For just a few moments, you need to use your imagination. Picture a person that has been accused of sexually molesting a child. After the accusation, the person was found guilty in a court of law and sentenced to time in prison. After serving his sentence, the person was set free, only to find that the law requires that he should be electronically monitored and tested for sexually enhancing drugs for the remainder of their parole, probation or other form of post-release supervision.
Now imagine that person was you. How would you feel? Angry? Hopeless? How would you feel to discover that what you thought was freedom is not freedom at all? Some of you might agree with this type of requirement. Others of you might find it ridiculous. The purpose of this article is simply to inform you, the public, about some issues that are being discussed in our legislation, and what position social workers would take concerning a bill like this. We hope this information will inspire you to choose a position and take action on issues such as this and others that might arise.
Presently, a law doesn’t exist that would require a sex offender to undergo electronic monitoring and drug testing, but it could have. House Bill 192 passed the House in Mississippi’s regular legislative session but died when it went back to committee. We are still investigating the reasons as to why the bill died so that we can inform you of our representative’s intentions and future possible positions that they would take. Contacts have been made with the representatives that wrote the bill, questions have been asked and we are waiting on responses.
So what does all of this have to do with social work? When most of you hear the phrase “social work,” you automatically think, “Hey, those are the people that take people’s kids away.” Social work is so much more than that. We advocate for clients in many areas that would affect their lives, including policies that currently exist and ones that could develop.
In reference to this particular bill, social work would stand on the dignity and worth of a person. Social work couldn’t support a bill such as this because a social worker’s job is to empower people to establish a better quality of life without restrictions. Social workers would also emphasize the importance of human relationships.
According to our code of ethics, “Social workers seek to strengthen relationships among people in a purposeful effort to promote, restore, maintain and enhance the well-being of individuals, families, social groups, organizations and communities.” If the aforementioned policy had become a law, it would have destroyed a person’s right to completely regain their life. Social workers must have the ability to look past what the person has done and see the strengths they possess. Those strengths would allow the person to overcome the mistakes they have made.
We realize many of you have never considered issues such as these nor agree with the position social work would take on this issue. No matter which position you support, we encourage you to make your voice heard. Your opinions and ideas can make a difference in policies that might directly affect your life one day.
If you choose to take a stand, there are many ways in which you can do so. You can contact our legislation or other representatives through e-mail, letters, phone calls or personal visits. One Web site you could use to do more research on policies and other issues in our state government is http://www.mississippi.gov. Now that you have imagined how this policy could have affected you, imagine how you can affect the future of other policies.
Editor’s Note: Brooke Bishop and Tangi Holmes contributed to this letter.