5.2. The female ex-prisoners’ perception of society
5.2.3. Support systems
In order to understand African thinking on support systems, it becomes necessary to draw from John Mbiti’s philosophical explanation of the relation between the individual and the community in the African worldview. As Mbiti (1990:109) has strongly argued, the African person’s whole being is shaped by community:
In traditional life, the individual does not and cannot exist alone… [but exists]
corporately. He [or she] owes his [or her] existence to other people, including those of past generations and his [or her] contemporaries. He [or she] is simply part of the whole. The community must therefore make, create, or produce the individual; for the individual depends on the corporate group… Whatever happens to the individual happens to the whole group, and whatever happens to the whole group happens to the individual. The individual can only say: “I am, because we are; and since we are therefore I am.” This is the cardinal point in the understanding of the African view of… [humankind].
This perspective is important for the study because it highlights that ‘no human is an island’ and we all need support from each other. This support can come from other prisoners while either in or out of prison. For example, while in prison, Participant Revai asserted that: We sometimes share at church with others about our crimes and make debate. Female ex-prisoners are not isolated. They communicate with each other about various issues. This is confirmed by Participant Maruza who stated that communication with others outside prison was helpful to her. She asserted: The fact that I talk and discuss with others helps me. Participant Simudzirai was of the opinion that for society to function as a support system for female ex-prisoners, it needed to be watchful:
Society is to keep an eye on ex-prisoners, ensuring that they have reformed.
Ex-prisoners are to learn interacting with people. We tend to shun society.
What Participant Simudzirai’s verbalizes is of importance because when ex-prisoners isolate themselves it is difficult for society to support them.
The participants’ experiences are also supported by Kjell Norsdstokke (2009:79) who argues that communication can play a vital role in humanity:
Communication builds human communities and by extension, individuals, and allows them to develop, and that sustainable development therefore depends upon effective communication and capacity-building. As development continues to be an important item on the world’s agenda churches are
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challenged to address this matter.
Participant Zorodzo is of the same view and she asserted: It’s only at night when it is difficult but when it is morning and I get to interact with fellow prisoners, I do not have any problems.
Participant Zorodzo also found support through interaction with others. Such practice is understood as mutual support-giving among members of a group (Norsdstokke 2009:96). In her report Karen Buckenham (1996, cited in Gennrich, Inglis and Kromberg 2009:85) affirms that a support system involves material as well as emotional assistance:
The church community can be a supportive environment while women’s lives are in crisis, providing safe refuge, financial support, moral support and counsel.
Some examples of women who had a positive experience of the church as a support system are presented below.
In the study sample, Participant Revai shared some positive experiences of the church. As she narrated, a woman is precious. She went on to declare that:
You are given your rightful place as a woman, despite that one is a widow; one is encouraged to be self-employed. Churches light up their members in a way that one doesn’t look down upon oneself. The good aspect about my church is that if you are a widow or an orphan, they ask you about what you want to be encouraged in to become self-sufficient rather than go begging. They sit down with you and give you some capital to start buying and selling. They make a follow up, checking on whether you are getting a profit or not. When you are getting profit, they wean you to start working on your own.
Participant Shuvai also shared that:
When I came out of prison, I went to the pastor to explain about the prison situation and the pastor helped me to understand that it was not the end of the world and prayed with me. The pastor can talk to the society so that they can assist us with counsellors to talk with us when we come out of prison.
According to Prison Fellowship International (2008:10), their ministries in other countries
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have launched centres where ex-prisoners can receive support. For example, an ex- prisoner who was a member of the Australia Prison Fellowship, expressed gratitude for the job they offered him as follows: “For the first time in my life I now have a real loving family. I love going to work every day, and I thank God for my new life”
(2008:10). When he talks of a loving family, he does not refer to a biological family but a family of fellowship that was supportive towards him and helped him find employment.
As Participant Shuvai was also to find:
I was accepted by the pastor and church. They were pleased with my Christian commitment. They warned me not to commit crime again.
The pastor and the church accepted and supported her. According to Petterson (1991:279), the more religious a person is, the less likely that she or he will deviate from her or his religious values and beliefs. As a consequence of this, religion is viewed as an important means in maintaining social order and in developing a common set of values.
Because of her religious commitment, Shuvai found that she was supported by her faith community.
However, Buckenham (1996, cited in Gennrich et al. 2009:85) also cautions that the church can have a tendency to respond to some issues in a rigidly legalistic way, stating that “[o]n the negative side, religious beliefs hold many women captive in a physically and spiritually destructive situation with no way out.” Indeed, there were some participants in this study who reported having had a damaging experience regarding the church.
Participant Ratidzo remarked that:
I lost all my friends after imprisonment, and the church which I had invested in so much did not help me. In spite of the church’s absconding I learned that non-Christian friends were more embracing.
The judgmental attitude of the church toward Participant Ratidzo is exacerbated by what Christina Landman (2008:161) has called the patriarchal bias: “Women are powerless in churches, since they support the patriarchal discourses that expose women to abuse”.
Another example was Participant Rudo who also had a negative experience of church- based organisations as a support system. She said that:
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I went to Prison Fellowship Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Association for Crime and Prevention and Rehabilitation of Offenders. To my dismay these organizations would not support my integration into society.
Erving Goffman (1963 cited in Maruna 2004:203) argues that prisoners, upon release, may experience that the church reacts without confidence and trust toward them, as they carry a stigmatised and “spoiled” identity. In this regard, Landman (2008:176) suggest that churches should introduce theologies to women through which patriarchal discourses which hold women captive are deconstructed. It is also the task of the church and faith-based organizations (FBOs) to empower female ex-prisoners by skills-training and education. The church structures are to assist female ex-prisoners in sourcing funds both locally and internationally to run self-help projects, as part of their support system.
Given the ambiguous/contradictory ways in which the church can function as a support system as well as a source of judgment, particularly when it comes to female prisoners or ex-prisoners, Landman (2008:16) further asserts that, “The churches are to promote gender justice within their circles, so that the empowerment of women takes place as churches become places of healing.” Following up on the aspect of healing, a reflection is now provided on the voices of female ex- prisoners’ perceptions of society, churches and others on the provision of healing, care and love to them.