Dependence

I’m having a really hard time coming terms with the Alliance program described in “Offending Women” in relation to the YASP presentation last night.  Clearly, the dependency discourse promulgated at Alliance is problematic, particularly when it is clear that these ideas don’t exist in isolation, but are shared by many important policy makers.  What strikes me as particularly strange is that there is a real focus on rejecting “dependency,” but no talk about independence.  In other words, the staff at Alliance (and I’m sure many people share this focus) discuss the ways in which state dependence, such as receiving welfare, is problematic, but don’t illustrate what being independent would look like.  The youth from YASP seemed to be incredibly independent and successful post-incarceration – they are holding part-time jobs, waging an important political campaign, and doing amazing work in both schools and prisons.  I have no idea if they’re “dependent” in the sense of receiving government benefits, but I can see their independence through their actions.  I also think this issue of viewing incarcerated or institutionalized individuals (or “criminals”) as passive, rather than active citizens, plays into larger themes in our course.  For instance, we tell drug dealers or sex workers that what they are doing is illegal – and that they need to stop doing it – but rarely explain why or provide alternative ways they can support themselves or their families.