Give Him New Pursuits, or You Won't Reform the Prisoner

   I wouldn't mind seeing prisoners self employed, right there in prison.
   Oh, I would not allow them to become rich, but I do see value in letting prisoners develop their skills, or express the ones they already have, through self-employment while within the prison walls. I believe in a prison that rehabilitates prisoners. I dream of a prison that turns them out as productive members of society. I believe in giving the prisoner a dream, something to live for besides crime. I believe in giving his life meaning, purpose, and passion.
   If you would turn him from a life of crime, give him something else to pursue. When he exits that prison, make him a person who has purpose, who doesn't need to thief or steal or sell drugs because he has learned other and legitimate ways of making a living. Make him a person who has developed a passion for doing something else.
   If you don't develop him professionally, when he leaves prison, he will probably return to the same interests and pursuits he had when he got in. If a life of crime is all he knows, if making a living has always depended on it, and he wasn't taught anything else while in prison, what else will he have to fall back on?
   It is essential, if you are going to reform the prisoner, to change his life's pursuits. You don't reform a man unless you change the course of life he is on. You must change his interests, hobbies and pursuits, or you won't change the person. Part of that, is giving him a way of making a living that he will love, enjoy, and be able to pay the bills with.