[This article has been published in Restoring America to consider how the criminal justice system might better rehabilitate convicts reentering society.]
Media coverage surrounding incarceration rates and costs, sentencing disparities, and recidivism rates regularly provides eye-catching statistics and arguments that drive prevailing narratives of crime and justice, not always accurately. But behind the policies, statistics, and legal rulings are people: human beings with lives that are often littered with trauma but are also remarkably resilient.
A new project from the Pulitzer Center cuts through the blurred lines of ink and argument with high-definition cameras, crisp audio, and a focus on the faces and lives of those who have committed serious crimes. “Facing Life,” the combined work of writer Pendarvis Harshaw and photographer Brandon Tauszik, combines an innovative mix of prose and video production to document the post-release lives of eight prisoners, seven of whom had been sentenced to life. This approach creates an intimate portrait of the realities of re-entry, drawing viewers into troubled lives and generating empathy for those trying to find their way in a world that has changed so much during their time away they often can barely recognize it.
Visitors to the website will find snapshots of each participant’s daily life over three years, including everything from moments of reunion with family, to piercing stories of trauma and rehabilitation, to activities as ordinary as grocery shopping. Pendarvis’ writing connects these snapshots to a narrative that tells each participant’s story of crime, punishment, and re-entry.
One of the lessons to draw from this project is the degree to which each re-entry is different and how each returning citizen needs supports tailored to their situations. Just as there is no single way to remedy the effects of trauma, poverty, and addiction from the lives of many formerly incarcerated people, there is no one-size-fits-all for successful re-entry. As I and others have written before, effective re-entry programs need to focus on internal change before release and on the personal interests, goals, and desires of those who are making the journey. Like all people, returning citizens need a plan for a life they can commit to.
“Facing Life” provides a portal into the world of re-entry that is both deep and accessible, thorough and focused. For anyone interested in the humanity behind the statistics, meeting these participants and hearing their stories is well worth the time.
This article originally appeared in the AEIdeas blog and is reprinted with kind permission from the American Enterprise Institute.
