893, is distributed to 350,000 subscribers worldwide. She was a jail and prison chaplain for 25 years. For the past seven years, she has taught English as a volunteer at the Gus Harrison Correctional Facil ity in Adrian.
Many people view prisons as a place to punish.
Non-violent offenders may be released only to find themselves decades behind the rest of society, lacking meaningful job and technological skills. Often, the only jobs open to released prisoners pay minimum wage, making it difficult to earn a living. These men are expected to abandon their addictions and former illegal activities, but are deprived of the skills necessary to change their lives, Pat said. Prisoners are given little opportunity to grow spiritually or intellectually. They lose the right to any privacy and are immersed in a brutal subculture where their manhood is constatly tested.