What do people affected by crime and those affected by the criminal justice system have in common?
A lot more than is commonly believed – since people of color are most likely to be victims of crime and the targets of our justice system’s over-reliance on incarceration. This reality was front and center at this year’s Mothers in Charge (MIC) 2nd annual conference in Philadelphia, “The Cost of Violence.”
EJUSA was proud to help coordinate the conference, and to welcome one of our board members, Jesselyn McCurdy, who gave a workshop.
The unifying theme was trauma. Women whose children had been murdered, women who had been incarcerated or had loved ones in prison, and women who had experienced the system from both sides were among the people who shared the stage. It was clear that every one of them had been affected by trauma.
The prevalence of trauma in high-crime areas is becoming increasingly recognized. One study of in Philadelphia found that almost 75% of urban crime survivors have full-blown Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder.
Support services are slim to none in such communities. The criminal justice system responds with one, blunt tool: prison, which does nothing to treat trauma for the crime survivors.
Many conference speakers from academia and the public sector talked about the way unaddressed trauma feeds a cycle of violence. One said the core feeling in traumatized individuals is powerlessness. With no help to gain a sense of control over their lives, picking up a gun can become a potent escape from that feeling.
Another explained how Philadelphia was working to become the nation’s first “trauma informed” city in the country, so that unaddressed trauma could be recognized and dealt with across agencies. EJUSA has already been in touch with the department to learn more.
“At one point in the conference, a woman whose son was serving a life sentence got up, crying, to tell her story and thank Mothers in Charge for the work they had done to help her son. She received a standing ovation from a crowd of mothers whose children had been murdered,” said EJUSA’s Executive Director Shari Silberstein. “We need a justice system that recognizes the common needs between people affected by crime from all sides. That poignant moment was a reminder that the connections are obvious to the people most impacted by violence.”
Hear some of the incredible speakers yourself in this video collection of the conference.
