Final Assignment 

3. How Our Society Treats Ex-convicts or People on Parole 

Upon being released from prison and integrating into the world, rehabilitated criminals are met with a myriad of obstacles in many areas. Depending on their sentence/extremity of the crime committed, their family and friends may regard them differently, hurting them emotionally. This would add to the already harmful side effects that prison/jail has. There are strict rules and many bullies in criminal correctional facilities and it is hard enough to integrate into the world after going through isolation and trauma for however many years the ex-convict has served. Correctional officers and other inmates can be abusive both verbally, physically and sexually. In the United States, we see way too many cases of small crimes such a marijuana possession, getting the person long sentences such as 10 years, which is ridiculous. Crimes such as these should absolutely not result in such long periods of jail time. It is a huge waste of a person's life for a what can be a petty crime. The people in cases such as these miss out on their families lives. If they have children, their kids will grow up without a mom or dad and then that causes another slew of long-term problems in which the kids will be missing out on a big part of life and suffer sadness. The hypothetical significant other would be along and maybe move on without their former companion. It's not as though this isn't a problem in |Canada as well, but there are much less stories of these injustices. Val Jean is a victim of these injustices in another century. Crimes of theft were a bigger deal back then when people had less possessions and gadgets. Although Val Jean stole for the best possible reason: to save a starving family, it was still unacceptable to the police. Since he also broke a window to get the loaf of bread, it was seen as breaking and entering. This is a common crime today, but jail time is not always necessary and if it were, it would be short time served with parole. We see the stark contrast to the 18th century when Val Jean was sentenced an insane nineteen years. This is near equivalent to a second-degree murder charge of 25 years with parole all over a life-saving loaf or bread. Then again, in those times a large fraction of the population in France was starving so Val Jean may have been stealing bread that was worked hard for by another close-to-death family. Generally, people treat ex-convicts with varying degrees of contempt. Looking for work is very difficult for the people when the employers see that they have a criminal record. Most businesses or corporations don't want to be associated with criminals even if their crime was light. It may hurt their reputation or income for consumers to see the face of someone who has seen the inside of a prison cell representing the business. This is dependent of the crime and the amount of buzz around the crime at the time of the trial. Murder and rape cases involving big news articles and social media rants will familiarize the world with the person. The best example of this is Brock Turner, a college student rapist who somehow got away with a three-month sentence when charges made against him were eligible for fourteen years. His status as a young male swimmer at a well-known college swimmer swayed the case unjustly despite all the hard evidence against him. He is well known by the public around the world, not just the States where he lives. There was an uproar over his lack of sentence and portrayal by the news over social media, so he is widely disliked but rightly so if you research his trial and case. My point is, the majority of people hate him and if students know about him, adults sure do, especially those that hire people for jobs. No business wants the face of a rapist serving or helping customers. Rehabilitated criminals are not very likely to lead normal lives again. Between struggling with the mental and emotional stresses and tough memories of serving time paired with the way other people think upon release can be traumatizing. This impacts their ability to lead a normal life with all of this baggage. I think that Jean Val Jean was successful for a while when he changed his identity to become the mayor, but that didn't last and he wasn't living life to the fullest. He was in constant fear of being discovered and really, he was alone. With Cosette, he found a purpose to life and was able to put aside his safety for hers. His life was less than normal. Living in fear and pursuit is not safe or relaxing whatsoever, which is how a normal life should relatively be. There is a lot of grey area in this topic as everyone is different, just like the extent of the crimes committed that will either hinder or ease their re-integration into the world.