Being Defined By Your Worst Past.

Good Tuesday morning everyone.

As we navigate the various systems of our nation, one in which trauma often manifests is the penal and criminal justice system.

In our nation, thousands of men and boys and hundreds of women and girls are warehoused in some form of youth detention, pre-trial detention or incarceration after having been failed by dysfunctional or abusive families, and ineffective educational institutions. Often bursting at the seams due to overcrowding, these places of detention and incarceration often become venues for new traumas to take place.

Sadly, we are not close to having a true restorative justice system that consistently asks, "What Happened To You?" Instead we continue to punish people based on what for many is a trauma response to childhood adversity or adult exploitation.

There is hope, however, that with the right interventions, the people who are behind bars today can receive effective support so that they can be set free from the prison of their pain even before they are discharged.

What we on the outside must learn is to regard them as human beings and not as a stigmatized subhuman group, to view them not with labels based on their past actions, but as people with potential, dreams and aspirations just like ourselves.

With compassion, we will get there and consistently identify people through the lens of Hope and not what their past criminal record indicates they once did.

When we look in the mirror, none of us really wants to be defined by the worst mistakes of our past. Do we?