Poetry, prisoners and transformative justice

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Details: Category: In brief; Last Updated: Thursday, 15 February 2024 15:22; Published: Wednesday, 28 October 2020 11:50; Written by Lucas Alan Dietsche; Hits: 2912

Poetry written by prisoners and formerly incarcerated people is nothing new. Justice-involved person's poetry has been published and distributed in handbills, leaflets, zines, blogs, books, samizdat, and through social-network dissemination. In prison, poetry represents a place to depict the prison totality of routine, mental illness, stressors, acting-out, violence, sexual assault, and carceral systems. Justice-involved persons' poetry is a personal private setting to create, re-story and heal negative self-efficacy, personal thoughts of brokenness, trauma,and fragmentation (Palidofsky and Stolbach, 2012). It has been documented that focus on healing through writing, and not punishment, possibly yields the best results for stopping recidivism (Wachowiak, 2016).

I have been lucky to be around prison poetry in two diametrically different settings. From being an inside-participant as a Justice-involved poet and then later as a formerly incarcerated poet with Poetry Behind the Walls. This is a summary of these two experiences in a transformative mindset. There is a need to study carceral poetry in a poetic-criminological format within its state of poesis (Jacobsen, 2019).

Why study prison poetry?

Justice-involved persons' physicality is totally restrained in the totality of prisons. On the contrary, justice-involved persons' minds are a possible space of conscious liberation as a source of abolition, healing, and struggle. Justice-involved persons poetry is the front-line perspective of the prisons and jails scene. Novak supports this, discussing justice-involved persons using poetry as the unauthorized propaganda of the convict: prisons “created the language of the fugitive or incarcerated rebel—the slave, the convict.”

James believes that “through their narratives, imprisoned writers can function as progressive abolitionists and register as ‘people’s historians’ . . . These narratives are generally the ‘unauthorized’ versions of political life" (James, cited in Novak, 2020, para 7). Anaxagorou describes what justice-involved persons wrote when taught poetry in British prisons: "Other men write in more hackneyed modes about the events which landed them in jail. Some center their frustrations on the system, while others speak to God, to their former selves, to their loved ones, to the dead (Anaxagorou, 2019, para. 7)."

From a blogger's perception, there are different levels of poetry used in the mass incarceral surveillance state:

"The process of reimagining the prison as a physical and social structure is important to the aesthetic of the poetry prison canon and can be noted in two adjacent canons. ...The aesthetics of both American protest literature and radical black literature are vital to understanding the prison poetry canon, in its frequent quest to reimagine the physical and social structures of incarceration. These canons are important because they influenced basically all the poems that are written in the age of mass incarceration…..(Soto, 2017, last paragraph)"

Prisoner-created poetry serves to function as bibliotherapy in the context of programming and/or autobiographical (Jarjoura and Krumholz, 1998). "We are all artists, and theatre is a language. We have no better way to work together, to learn about each other, to heal, and to grow" (Rohd, 1998, p. 14). Juvenile justice-involved youth program documentation presents incarcerated youth needs for healing and self-reflection; an outlet connection between poetry and their criminalized lives (Copes and Miller, 2015).

Some justice-involved males have been disempowered so long, or under such carceral harsh circumstances, that their minds are no longer open to gaining knowledge of the world. Due to horrendous labeling and stigma, people of color find themselves against many barriers in expressing their voices against historic trauma and the systematic carceral system( Vegh Weis, 2017). This is not the gender and class consciousness of Hip Hop Feminism ( Holiday and Payne, 2020).

By this time, I had started very heavily as white and male self-taught poet in his late 20's. I had read countless Victorian classics, modern, Dada, romantic, and some contemporary poetry. I always tried to read history and prisoner poetry to find the necessary roots and inspiration. To further my outreach, I sent poems to contests as well to radical magazines and zines. I helped people with writing and reading or when they wanted me to write poetry for their loved ones. Many wanted my thoughts on their own styles. Many poems are written in narration, or confession, without rhyme describing their individualism as part of the prison totality (Novella, 2014). Some folks have immense and natural voices for description of their lives through hip hop and rap. Not all of my connection to people were so altruistic and forgiving. Sometimes, when my own poetry bibliotherapy was negatively criticized, I would tell them to write their own poetry.

With Poetry Behind the Walls

Poetry Behind the Walls is a poetry program that uses Hip-Hop, poetry slams, and publications to further voices of primarily incarcerated youth and people of color. It is a major project of Save the Kids that tries to initiate transformative justice over restorative justice. Transformative justice is based on abolition of police, prisons, and capitalism. Transformative justice stresses that capitalism creates victimizations, re-victimizations, and traumatic stressors (Nocella, 2014).

Poetry Behind the Walls [PBW] believes that capitalism victimizes the victim and turns the "offender" into a state victim through the carceral and archaic nature of the criminal justice system (Nocella, 2014). Poetry Behind the Walls focuses on recognizing and publishing incarcerated youth poets. Getting published helps with self-efficacy, self-esteem, and helps with non-poetic vocations. The books Life behind the Barbed Wire (2015), Why America Why? (2018) and Let me Live (2013) published by Save the Kids are books of collection of incarcerated youth poetry (Nocella, 2009). Hip hop poetry has also been published by Poetry Behind the Walls and is regarded as a great poetic outlet.

I first encountered PBW and Save the Kids through their Letters to Prisoners program. I thought it was very useful to write to formerly incarcerated people and share the hope and wisdom that I learned while briefly incarcerated. This work blossomed into an organizer position with Save the Kids, and finally ending up on the editorial staff with PBW as the Incarcerated People's Liaison/Editor. This position is to be the first-line purveyor of incarcerated people's poetry as well as outreach to possible publishing incarcerated poets. The work is not much different than my time inside prison working with people to help find their poetic voice. My unpublished thesis on "Poetic Justice: Juvenile Justice alternatives and the road to a Poetic Criminology "was a paper discussing the various Poetic Justice programs as well as the research into the justice-involved person's literary fiction (Dietsche, 2020).

By 2020, I became National Organizer of the Letters to Prisoners Project and an Editor/Liaison with PBW. I was in a great position to send outreach to incarcerated people interested in publishing poetry. I receive letters from Justice-involved persons with poetry on scratches of paper, and type-writer fonts. On these pages are primarily narration and confessional poetry. They also write descriptions of praise for the chance of being published.

What inspires them, as well as introductions to the incarcerated-poets' backstory? My position is to either scan poetry for the PBW and Save the Kids social media and blog, or to transcript work for possible publication. The group specializes in wanting different intersectional voices to be heard that represent the PBW mission for Transformative Justice. A group like Poetry Behind the Walls “invites the researcher to engage as an active witness standing beside participants in their search for justice, recognition, healing, and a better life (Davis,2018,p. 683)".

Conclusion

From being a justice-involved poet to a convict criminologist and Editor of Poetry behind the Walls, I brought a unique and eclectic experience. I can relate to many justice-involved persons who write poetry within restricted physical mobility. I use poetry to create raw images of stigma, labeling, trauma, and negative self-efficacy. I try to use poetry to heal and discuss my depression, anxiety, and psychotypal personality disorder before and after my incarceration experience.

While now out of prison and probation, I can now relate in an academic sense the raw auto-ethnographical use of narration, voices, and perception of prisoner poetry. With the tons of justice-involved and incarcerated people's poetry in many genres, it is to involve Transformative Justice into a "'poetic criminology' or criminology of the possible', but it [the book The Poetics of Crime - CS] seeks to show some of the possible ways in which culture, creativity, and critique may be put to work within the discipline". (Jacobsen, 2016, p.17).

References

Anaxagorou, A. (2019 May) "The Aesthetics of Silence: Prison, Rehabilitation, and Poetry". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved at .https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2019/05/the-aesthetics-of-silence-prison-rehabilitation-and-poetry

Blinn, C. (1995)"Teaching Cognitive Skills to Effect Behavioral Change Through a Writing Program". Journal of Correctional Education, 46(4), 146-154.

Davis, C. (2018). "Writing the Self: Slam Poetry, Youth Identity, and Critical Poetic Inquiry". Art/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal, 3(1), 90–113. Retrieved at https://doi.org/10.18432/ari29251

Dietsche, Lucas A. (2020) . Unpublished. "Poetic justice: Juvenile justice alternatives and the road to a poetic criminology". Retrieved at https://minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/80487

Dietsche, Lucas A. (2009). "Word Out: Poems Written under the Big Top of Dodge and Stanley Correctional Facilities". Midnight Express. Berryville, AK.

Halliday, Aria S. and Payne, Ashley N. (2020) "Twenty-First Century B.I.T.C.H. Frameworks: Hip Hop Feminism Comes of Age," Journal of Hip Hop Studies: Vol. 7(1). Retrieved at https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/jhhs/vol7/iss1/1

Jacobsen, M. (2014). The Poetics of Crime: Understanding and researching crime and deviance through creative sources. Farnham. Surrey, England.

Jarjoura, R. G., & Krumholz, S. T. (1998). Combining Bibliotherapy and Positive Role Modeling as an Alternative to 27 Incarceration. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 28 (1/2), 127-139.

Nocella, A. (2014). Transforming Justice and Hip-Hop Activism in Action. Counterpoints, 453, 210-223. Retrieved at http://www.jstor.org/stable/42982340

Novak,M( 2020,April). "Solidarity through Poetry, Arts in Society". Boston Review Retrieved at http://bostonreview.net/arts-society/mark-nowak-solidarity-through-poetry

Rohd, M. P. (1998). Theatre for Community, Conflict and Dialogue: Hope Is Vital Training Manual. Heinemann Press.

Palidofsky, M., & Stolbach, B. (2012). "Dramatic Healing: The Evolution of a Trauma-Informed Musical Theatre Program for Incarcerated Girls". Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 5(3), 239-256.

Save the Kids (2019) "About Save the Kids". Retrieved April 4, 2019 from https://savethekidsgroup.org/

Save the Kids (2013) "Let me Live: Voices of Youth Incarcerated". Arissa Group. New York

Save the Kids (2015) "Life Behind Barbed Wire: Poetry from Youth Incarcerated". Arissa Group. New York.

Save the Kids (2018) "Why America Why? Colorado Youth Prisoners and Other Incarcerated Voices". Arissa Group. New York.

Save the Kids (2016) "This place is hell: Poetry & Art" by Minnesota Youth Incarcerated. Arissa Media Group. New York.

Soto, C. (2017,September.) "Poetry in the Age of Mass Incarceration: Challenging the Dichotomy of Innocence Versus Criminality. Poetry Foundation. Retrieved at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2017/09/poetry-in-the-age-of-mass-incarceration-challenging-the-dichotomy-of-innocence-versus-criminality

Turner, T. (2018, February) "Our Minds Are Still Free". Retrieved at https://wamu.org/story/18/02/23/minds-still-free-former-prisoners-find-strength-poetry/

Vegh Weis, V. (2017). Marxism and Criminology: A History of Criminal Selectivity. Netherlands: Brill.

Wachowiak, L. (2016, January). "Youth advocates: juvenile justice must focus on healing, not punishment". The Nation's Health, 45(10), 17. Retrieved at https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.uwplatt.edu/apps/doc/A439832968/AONE?u=platteville&sid=AONE&xid=ebc65a5d

Written by Lucas Alan Dietsche, formerly incarcerated people Liaison Editor, Poetry behind Walls. MSc. University of Wisconsin-Plattville.