The game is rigged, but that’s the point.
The few dozen others who ran through the halls of the Eastern State Penitentiary Tuesday night weren’t having a good time as they tried to comply with parole conditions, get to the paintings and sell their few possessions for much-needed money. When time ran out, a host on a loudspeaker would order everyone to prevent and launch a new curve, like sending a handful of other people to prison for unknowingly buying fake IDs.
The two-hour simulation was designed to give players an insight into the difficulties faced by other people returning from crime in their first two weeks at home. Developed through the U. S. Attorney’s Office. civil servants and social workers. All of that replaced Tuesday at 6 p. m. m. , when the Eastern State Penitentiary conducted a simulation with sold out tickets for the public.
“When they said, and if we were providing this to the general public, we jumped at the possibility of housing the first one,” said Sean Kelley, senior vice president and director of interpretation for the Eastern State Penitentiary. The Fairmount Jail Historic Site is committed to examining the legacy of criminal justice reform in the United States and stimulating verbal exchange about its future. “What better position than this abandoned offender to prevent and think about how can other people returning home make a more effective and just transition, and have a greater chance of rebuilding their lives?”
The simulation is divided into 10-minute increments, each representing a week. Each player receives a packet containing key biographical information, level of education, employment status, and prison time. This package also includes responsibilities that you will need to complete weekly, biweekly, or monthly, such as probation records, attending substance abuse remedy sessions, and A. A. meetings. meetings, payment of alimony and fulfillment of labor obligations.
Going anywhere new, whether it’s a career center table or a food bank, requires a ticket. New tickets can be purchased, but only in batches of five and only if you already have at least one ticket. Multiple pieces Identity will need to be presented at most sites, and many players start the game with only one or no ID. Rent and food naturally charge money, but so do drug testing and court-ordered treatment.
In theory, participants can earn $25 twice a week by donating blood, but in reality, it doesn’t work. Possibly eligible, or possibly anemic, high, or ineligible due to a recent tattoo. Which leaves them as broken, and with one less boarding ticket.
Failure to comply with all responsibilities can land players in jail, a bank where they will have to pay a bail of money to get out. Lost hiring invoices are sent to another bank, the intermediate house.
A whiteboard titled “How Are You Feeling?”Tuesday night’s simulation was held in the middle of the room. As the game progressed, players paused to vent their frustrations on dry-erase markers. They were desperate, hungry, angry and tired of waiting in lines. a message read. Prison is easier. “
This feeling was also a technical detail of the simulation. According to a 2022 report from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, nearly 65 percent of other people released from state offenders are rearrested or returned to offenders within three years. These rates have remained more or less the same, for small increases, for more than 16 years. The simulation seeks to show participants why this phenomenon occurs and create empathy for the other people who are victims.
“I think a lot of our visitors assume that when the criminal door opens and someone comes out, they start their lives all over again,” Kelley said. “And if they stumble and end up in jail, it’s because they’re a bad person. But when you start learning about all the other tactics that other people coming back from a crime have to meet very, very, very expressed expectations or they will come back, you realize how complicated we make it complicated for other people. . “
Following the simulation, speakers facilitated discussions on the authenticity of reintegration and recidivism. Among them were partners at PAR-Recycle Works, an e-waste recycler that provides jobs for Philadelphians returning from prison, and an educator at the Eastern State Penitentiary who had spent time in prison. People managing their transition were more rude in real life, they said, and constant obstacles to proving they deserved a moment of chance made them feel less human.
“It’s a game for us, isn’t it?” said Maurice Q. Jones, CEO of PAR-Recycle Works. “Because we have a stall to pass the house and sleep. We have food, we have ropa. no necessarily genuine for us, yet it is definitely genuine for many other people who come home. That’s why we do this. So you can feel it. “
By the end of the simulation, only a handful of players had made it past Week 2. Many hadn’t even finished their Week 1 checklist. After frustrations from some, the verbal exchange focused on how Pennsylvania, and the entire country, could simply make it easier for the more than 600,000 people returning from state and federal prisons this year to return to school.
What if prison services provided 30-day transit passes upon discharge?Identification, one of the biggest hurdles in the simulation, was an especially hot topic. Driver’s licenses expire while other people are in prison, and less than a portion of U. S. states are in prison. provide a transit ID, state ID, or copies of birth certificate and Social Security cards at the time of release. Pennsylvania is not one of them.
The simulation is not designed to promote rapid reintegration policies. But the Eastern State Penitentiary, which plans to host the event again, hopes it will at least get players thinking about reform and genuine people who might struggle to juggle all those records. , expenses and obstacles thrown at them by the formula of justice.
“In our overall policy, deciding how to decrease the criminal population is in our most productive interest, and it can be done,” Kelley said. “And we’re advocating for fewer criminal people in the United States.
“But beyond that, we see ourselves as a position where we provide data and host discussions and respect the voice of our visitors. And it’s not up to us to lecture our visitors about the express answers, but it’s up to us to illustrate the patterns, what’s going on in our society, and then ask provocative questions and leave space for our visitors to communicate with others and with us, and begin a verbal exchange about the issues that are among the most vital civil rights issues of our time. “