Lesson 4 - Wellbeing and Resilience

Well-being and resilience in convicts

On Monday, June 1st, we talked about wellbeing, problems and solutions, and resilience. The main idea that defines resilience when a person overcomes hardship and is able to thrive afterward despite that hardship. However, this definition becomes difficult to label specific situations, as there is no clear definition of what a hardship is, or what thriving is after such a hardship. For instance, if a person is able to get away from a culture that typically does not value education and finds a way to get educated, has he overcome hardship in order to thrive? Thriving may be seen as doing better than expected after hardship, but there is no easy way to determine if someone is doing better than expected.

An additional idea covered on Monday was the idea of problems and solutions. In order to solve a problem, the problem must be clearly defined and understood. Only in this way is someone able to find a proper solution. However, even if a problem is believed to be understood, there is still the possibility of ascribing the wrong solution to it. For instance, if a child is acting up in class, a solution may be to punish that child in order for them to behave properly. This may not be a proper solution as the child may be acting up from problems at home, and thus the solution of punishment is not getting to the root of the issue. This is a major problem in the criminal system. For instance, many people who commit a crime have a mental illness. By punishing that individual, he or she is being deprived of the proper treatment for the ailment he or she has.

Another idea that was brought up Monday was the theory of planned behavior. Unlike the previous belief that people do what they decide to do, the theory of planned behavior proposes that there are different components that affect when some acts on a decision they have made to do something. Three things that feed into the intention to do something are: the attitude towards the behavior, the subjective norm, and the perceived behavioral control. These three things feed into the intention, which then feed into the behavior.

 Cafe Exit

We took a trip to Cafe Exit on Monday and learned about their program to help ex-convicts assimilate back into society. We were able to listen to Hans, a founder of the program, speak about his experiences.

One major thing that Hans talked about was how hard it is for someone who has been in prison for a long time to come back into society. Hans himself was in prison for 10 years, and he said that experience made him realize how the limited resources of an ex-convict makes life extremely hard. For example, he mentioned how someone who just got out of prison and just got an apartment wouldn't know how to begin to move their furniture into the new apartment. It's the little, every day things in life that cause great difficulty in an ex-con, which may end up becoming too much for him or her to bear - the end result being a person returning to prison, where they have the competence to function in every day life.

It was very striking to see the differences in well-being between someone that has been a part of society their entire life and someone who has started to come back into society after a period of serving time. In some aspects, the standard of what constitutes well-being changes to be that of just being able to complete the every day tasks in a meaningful way. Additionally, while some people may find well-being in continuously striving for promotions in their career, a person that has just come out of prison may have the goal of just finding a job. It appears to be an overwhelming amount to take on in order to assimilate back into society after serving time. One thing that Hans mentioned was that some people like to come to the cafe and just sit and talk. He believes that this program gives these convicts someone who will actually listen to them and their problems - compared to social workers, who he said may only get into a fight with the convict from not being able to understand their position.

I feel that Cafe Exit is providing a really good service, not only to the convicts but society as a whole. As Hans mentioned, being able to help out these convicts will lessen their chances of returning to prison, which only takes a toll on society. It is unfortunate that the government will agree with the program, but won't give it any money. As Hans said, Cafe Exit relies heavily on the work of volunteers. He mentioned that they have over a hundred volunteers, without whom the Cafe would not be able to perform its job.

The prison system seems to be a very good example of how the solutions of problems may not actually be solving the problem. It also shows how the well-being of individuals changes based on their life circumstances. As Hans mentioned, a lot of these convicts have not come from a loving household, never having received a hug. As he said, it seemed that prison was their destiny from birth. I believe that Cafe Exit is doing a very good job in giving these convicts a chance to show their resilience - giving them aid in order to push through the difficulty of making a life back in society after being in prison.