Hoe het label van ‘misdadiger’ hun hele identiteit omvat
“Mensen worden gedefinieerd door de drie donkerste minuten van hun leven, bij wijze van spreken,” zucht hij. “Het label van ‘misdadiger’ vormt vanaf dat moment hun hele identiteit, en ook zij zelf zullen na verloop van tijd geloven dat ze niets meer zijn dan dat label.” Zijn naam is Gregory, en hij spreekt uit ervaring.
De draaideur draait door
Gregory is 64 jaar oud en bracht de helft van zijn leven door in gevangenissen en daklozenopvang in New York. Zevenentwintig jaar lang zat hij achter de tralies, en vier jaar leefde hij op straat of in een shelter (daklozenopvang n.v.d.r.). Gevangenschap en dakloosheid lijken twee losstaande begrippen, maar in realiteit zijn ze sterk verweven in de Verenigde Staten. Er bestaat zelfs een naam voor de correlatie tussen beiden, namelijk the revolving door, of draaideur. Wanneer men immers ofwel in het gevangenschapssysteem, ofwel het daklozensysteem terechtkomt, is de kans groot dat men vanaf dat moment heen en weer gekaatst zal worden tussen beide systemen. Uitbreken uit het draaideursysteem is daarbij zeer moeilijk. De draaideur draait door, bij wijze van spreken.
Uit nationale cijfers blijkt dat wie een gevangenistermijn achter de rug heeft in de VS, tien keer meer kans maakt dan gemiddeld om dakloos te worden.[i] Omgekeerd geldt hetzelfde: 15% van alle gevangenen hebben het jaar voorafgaand aan hun opsluiting dakloosheid ervaren.[ii] Daarnaast is recidive, ofwel het herhaaldelijk plegen van strafbare feiten, een veelvoorkomend fenomeen binnen het draaideursysteem.
Allesomvattend label
Alex, een goede vriend van Gregory, bevestigt hoe zijn verleden als gedetineerde ook de rest van zijn leven beïnvloedt: “Door mijn voorgeschiedenis zal ik de rest van mijn leven dakloos blijven, want niemand wilt een ‘misdadiger’ als huurder. Men ziet altijd eerst het label, en daarna pas de persoon. Vroeger werd ik gek van die stigmatisering, maar ondertussen heb ik me er bij neergelegd.”
In 2022 zaten niet minder dan 1.9 miljoen mensen in de gevangenis in de Verenigde Staten. Door hun gevangenisstraf werden niet enkel zij getroffen, ook hun familie zag er de gevolgen van. Het label ‘familielid van misdadiger’ bevat namelijk ook een niet te onderschatten waardeoordeel. Uit cijfers blijkt dat 113 miljoen volwassenen een direct familielid hebben dat ooit in de gevangenis heeft gezeten, wat betekent dat bijna de helft van alle volwassenen in de VS impact ondervinden van gevangenschap, en dus een label met zich meedragen.[iii] En dan wordt nog gezwegen over kinderen die opgroeien met zulk label...
Grassroots organisaties aan de macht
De problemen die Alex en Gregory aankaarten, zijn duidelijk van nationaal belang. En toch worden ze door de overheid stelselmatig onder de mat geveegd. Gevangenissen bieden geen begeleiding rond nakende vrijlatingen, en ook in shelters worden bewoners niet gestimuleerd om een eigen woning te zoeken. Daarom verenigen vele getroffenen zich in grassroots organisaties, om het onrecht dat hen is aangedaan aan de kaak stellen. Via betogingen, samenkomsten, theater... verwerken ze trauma’s en komen ze op voor een betere toekomst.
De organisaties pleiten in de eerste plaats voor een betere leefomgeving binnenin gevangenissen en shelters. Een wederkerend feit is immers dat gevangenen en daklozen zich in beide vaak onveilig voelen. Alex vertelt dat hij op zijn twintigste in een gevangenis werd geplaatst waar bewakers ’s nachts regelmatig de cel van jongeren betraden om hen te verkrachten. “Het overkwam mij uiteindelijk niet, maar ik heb toen wel geleerd om altijd met een oog open te slapen. Tot op de dag van vandaag kan ik nog steeds geen hele nacht doorslapen.”
Gregory verbleef een jaar in de beruchte HELP MEYER shelter, een daklozenopvang voor mensen met mentale gezondheidsproblemen. “Die shelter is ronduit gevaarlijk. De bewoners zijn mentaal ziek en worden agressief in een oogwenk. Mensen steken elkaar neer met de blikken deksels. Het gebrek aan scholing bij het personeel is schrijnend, en een groot probleem. Mijn verblijf daar heeft me veel schade berokkend.”
Naast veiligheid in deze instituten pleiten de organisaties ook voor een verschuiving naar het housing first principe. Daarbij moet huisvesting prioriteit krijgen, zowel voor wie uit de gevangenis komt als voor zij in shelters. Een veilige thuis biedt namelijk geborgenheid, wat cruciaal is om uit het draaideursysteem uit te breken. Mensen moeten intensief begeleid worden in hun zoektocht naar een woning, in plaats van geparkeerd te worden in shelters. Het bestraffen van mensen zonder thuis moet eindelijk verleden tijd worden.
Onderzoek van binnenuit
Deze thesis vertelt in de eerste plaats de levensverhalen van vijf protagonisten uit New York: Gregory, Alex, Tony, Douglass en Ibrahim. Door middel van diepte-interviews komen ze uitgebreid aan het woord en geven daarbij inzicht in het draaideursysteem zoals zij dat van binnenuit hebben ervaren. In de interviews lag de focus op de gebouwde omgeving: “In welke buurt is men opgegroeid?” “Hoe zag hun cel eruit?” “Welk effect had de architectuur van de cel/slaapzaal op hen?” “Was er privacy?” “Welk gevoel bracht de gebouwde omgeving met zich mee? Geborgenheid, onrust, onderdrukking...” (zie Figuur 1).
Samen met de protagonisten werden geannoteerde schetsen gemaakt, die een centrale rol spelen in de thesis (zie Figuur 2). Daarnaast werd de info van de vijf protagonisten aangevuld met academische literatuur, historische informatie, rapporten en eigen veldwerkervaringen. Deze thesis is echter niet bedoeld als veralgemening van het hele draaideursysteem in de VS, maar analyseert hoe het systeem deze vijf individuen heeft beïnvloed.
Eind goed, al goed?
Voor Gregory lijkt het een eind goed, al goed verhaal. Hij ontving net de sleutels van zijn eigen appartement na jaren van dakloosheid en gevangenschap en geniet daar nu van zijn oude dag. En toch loert onheil nog steeds om de hoek. Want zo werkt het draaideursysteem: een kleine misstap of tegenslag is voldoende om hem weer mee te sleuren in de mallemolen langs gevangenissen en shelters. De draaideur draait door, er is geen ontsnappen aan.
[i] Lucius Couloute, “Nowhere to Go: Homelessness among Formerly Incarcerated People,” Prison Policy Initiative, August 2018, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/housing.html.
[ii] Greg A. Greenberg and Robert A. Rosenheck, “Jail Incarceration, Homelessness, and Mental Health: A National Study,” Psychiatric Services 59, no. 2 (February 2008): 170–77, https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2008.59.2.170.
[iii] Wendy Sawyer and Peter Wagner, “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2023,” Prison Policy Initiative, March 14, 2023, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023.html.
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