I Am SO Not A Social Worker

I don't know why I felt the need to title this in such a valley girl way but I digress.

One of the guys in the film that was paroled a few years ago has been re-arrested for violating his parole. He was in a car accident and has a lot of medical issues because of it. He didn't call his parole officer because he was feeling too sick and the police came and picked him up.

Working on a film about the criminal justice system, I became more and more aware of how being on parole is bullshit. People get thrown back in prison for drinking too late on a Saturday night. Just general crap. But the flip side of that is that this guy was involved in a murder (He didn't pull the trigger but he was there and his actions led it to happen.) and it's just a miracle that he is out of prison at all. He just won't take responsibility for anything. Yes, his being too sick to call his parole officer is legitimate but he knows that unless you are unconscious, you have to call your parole officer. I mean, they are dying to throw him back in prison. So, now we are waiting for him to have another meeting with the parole board in two weeks.

I realize that I am not cut out to be a social worker. It's hard for me to see people make bad decisions and then try to help them figure out the right decisions, even though you know they aren't going to. It's especially hard when they are someone that the system is working to keep down anyway. I mean, that's the thing that's hard about making documentaries. The subjects in the film become your responsibility in a way. You can draw a line but it's hard, especially when you call upon them to speak on the film's behalf. It's really my job to be the "people person" on the project but I have to do things I wouldn't even do in my own life. I have an uncle who's been in prison my whole life for a myriad of crimes and I don't take his phone calls.