ClickNation

Training today at my new agency. One discussion reminded me of an exchange in group a year or so back, at the height of the “No Snitching” craze. Client (responding to a discussion about reporting to parole): “Bruce is a snitch.” Response: “No, you’ve got the definition wrong. A snitch is someone you trusted not to tell, who told. I’m someone you can trust to tell, always.”

The Prinzhorn Collection at the Psychiatric University Hospital of Heidelberg consists of several thousand artworks by mental patients. Klee, Ernst and Picasso were big fans of the collection. Sadly, only a few pieces are available on the Internet.

This site looks more professionally-driven. Not sure what my fascination is with these.

A whole batch of tests. Compute your personality to 10 decimal places—Myers Briggs, IQ, Eysenck.

The New York Times reports today how NYC Housing Authority maintains a blacklist of people not allowed in their buildings, even to visit families. Even relatively minor offenses not committed on public housing property can lead to banning. This issue comes up often when working with parole and probation, since many of those same people left from public housing to go to jail.

One result: people come out of prison without jobs and with a need to find housing other than with their closest relatives. Just one more burden placed on those trying to transition back post-prison that seems designed to encourage recividism.

The fact that the Times decided to feature it on the front page leads me to wonder if there isn’t a bit of editorial activism involved. Gov. Eliot Spitzer has already moved to issue new Medicaid cards upon release to offenders who had them upon entry to prison. With last year’s reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws and some of the new policies in the Division of Parole, it looks like New York is heading toward one of the more enlightened criminal justice systems in the country. The Times seems to be choosing topics that help to drive that change. Good for them.

The BBC has a site of psychology self-tests. Low validity and reliability, perhaps, but interesting.

This month is the 20th anniversary of shock incarceration in New York prisons. Apparently the program has been pretty successful and cost-effective for the state. I am most familiar with Willard, a boot camp for parolees, an idea invented here. Generally, parolees who persist in using drugs can get sent to Willard for 90 days rather than back to prison. Definitely a referral to a higher level of care.

Here are some interesting statistics from the New York Division of Parole. I would say the education statistics soft-pedal the situation. Few of the parolees I worked with had graduated high school or obtained their GEDs. The 48% unemployment doesn’t surprise me either. And much of the employment is for minimum wage.