ROLE OF COUNSELING IN CRIME CONTROL IN EKITI STATE

For offenders: When you have been accused or convicted of committing a crime, the implications can be very far reaching. The merry-go-round arrest, hearings, conviction, incarceration, release, probations, all leading back to getting rearrested or violating conditions of your sentencing can seem overwhelming and frightening. If you are new to this system, simply knowing what comes next, what will this mean for your future, what are the consequences for each of the various choices can be extremely anxiety provoking. There are also many of you in this category who continue to make the same decisions and therefore stay in the same dysfunctional patterns. At times it feels as if the entire system is set up to make you fail. Helping you to learn to identify the role you play in this cycle, determining how to make decisions that will allow you to become empowered and end the cycle is one of the primary objectives of counseling in this area.

This process begins by examining why you continue doing the same things. Evaluations of your foundational beliefs, values, attitudes and life-commandments as well as your goals and motivations need to be examined. Very often, addiction is a major problem. Unstable and abusive childhoods, poverty and mental health disorders are prevalent. One of the Samaritan Center counselors has worked with inmates both in the federal judicial system as well as at the local Eagle County Jail. Her work has shown that it is possible to get off the merry-go-round. Involvement in the criminal justice system does not mean your life is over. You can go on to live a healthy, happy, and productive life.

For victims: When you have been the victim of a crime, all too often you are faced with being victimized again as you go through the legal system to see the perpetrator brought to justice. Instead of being met with kindness and compassion, you find that your motives and actions are sometimes brought into questions. This process can be very stressful. Further, it is not uncommon to be uncomfortable labeling yourself as a “victim.” Having to face the fact that you were not in control and someone else was able to dictate what happened to you is frightening and difficult to reconcile. As a result of your experience, you may be coping with PTSD; having flashbacks, experiencing nightmares, feeling unsafe for no identifiable reason. These symptoms along with many others may begin to interfere with your relationships and your ability to be effective in other areas of your life. Add to this that you may have to relive the experience through multiple depositions and on the stand, and you may find that you are feeling overwhelmed. One of the Samaritan Center counselors has worked with many victims and can help you navigate through the tumultuous emotions and physiological responses you many experience. She specializes in trauma and will help provide support and guidance so that you can get the healing you seek.

For law enforcers: The law enforcement occupation is often a misunderstood profession by the civilian community. Law enforcement officers often have lower marital satisfaction and higher divorce rates than the average population. Frequently they have difficulty forming relationships outside of the police fraternity, due a variety of factors. Very often characteristics that make a "good cop" have a negative influence on other relationships. The characteristics of policing are so ingrained (literally "on" 24 hours a day), that they can become part of the officer's personality and are perceived by others as a lack of sensitivity to those around them. The police officer is not insensitive, but instead may be having difficulty relaxing and “letting down,” a state called hypervigilance. This hypervigilance creates a perceived distance and “edge” that may keep the officer from being able to relate. These conflicting characteristics inherent in police work can be difficult to reconcile in a police officer’s world view, work experience and personal life.

As a law enforcement officer, you may find that the preceding discussion rings true for you. When you experience stress in your personal life, at work, or as a result of your own internal personal issues, it is frequently difficult to give voice to it. Your profession requires you to be decisive and in control. The concepts of being strong, keeping a stiff upper lip, and being “the man” all run deep in the fraternity. To admit that you are struggling or experiencing stress makes you afraid you may somehow be seen as “less than.” Further, you know that if the situation is too severe, someone may decide you can’t do your job anymore. All too often this means that officers decide it is better to not admit to any of this or talk to anyone. Luckily, the Samaritan Center has a counselor who herself is a former law enforcement officer. As such, she understands the stresses and strains that go with the job and has the expertise to work with you and help you cope with the issues you are facing and develop solutions that fit you and the realities of your job.