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Guest Blog: White Male Privilege: Q & A, A Book Excerpt by Vanessa Osage
I had the privilege of meeting Vanessa Osage on a Zoom call earlier this week, and was spell-bound and brought to tears by her story of abuse and institutional cover up at one of this country’s elite prep and boarding schools. Vanessa explained her mission to promote healing and restorative justice to both oppressor and oppressed. The more we talked, the more I understood the nexus with Progressive Prison Ministries’ core mission in bringing together all the stakeholders in the white collar justice community to promote mutual understanding and empathy. Please email your thoughts and comments to me at jgrant@prisonist.org. Thank you! – Jeff
_________________________
When I discovered Jeff’s work, I was thrilled and heartened to know someone is working on the path forward, on the other side of healing from corruption. This is exactly the kind of compassionate, soulful recovery I want to encourage along with transparency and oversight at the institutional level…
I am an educator, consultant, coach, author, and leader of the nonprofit The Amends Project, with a mission to “mend the loophole that has allowed for the cover-up of child abuse at independent schools: implementing The Justice CORPS Initiative”. I’ve just released my first book, Can’t Stop the Sunrise, sharing my journey to advancing institutional reform. – Vanessa
_________________________
White Male Privilege: Q & A
by Vanessa Osage
White Male Privilege, or WMP, is now being recognized as a social disease by psychologists and experts in the field of public health. The Center for Social Diseases, CSD*, has released these guidelines for understanding, diagnosing and treating White Male Privilege.
How common is White Male Privilege?
White Male Privilege affects about 28% of the United States population, with higher concentrations in the urban epicenters of New York, Boston and Los Angeles.
How do I know if I have White Male Privilege?
Diagnosis occurs as distorted thinking that presents as a “cluster of symptoms”. The disease can affect both individuals and institutions or groups where the cluster of symptoms is present, taught or shared. WMP can be contagious, with short or long- term exposure to those suffering from the disease increasing the incidence. There is currently no conclusive test to confirm or rule out the disease.
Wait, I am white and male, does that mean I have White Male Privilege?
No. Fortunately, characteristics do not indicate causality. One can be white and male without being infected by the cluster of symptoms that indicate presence of the disease.
Resistance to social pressure and a diverse world view have been strongly correlated with preventative factors. Knowing and loving people who do not live a privileged experience has also been shown to reduce the incidence. Researchers have gathered inspired stories of individuals resisting the pull of the disease, even when surrounded by it.
The CSD has identified the following list of Ten Telltale Symptoms:
1. You believe you are superior to other people, and exempt from the rules governing regular society. When you encounter a limit that does not support your desires or view of yourself, you conclude that it simply doesn’t apply. You may have excessive debt, lawsuits or unpaid penalties against you.
2. You might enjoy the rush of “special circumstances” such as favors or access to things denied to others, only to suffer a crushing guilt of believing you are unworthy, and subsequent anxiety over getting caught.
3. You have an explosive reaction to feedback, and an unchecked urge to blame others until you feel relief and comfort again.
4. You have irrational fears of women (if you are a heterosexual male, this can coexist as simultaneous attraction/fear) as well as people of color, LGBTQ and gender nonconforming people.
5. You lack trust in those who do not look like you, yet also feel trapped by not really trusting your White Male Privilege friends either. You are lonely because of a constant worry that you will be excluded from the club.
6. You resent your dependence on human beings and hoard excess resources to feed an illusion of ‘not needing others’. You believe that, ‘In life, there are winners and losers, and it’s ok to create losers to ensure that you are a winner; That’s just the way it is.’
7. You have an intense urge to control others, which you may perceive as simply being “strong”, “decisive” or “dominant”. You may have heard from friends and loved ones that they feel misunderstood by you, but you see this as their weakness and not your problem.
8. You have made, or are making, decisions to protect your reputation or financial assets at the expense of other people. Your belief in your superiority has allowed you to justify these choices. Yet, deep down, you feel even more inadequate because you know no other way to ‘play the game and win’.
9. You might believe that women or young people owe you access to their bodies, or that the unpaid/underpaid work of ‘lesser’ people is your birthright to enjoy. You often feel lonely, yet can’t imagine why.
10. Your behavior is increasingly destructive, and you feel further and further from your own sense of right and wrong. You are caught in a cycle of hurting others, seeking to feel better about yourself through superiority, and then feeling even worse. Your relationships suffer, and then your physical health weakens without apparent explanation.
Experts say that any combination of four or more of the above symptoms is considered a WMP diagnosis. Six or more symptoms is a severe case of White Male Privilege. WMP is a progressive disease, and early intervention is the key to effective treatment.
What are the risk factors?
WMP can be hereditary and occurs more often in families where the cluster of symptoms is passed on or even praised from a distance.
Exposure to generational or family financial wealth has been shown to increase the incidence of White Male Privilege. Though, again, this factor alone is not causational. Interestingly, those who began life with very little resources can be highly susceptible to developing the disease later in life. Anyone who has felt particularly low about themselves or their life situation — and has not reconciled these feelings — could fall prey to its influence at some point.
Men with a criminal record, or something to hide, can be more inclined to adopt one or more of the symptoms. The distorted thinking of being ‘above others’ may offer pointed relief to those already carrying a burden of guilt over poor choices in their past.
Lastly, anyone who was confronted with the experience of acute anxiety and lack of control as a child is at higher risk. When pain and control coexist over time, distorted thinking can occur. Case studies have revealed that early fears were at the root of some of the most severe cases. Letting boys be scared and giving them a supportive space to work through their fears is encouraged.
What if I love someone affected by White Male Privilege? What can I do?
Those living in proximity with WMP patients can be affected in a number of ways. Loved ones need to watch for the negative effects of gaslighting, discrediting and dismissal coming from WMP sufferers. Relationships are especially hard for those with White Male Privilege, and new research is currently being done to understand the brain and hormonal chemistry of those affected.
The best approach is to get help by connecting with people who do not suffer from WMP, while finding the strength to hold WMP sufferers accountable for their actions at every step. Pretending or going along only aggravates the disease and delays recovery. The Center for Social Diseases expects new 12-Step Programs and support groups to pop up in highly affected areas, following release of these findings.
Like other addictions, WMP can be a progressive disease. Self-care must be a priority for those living in proximity to the disease. Loved ones are encouraged to only maintain connections that include strong boundaries and to adopt a stringent practice of truth- telling in the presence of WMP sufferers. Be ready to endure child-like tantrums, and to hold firm while telltale behaviors present themselves. Remember, “keeping them honest” is an act of love.
Patience and compassion are needed, as WMP sufferers are often overly scared, fragile and unsure of themselves. Go slowly but remain firm. They may seem to enjoy special privileges, but remember, they are suffering.
I think my boss or other public figures suffer from WMP, what should I do?
It is important to not feed any illusion that those with WMP are special or above others. Unfortunately, they do often find themselves in positions of authority because of an attraction to telltale-symptom-affirming cultures.
At times, the bravado of developed WMP sufferers can lure some into a false sense of security. It is important to think long-term and remember that the one who does not need to put others down is always the stronger candidate. Our most effective and beloved leaders have an innate appreciation of the ills of WMP (regardless of race, gender, orientation or identity) and see inherent value in the lives and experiences of all. Simple actions, such as respecting others’ limits, asking permission, saying ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘Thank you’ have shown promise as a path to rewiring the brains of early WMP sufferers. Cutting edge research is now underway.
Resisting White Male Privilege on the social, economic and political levels is its own practice of recovery. Keep in mind, the population was infected long-ago, when the disease was still largely unseen and unidentified.
We can all help normalize shows of humanity, compassion, valuing a diversity of life, and the humility that keeps everyone honest in everyday interactions. This social norming can be a part of the slow and necessary cultural transformation.
Is there a cure?!
Curing White Male Privilege is going to take a concerted effort by everyone affected by and surrounding its negative impacts in society.
As a public health crisis, it is our civic duty to interrupt White Male Privilege whenever we see it in a way that is consistent, loving and firm.
Remember, truth-telling, holding sufferers accountable and rejecting the ill-effects will help curb the spread of the disease. Only cooperation and a commitment to dismantling White Male Privilege (and its support structure, Patriarchy) will allow for social healing to occur.
Visit https://theamendsproject.com for a solution, and to learn more.
*This story is an illuminating spoof, and no such Center for Social Diseases, CSD, exists. Though, WMP and its effects are real.
Vanessa Osage
Vanessa Osage is on a mission to leave this world better than she found it. She is a Certified Sexuality Educator, Consultant & Professional Coach. A two-time Nonprofit Founder, Vanessa Osage is President of The Amends Project, with a mission to “mend the loophole”, and creator of The Justice CORPS Initiative. In 2017, she won the Kickass Single Mom Award for her work in sexuality education and youth rites of passage. Her essays have been featured in Circles on the Mountain, The Confluence Journal, Role Reboot & more. Can’t Stop the Sunrise is her first book.
Connect at vanessaosage.com & @vanessaosage
Can’t Stop the Sunrise at Amazon
Vanessa’s author website with more book-buying options
The Amends Project and The Justice CORPS.
Guest Blog: White Male Privilege: Q & A, A Book Excerpt by Vanessa Osage
I had the privilege of meeting Vanessa Osage on a Zoom call earlier this week, and was spell-bound and brought to tears by her story of abuse and institutional cover up at one of this country’s elite prep and boarding schools. Vanessa explained her mission to promote healing and restorative justice to both oppressor and oppressed. The more we talked, the more I understood the nexus with Progressive Prison Ministries’ core mission in bringing together all the stakeholders in the white collar justice community to promote mutual understanding and empathy. Please email your thoughts and comments to me at jgrant@prisonist.org. Thank you! – Jeff
_________________________
When I discovered Jeff’s work, I was thrilled and heartened to know someone is working on the path forward, on the other side of healing from corruption. This is exactly the kind of compassionate, soulful recovery I want to encourage along with transparency and oversight at the institutional level…
I am an educator, consultant, coach, author, and leader of the nonprofit The Amends Project, with a mission to “mend the loophole that has allowed for the cover-up of child abuse at independent schools: implementing The Justice CORPS Initiative”. I’ve just released my first book, Can’t Stop the Sunrise, sharing my journey to advancing institutional reform. – Vanessa
_________________________
White Male Privilege: Q & A
by Vanessa Osage
White Male Privilege, or WMP, is now being recognized as a social disease by psychologists and experts in the field of public health. The Center for Social Diseases, CSD*, has released these guidelines for understanding, diagnosing and treating White Male Privilege.
How common is White Male Privilege?
White Male Privilege affects about 28% of the United States population, with higher concentrations in the urban epicenters of New York, Boston and Los Angeles.
How do I know if I have White Male Privilege?
Diagnosis occurs as distorted thinking that presents as a “cluster of symptoms”. The disease can affect both individuals and institutions or groups where the cluster of symptoms is present, taught or shared. WMP can be contagious, with short or long- term exposure to those suffering from the disease increasing the incidence. There is currently no conclusive test to confirm or rule out the disease.
Wait, I am white and male, does that mean I have White Male Privilege?
No. Fortunately, characteristics do not indicate causality. One can be white and male without being infected by the cluster of symptoms that indicate presence of the disease.
Resistance to social pressure and a diverse world view have been strongly correlated with preventative factors. Knowing and loving people who do not live a privileged experience has also been shown to reduce the incidence. Researchers have gathered inspired stories of individuals resisting the pull of the disease, even when surrounded by it.
The CSD has identified the following list of Ten Telltale Symptoms:
1. You believe you are superior to other people, and exempt from the rules governing regular society. When you encounter a limit that does not support your desires or view of yourself, you conclude that it simply doesn’t apply. You may have excessive debt, lawsuits or unpaid penalties against you.
2. You might enjoy the rush of “special circumstances” such as favors or access to things denied to others, only to suffer a crushing guilt of believing you are unworthy, and subsequent anxiety over getting caught.
3. You have an explosive reaction to feedback, and an unchecked urge to blame others until you feel relief and comfort again.
4. You have irrational fears of women (if you are a heterosexual male, this can coexist as simultaneous attraction/fear) as well as people of color, LGBTQ and gender nonconforming people.
5. You lack trust in those who do not look like you, yet also feel trapped by not really trusting your White Male Privilege friends either. You are lonely because of a constant worry that you will be excluded from the club.
6. You resent your dependence on human beings and hoard excess resources to feed an illusion of ‘not needing others’. You believe that, ‘In life, there are winners and losers, and it’s ok to create losers to ensure that you are a winner; That’s just the way it is.’
7. You have an intense urge to control others, which you may perceive as simply being “strong”, “decisive” or “dominant”. You may have heard from friends and loved ones that they feel misunderstood by you, but you see this as their weakness and not your problem.
8. You have made, or are making, decisions to protect your reputation or financial assets at the expense of other people. Your belief in your superiority has allowed you to justify these choices. Yet, deep down, you feel even more inadequate because you know no other way to ‘play the game and win’.
9. You might believe that women or young people owe you access to their bodies, or that the unpaid/underpaid work of ‘lesser’ people is your birthright to enjoy. You often feel lonely, yet can’t imagine why.
10. Your behavior is increasingly destructive, and you feel further and further from your own sense of right and wrong. You are caught in a cycle of hurting others, seeking to feel better about yourself through superiority, and then feeling even worse. Your relationships suffer, and then your physical health weakens without apparent explanation.
Experts say that any combination of four or more of the above symptoms is considered a WMP diagnosis. Six or more symptoms is a severe case of White Male Privilege. WMP is a progressive disease, and early intervention is the key to effective treatment.
What are the risk factors?
WMP can be hereditary and occurs more often in families where the cluster of symptoms is passed on or even praised from a distance.
Exposure to generational or family financial wealth has been shown to increase the incidence of White Male Privilege. Though, again, this factor alone is not causational. Interestingly, those who began life with very little resources can be highly susceptible to developing the disease later in life. Anyone who has felt particularly low about themselves or their life situation — and has not reconciled these feelings — could fall prey to its influence at some point.
Men with a criminal record, or something to hide, can be more inclined to adopt one or more of the symptoms. The distorted thinking of being ‘above others’ may offer pointed relief to those already carrying a burden of guilt over poor choices in their past.
Lastly, anyone who was confronted with the experience of acute anxiety and lack of control as a child is at higher risk. When pain and control coexist over time, distorted thinking can occur. Case studies have revealed that early fears were at the root of some of the most severe cases. Letting boys be scared and giving them a supportive space to work through their fears is encouraged.
What if I love someone affected by White Male Privilege? What can I do?
Those living in proximity with WMP patients can be affected in a number of ways. Loved ones need to watch for the negative effects of gaslighting, discrediting and dismissal coming from WMP sufferers. Relationships are especially hard for those with White Male Privilege, and new research is currently being done to understand the brain and hormonal chemistry of those affected.
The best approach is to get help by connecting with people who do not suffer from WMP, while finding the strength to hold WMP sufferers accountable for their actions at every step. Pretending or going along only aggravates the disease and delays recovery. The Center for Social Diseases expects new 12-Step Programs and support groups to pop up in highly affected areas, following release of these findings.
Like other addictions, WMP can be a progressive disease. Self-care must be a priority for those living in proximity to the disease. Loved ones are encouraged to only maintain connections that include strong boundaries and to adopt a stringent practice of truth- telling in the presence of WMP sufferers. Be ready to endure child-like tantrums, and to hold firm while telltale behaviors present themselves. Remember, “keeping them honest” is an act of love.
Patience and compassion are needed, as WMP sufferers are often overly scared, fragile and unsure of themselves. Go slowly but remain firm. They may seem to enjoy special privileges, but remember, they are suffering.
I think my boss or other public figures suffer from WMP, what should I do?
It is important to not feed any illusion that those with WMP are special or above others. Unfortunately, they do often find themselves in positions of authority because of an attraction to telltale-symptom-affirming cultures.
At times, the bravado of developed WMP sufferers can lure some into a false sense of security. It is important to think long-term and remember that the one who does not need to put others down is always the stronger candidate. Our most effective and beloved leaders have an innate appreciation of the ills of WMP (regardless of race, gender, orientation or identity) and see inherent value in the lives and experiences of all. Simple actions, such as respecting others’ limits, asking permission, saying ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘Thank you’ have shown promise as a path to rewiring the brains of early WMP sufferers. Cutting edge research is now underway.
Resisting White Male Privilege on the social, economic and political levels is its own practice of recovery. Keep in mind, the population was infected long-ago, when the disease was still largely unseen and unidentified.
We can all help normalize shows of humanity, compassion, valuing a diversity of life, and the humility that keeps everyone honest in everyday interactions. This social norming can be a part of the slow and necessary cultural transformation.
Is there a cure?!
Curing White Male Privilege is going to take a concerted effort by everyone affected by and surrounding its negative impacts in society.
As a public health crisis, it is our civic duty to interrupt White Male Privilege whenever we see it in a way that is consistent, loving and firm.
Remember, truth-telling, holding sufferers accountable and rejecting the ill-effects will help curb the spread of the disease. Only cooperation and a commitment to dismantling White Male Privilege (and its support structure, Patriarchy) will allow for social healing to occur.
Visit https://theamendsproject.com for a solution, and to learn more.
*This story is an illuminating spoof, and no such Center for Social Diseases, CSD, exists. Though, WMP and its effects are real.
Vanessa Osage
Vanessa Osage is on a mission to leave this world better than she found it. She is a Certified Sexuality Educator, Consultant & Professional Coach. A two-time Nonprofit Founder, Vanessa Osage is President of The Amends Project, with a mission to “mend the loophole”, and creator of The Justice CORPS Initiative. In 2017, she won the Kickass Single Mom Award for her work in sexuality education and youth rites of passage. Her essays have been featured in Circles on the Mountain, The Confluence Journal, Role Reboot & more. Can’t Stop the Sunrise is her first book.
Connect at vanessaosage.com & @vanessaosage
Can’t Stop the Sunrise at Amazon
Vanessa’s author website with more book-buying options
The Amends Project and The Justice CORPS.
Wall Street Journal: Ex-Inmates Struggle in a Banking System Not Made for Them, by David Benoit
David Benoit is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and friend of the progressive criminal justice movement. David reached out to me to discuss if members of our community experience issues with banks, including closure of accounts without explanation. He would like to hear about your experiences. David can be reached at david.benoit@wsj.com. Thank you! – Jeff
_________________________
Court debts and lack of credit limit abilities to get driver’s licenses, find homes and get meaningful work
In 2013, Martize Tolbert walked out of prison and into a financial hole.
Mr. Tolbert was arrested on drug and weapon charges as a teenager, then bounced in and out of jail for more than a dozen years. When he was released for the last time, he owed some $12,000 in court fines and fees.
Four years later, he was working at a Charlottesville, Va., Jiffy Lube, making $9 an hour, barely enough for rent, food and supporting his son. The debt barred him from getting a driver’s license, but, with or without one, he had to drive. A Black man, he got pulled over often, he said, leading to more tickets, bigger for the lack of a license. The interest was compounding too. He tried to work out payment plans, but the total was only growing.
“It was all uphill just trying to get everything back in line from the mess I had created for myself,” said Mr. Tolbert, 40. “Everything was a struggle.”
Each year, more than 600,000 people deemed to have paid their debts to society are released from U.S. prisons, but the financial consequences can follow them long after. It can be hard for them to get checking accounts and nearly impossible to get loans. Some get out only to discover their identities were stolen. Many, like Mr. Tolbert, are deep in debt.
That all makes it hard for ex-inmates to get jobs, start businesses or find housing. In Florida and other states, court debts cost the right to vote. The problems trap all sorts of criminals, from small drug offenders to white-collar swindlers.
For Black men, who are nearly six times more likely than white men to be in prison, the financial aftermath is just another byproduct of a justice system already weighted against them. A 2019 report from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found people of color are disproportionately arrested for nonviolent crimes like loitering and disorderly conduct, and are generally sentenced more harshly, “which amplifies the impact of collateral consequences.”
Increasing evidence shows these repercussions push some people back into crime…
Read the article in full on WSJ.com here…
Philadelphia Inquirer: Steal Money from the Feds? First, Meet Jeff Grant, an Ex-Con who Committed Loan Fraud, by Erin Arvedlund. Feat. Seth Williams, Jacqueline Polverari & Bill Baroni
Reprinted from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Front Page, Oct. 18, 2020.
Thinking about stealing the government loan money you received in pandemic help?
Before you do, listen to Jeff Grant’s story.
After his opioid addiction, his theft of U.S. loan funds, and a federal prison sentence, Grant’s life as a lawyer and business professional was over.
But according to him, his new life was just beginning. And for small business owners feeling desperate — enough to steal — he’s created a safe place to talk anonymously and seek guidance.
Now clean and sober, remarried and out of prison, Jeff Grant, 64, co-founded Progressive Prison Ministries, what could be America’s first support group serving the white collar community —- in particular, those who committed white collar crimes and may have served prison time.
Based online, the group attracts many business owners and white-collar workers from Philadelphia.
“Philadelphia has the second largest concentration of our support group members,” Grant said, including Seth Williams, former Philadelphia district attorney, who Grant says attends regularly. Williams was released from prison earlier this year after serving time for his 2017 bribery conviction.
Grant was convicted after fraudulently obtaining $247,000 in federal aid soon the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, falsely claiming to have had a law office in lower Manhattan that had been shuttered by the disaster. He used the money to pay down personal credit cards. Meanwhile, his pain medication addiction ramped up, as did his marital problems.
“In 2002, I resigned my law license and started on the road to recovery. But it all caught up with me about two years later, when I was arrested” for misrepresenting information on his loan application. He served almost 14 months at a federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering.
“So much of my story is tied to my wife, Lynn Springer,” he said. They met in drug addiction recovery in Greenwich, Conn., and have been married for 11 years.
“I was a very bad bet, but she stayed with me through prison and the rough years after,” said Grant, based in Woodbury, Conn. He celebrated 18 years clean and sober on Aug. 10.
Basing it on a 12-step program, Grant created his support group for white collar criminals and their families after earning a divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York. He now hosts an online White Collar Support Group every Monday.
“Here’s what business owners should consider when they take out disaster loans. Certainly, the majority of people requesting these loans are honest and upstanding entrepreneurs who have immense need for the aid, and will use the funds properly,” he said. “That said, history has shown us again and again that when people are in dire need, they’re more prone to make impulsive, ill-advised decisions.”
“My hope is that sharing my experience will help others avoid the consequences I faced.”
Sometimes referred to in the business press as a “minister to hedge funders,” he uses his experience to guide families and professionals in their relationships, careers and businesses, and to help them to stop making the bad decisions that resulted in loss, suffering and shame.
Rampant SBA loan fraud today gives Grant’s story new relevance. Wells Fargo this week said it fired at least 100 bank employees for improperly receiving coronavirus relief funds, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also found more than 500 employees tapped the SBA’s disaster-loan program.
“What’s happening now is almost indescribable,” he said. “Nineteen years after committing my crime of SBA loan fraud, I’m now sought out both because of my cautionary tale and as a SBA loan fraud expert. Believe me, nobody was interested in the nuances of how bad things could happen in taking out disaster loans until COVID presented us with another huge disaster.”
Most recently, he hosted a podcast and interview with New Jersey politician Bill Baroni, who was imprisoned after the “Bridgegate” scandal with New Jersey governor Chris Christie, and had his felony conviction for corruption overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Grant’s white collar support group includes mostly executives, lawyers, and other professionals, and — yes, they are mostly white.
He has held over 200 online support group meetings and averages about 25 attendees at each meeting: https://prisonist.org/white-collar-support-group/.
Weekly meetings require registration ahead of time for privacy, and only first names are used. On Grant’s podcasts, all guests are post-sentencing or back from prison.
“How’d my life get there?” Baroni told Grant on a recent podcast. “I’d been a practicing lawyer, teaching constitutional law and voting rights, I ran for the legislature in 2003.”
“People have to make those tough decisions,” he said. “I wanted to get [his prison sentence] over with. When you go through this, all’s changed, changed utterly,” Baroni said.
When Christie was elected governor in 2009. Baroni ran the Port Authority overseeing all six airports in the New York-New Jersey area, the bridges and tunnels, the PATH train system, two bus terminals and the entire World Trade Center complex. Baroni served just under three months of an 18-month sentence, but was released after the Supreme Court agreed to hear his case.
Other guests aren’t as famous, but just as human.
For the episode “When Mom Goes to Prison,” Grant hosted a woman prosecuted for white-collar crimes.
Jacqueline Polverari, convicted in 2014 of mortgage fraud, and her two daughters Maria and Alexa contributed an intimate look inside how crime and prison ravage families, and the steps needed to heal and put families back together.
“I used mortgage funds to supplement my business,” Polverari told listeners. “My kids were in middle and high school. I knew I was being investigated by the FBI and I hadn’t told the kids. I was guilty, knew I was going to jail, so I sat the kids down and told them the truth.”
Her children didn’t comprehend the extent of her crimes. Jacqueline wasn’t sentenced for several years and her temper flared regularly.
“It was a long, drawn-out process. It started when i was a freshman in high school and didn’t end until she came home from jail my senior year of college,” Alexa said on the podcast. “She didn’t keep us in the dark. She told us the honest truth. That made it a little bit easier.”
More on SBA PPP & EIDL Loan Fraud:
Entrepreneur: I Went to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud: 7 Things You Should Know when Taking Covid-19 Disaster Relief Money, by Jeff Grant, Link to article here.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Steal Money from the Feds? First, Meet Jeff Grant, an Ex-Con who Committed Loan Fraud, by Erin Arvedlund: Link to article here.
Fraud Stories Podcast with Mark Lurie: SBA/PPP Loan Fraud with Guest: Jeff Grant. Link to podcast here.
Forbes: As Law Enforcement Pursues SBA Loan Fraud, Jeff Grant Talks Redemption, by Kelly Phillips Erb. Link to article here.
Taxgirl Podcast: Jeff Grant talks Desperation and Loans in a Time of Crisis with Kelly Phillips Erb on Her Podcast. Link to article and podcast here.
Business Talk with Jim Campbell: Jeff Grant Talks with Jim About Going to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud and What to Know When Taking Coronavirus Relief Money, Biz Talk Radio Network, Broadcast from 1490 AM WGCH Greenwich, CT. Listen on YouTube here.
Babz Rawls Ivy Show: Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant Talk SBA / PPP Loan Fraud and 7 Things to Know Before You Take Coronavirus Relief Money, WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven. Watch on YouTube here.
Also: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, Podcast Episode 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest Kelly Phillips Erb. Link here.
Philadelphia Inquirer: Steal Money from the Feds? First, Meet Jeff Grant, an Ex-Con who Committed Loan Fraud, by Erin Arvedlund. Feat. Seth Williams, Jacqueline Polverari & Bill Baroni
Reprinted from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Front Page, Oct. 18, 2020.
Thinking about stealing the government loan money you received in pandemic help?
Before you do, listen to Jeff Grant’s story.
But according to him, his new life was just beginning. And for small business owners feeling desperate — enough to steal — he’s created a safe place to talk anonymously and seek guidance.
Based online, the group attracts many business owners and white-collar workers from Philadelphia.
“Philadelphia has the second largest concentration of our support group members,” Grant said, including Seth Williams, former Philadelphia district attorney, who Grant says attends regularly. Williams was released from prison earlier this year after serving time for his 2017 bribery conviction.
Grant was convicted after fraudulently obtaining $247,000 in federal aid soon the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, falsely claiming to have had a law office in lower Manhattan that had been shuttered by the disaster. He used the money to pay down personal credit cards. Meanwhile, his pain medication addiction ramped up, as did his marital problems.
“In 2002, I resigned my law license and started on the road to recovery. But it all caught up with me about two years later, when I was arrested” for misrepresenting information on his loan application. He served almost 14 months at a federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering.
“So much of my story is tied to my wife, Lynn Springer,” he said. They met in drug addiction recovery in Greenwich, Conn., and have been married for 11 years.
“I was a very bad bet, but she stayed with me through prison and the rough years after,” said Grant, based in Woodbury, Conn. He celebrated 18 years clean and sober on Aug. 10.
Basing it on a 12-step program, Grant created his support group for white collar criminals and their families after earning a divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York. He now hosts an online White Collar Support Group every Monday.
“Here’s what business owners should consider when they take out disaster loans. Certainly, the majority of people requesting these loans are honest and upstanding entrepreneurs who have immense need for the aid, and will use the funds properly,” he said. “That said, history has shown us again and again that when people are in dire need, they’re more prone to make impulsive, ill-advised decisions.”
“My hope is that sharing my experience will help others avoid the consequences I faced.”
Sometimes referred to in the business press as a “minister to hedge funders,” he uses his experience to guide families and professionals in their relationships, careers and businesses, and to help them to stop making the bad decisions that resulted in loss, suffering and shame.
Rampant SBA loan fraud today gives Grant’s story new relevance. Wells Fargo this week said it fired at least 100 bank employees for improperly receiving coronavirus relief funds, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also found more than 500 employees tapped the SBA’s disaster-loan program.
“What’s happening now is almost indescribable,” he said. “Nineteen years after committing my crime of SBA loan fraud, I’m now sought out both because of my cautionary tale and as a SBA loan fraud expert. Believe me, nobody was interested in the nuances of how bad things could happen in taking out disaster loans until COVID presented us with another huge disaster.”
Most recently, he hosted a podcast and interview with New Jersey politician Bill Baroni, who was imprisoned after the “Bridgegate” scandal with New Jersey governor Chris Christie, and had his felony conviction for corruption overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Grant’s white collar support group includes mostly executives, lawyers, and other professionals, and — yes, they are mostly white.
He has held over 200 online support group meetings and averages about 25 attendees at each meeting: https://prisonist.org/white-collar-support-group/.
Weekly meetings require registration ahead of time for privacy, and only first names are used. On Grant’s podcasts, all guests are post-sentencing or back from prison.
“How’d my life get there?” Baroni told Grant on a recent podcast. “I’d been a practicing lawyer, teaching constitutional law and voting rights, I ran for the legislature in 2003.”
“People have to make those tough decisions,” he said. “I wanted to get [his prison sentence] over with. When you go through this, all’s changed, changed utterly,” Baroni said.
When Christie was elected governor in 2009. Baroni ran the Port Authority overseeing all six airports in the New York-New Jersey area, the bridges and tunnels, the PATH train system, two bus terminals and the entire World Trade Center complex. Baroni served just under three months of an 18-month sentence, but was released after the Supreme Court agreed to hear his case.
Other guests aren’t as famous, but just as human.
For the episode “When Mom Goes to Prison,” Grant hosted a woman prosecuted for white-collar crimes.
Jacqueline Polverari, convicted in 2014 of mortgage fraud, and her two daughters Maria and Alexa contributed an intimate look inside how crime and prison ravage families, and the steps needed to heal and put families back together.
“I used mortgage funds to supplement my business,” Polverari told listeners. “My kids were in middle and high school. I knew I was being investigated by the FBI and I hadn’t told the kids. I was guilty, knew I was going to jail, so I sat the kids down and told them the truth.”
Her children didn’t comprehend the extent of her crimes. Jacqueline wasn’t sentenced for several years and her temper flared regularly.
“It was a long, drawn-out process. It started when i was a freshman in high school and didn’t end until she came home from jail my senior year of college,” Alexa said on the podcast. “She didn’t keep us in the dark. She told us the honest truth. That made it a little bit easier.”
More on SBA PPP & EIDL Loan Fraud:
Entrepreneur: I Went to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud: 7 Things You Should Know when Taking Covid-19 Disaster Relief Money, by Jeff Grant, Link to article here.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Steal Money from the Feds? First, Meet Jeff Grant, an Ex-Con who Committed Loan Fraud, by Erin Arvedlund: Link to article here.
Fraud Stories Podcast with Mark Lurie: SBA/PPP Loan Fraud with Guest: Jeff Grant. Link to podcast here.
Forbes: As Law Enforcement Pursues SBA Loan Fraud, Jeff Grant Talks Redemption, by Kelly Phillips Erb. Link to article here.
Taxgirl Podcast: Jeff Grant talks Desperation and Loans in a Time of Crisis with Kelly Phillips Erb on Her Podcast. Link to article and podcast here.
Business Talk with Jim Campbell: Jeff Grant Talks with Jim About Going to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud and What to Know When Taking Coronavirus Relief Money, Biz Talk Radio Network, Broadcast from 1490 AM WGCH Greenwich, CT. Listen on YouTube here.
Babz Rawls Ivy Show: Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant Talk SBA / PPP Loan Fraud and 7 Things to Know Before You Take Coronavirus Relief Money, WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven. Watch on YouTube here.
Also: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, Podcast Episode 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest Kelly Phillips Erb. Link here.
Voting with a Felony – Find Your Eligibility in Minutes, by Chloe Coppola, Criminal Justice Advocate
Chloe Coppola is an Advocate with us at Progressive Prison Ministries. Among many other things, she organizes our online White Collar Support Group that meets on Zoom on Monday evenings, is a liaison and navigator on behalf of our group members, organizes our podcasts White Collar Week and Criminal Justice Insider, and is a dedicated researcher and writer on criminal, racial and women’s justice themes. Chloe can be reached at ccoppola@alumni.scu.edu and at LinkedIn.
Do you have a felony and want to vote? Click here to see your eligibility.
Click here for state-by-state voter registration deadlines.
“When we’re talking about voting rights in a country with the current highest incarceration rate in the world, felon voting rights cannot be subtext.”
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“Can a person convicted of a felony vote in the United States of America?”
If this question appeared on a test, I’d probably start sweating. You know, the kind of panic you feel when you should know the answer, but you’re not entirely sure. This is the kind of question that makes me think, “I must have learned about this at some point?”
But in the curriculum in my high school AP US History class, this subject was conspicuously absent.
In classrooms across the country, the issue of felon voting rights is often overlooked entirely or, at best, cited as one of the methods of minority voter suppression.
Outside of the classroom, I consumed most information about the criminal justice system through police procedural tv shows, and on Judge Judy. Somewhere along the line, I came to assume all people convicted of a felony lost their right to vote. Period. That has to be the law of the land of a Dick Wolf-approved script, right?
As it turns out, I’m not the only one who was wrong. Simply, people convicted of a felony can vote in most states.
When we’re talking about voting rights in a country with the current highest incarceration rate in the world, felon voting rights cannot be subtext.
While Maine and Vermont are the only states with no voting restrictions, and even allow people currently incarcerated to vote, if you live elsewhere, the process of restoring your vote must be examined on a state-by-state basis. Luckily, instead of us diving into these complexities, there’s an easier and faster approach. The good folks at the Campaign Legal Center have made it easy. They have created a quiz to help people convicted of a felony understand their voting rights in an accessible and comprehensible way. Try it yourself and share it with others, here: restoreyourvote.org.
When we talk about “low voter turnout” among marginalized communities, we cannot blame the individuals. Instead, we must examine and understand the systemic oppression in which these people exist. What barriers are preventing them from voting? Are we talking about these barriers in an accessible way? How do we uphold democracy when millions are increasingly disenfranchised?
According to The Sentencing Project, “[as of 2016], African American disenfranchisement rates in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia now exceed 20 percent of the adult voting age population. In fact, whereas only 9 states disenfranchised at least 5 percent of their African American adult citizens in 1980, 23 states do so today.” This trend is entirely unacceptable.
The more we uncover and address the systemic barriers put in place to silence the communities most negatively affected by the governments’ policies, the more can have fair and unbiased elections.
What can any individual do? Write your legislators, make yourself known, help register the sick and the elderly…
And most importantly – VOTE!
Sources:
Yodit Tewolde, NAACP Instagram Live 9/23/2020 9:45 pm EST
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/07/poll-prri-voter-suppression/565355/
https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/felon-voting-rights.aspx
https://www.ncsc.org/trends/monthly-trends-articles/2019/the-future-of-restoring-voting-rights-for-exfelons
https://www.sentencingproject.org/criminal-justice-facts/
https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/6-million-lost-voters-state-level-estimates-felony-disenfranchisement-2016/
https://wegotthevote.org/finesandfees/
Bozelko Column: Prison Prep for Emergencies Lacking
Chandra Bozelko writes the award-winning blog Prison Diaries. You can follow her on Twitter at @ChandraBozelko and email her at outlawcolumn@gmail.com. She is a member of our White Collar Support Group that meets online on Zoom on Monday evenings.
Originally posted on The Pueblo Chieftain on Sep 18, 2020 at 7:24 AM
Columns share an author’s personal perspective.
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As fires threatened Coffee Creek State Prison in Oregon Sept. 10, guards evacuated it. When women arrived at a new facility, no clean clothes awaited them and there were no mattresses. In the 8 ½-hour bus trip, they were forced to soil themselves and throw used tampons out the window, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
More than 700 inmates moved out of a federal prison in Beaumont, Texas, in late August before Hurricane Laura hit. And more were taken out of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, jail before Hurricane Sally pounded the Gulf Coast.
These evacuations and transfers haven’t been totally calamitous but they came close. Violence in prisons is more likely during transport, says one study from City University of New York’s Graduate Center, probably because there are few firm plans for unexpected transfers of large groups; the Coffee Creek staff operated from an earthquake plan in place even though the chance of a major earthquake affecting Oregon is slim, according to experts.
The backup generator blew during Hurricane Sandy when I was at York Correctional Institution in Connecticut. Because all the locks were electric, none of the cells were bolted. I’m still not sure that any locked door stood in my way, but plenty of skittish guards did. An unlockable prison frightened them.
It’s why every single prison and jail must have an emergency preparedness plan for every conceivable natural disaster and breakdown of protocols, like the busted generator, on file with the governor’s office in the state where they’re located.
Only about 29% of facilities have a dedicated disaster department and plan, according to a 2013 student dissertation on disaster practices in prisons – the only comprehensive document on such preparedness in existence.
The only person or agency to bother to collect this information was a candidate for a doctoral degree in Law and Policy at Northeastern University. The Federal Emergency Management Agency doesn’t have a depository of information, nor does the Department of Justice. If Dr. Melissa Savilonis Surette hadn’t undertaken this inquiry, no one would know how little prepared prisons are.
Not only did Surette fill this informational hole, she exposed that the people who run these places don’t care enough to answer questions about it. When she sent surveys to various wardens, the response rate was low.
The lack of a plan can be deadly. More than 6,500 inmates were in Orleans Parish Prison during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and they weren’t evacuated until flooding in the first-floor cells was chest-high, according to Human Rights Watch. No one compiled records of inmate deaths from that storm, but 517 inmates were never accounted for.
In 2018 Hurricane Florence struck South Carolina and two detainees drowned while they were being taken from a locked psychiatric facility; the deputies transporting them ignored warnings to take another route, according to a federal lawsuit. Manslaughter charges remain pending against them.
We think the least dangerous prison is the one that’s tightly sealed, but that’s not always the case. Essential to any prison’s safety is its ability to release people without incident; some situations make confinement the less-safe option.
This became exceedingly clear during the COVID-19 epidemic, when the density of prisons made transmission more likely behind bars and made it less likely to be contained. Thousands of inmates were let go, mostly because no correctional facility has an Influenza Specialty Care Unit to isolate people with communicable diseases. While we labeled this response “early release” because it was selective, it was really an evacuation.
But don’t assume that an evacuation is an evacuation, and as long as people get out it’s a success. That’s only partly true. Transporting inmates to a field in an earthquake would be wise – most earthquake deaths are due to falling structures or debris. But that same field in a fire would be catastrophic; fire can burn through grass at 14 miles per hour. That means a football field would be burned in less than 17 seconds. Even the routes to take in flight are important, as the deaths of the two women in South Carolina prove. Emptying out a prison in a natural disaster is no time to improvise.
What underpins this complete neglect of disaster preparedness, of course, is the idea that inmate lives are expendable; preparedness is a safeguard on their lives. The good citizen who believes that inmate deaths justify forgoing an evacuation plan forgets that the likelihood an inmate will die is lower than the chance he’ll escape. A man broke out of a Texas jail Sept. 4 because of damage from Hurricane Laura – and none died. Inmates sprung themselves from a British Virgin Islands prison during Hurricane Irma in 2017 leaving 100 empty beds – but zero packed body bags.
In the choice between a dead prisoner or one who’s roaming the streets, paranoid and desperate because he’s the subject of a fervent hunt, I say choose a vetted emergency plan instead – before either of those events happens.
A global pandemic comes around every century or so; I understand why a facility wouldn’t have had a plan for COVID-19 on file. But hurricanes, many of them, whirl in annually and threaten life and property. We expect fires on the West Coast every year; the combination of wind events and dry conditions practically guarantee them, because human folly – gender reveal parties with fireworks near dry brush and people hammering metal to create sparks – is so reliable.
Disasters are routine for prisons, inside and out. Yet 71% of prisons and jails haven’t formulated any disaster preparedness scheme to respond to them. That must end. No prison or jail should be allowed to operate without one.
Fraud Stories Podcast with Mark Lurie, SBA/PPP Loan Fraud, with Guest: Jeff Grant of White Collar Week
Fraud Stories Podcast with Mark Lurie
SBA/PPP Loan Fraud with Guest: Jeff Grant of White Collar Week
Link here.
I am honored to have been the first guest and expert on Mark Lurie’s new podcast, Fraud Stories. Mark, a Harvard undergrad/Harvard Business School alum and blockchain fraud identity expert, has undertaken this project with Au10tix.com, a world leader in identity verification. This is is a great interview – it’s hard to believe how much important and useful information about SBA loan fraud Mark got me sharing in only 26 minutes. Definitely a “must-listen-to” podcast. – Jeff
Link to Fraud stories podcast…
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If you have a friend, family member, colleague or client with a white collar justice issue, please forward this email; they can reach us anytime – day or night! Our contact info: http://prisonist.org/contact-us.
Information About our White Collar Support Group…
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More on SBA PPP & EIDL Loan Fraud:
Entrepreneur: I Went to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud: 7 Things You Should Know when Taking Covid-19 Disaster Relief Money, by Jeff Grant, Link to article here.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Steal Money from the Feds? First, Meet Jeff Grant, an Ex-Con who Committed Loan Fraud, by Erin Arvedlund: Link to article here.
Fraud Stories Podcast with Mark Lurie: SBA/PPP Loan Fraud with Guest: Jeff Grant. Link to podcast here.
Forbes: As Law Enforcement Pursues SBA Loan Fraud, Jeff Grant Talks Redemption, by Kelly Phillips Erb. Link to article here.
Taxgirl Podcast: Jeff Grant talks Desperation and Loans in a Time of Crisis with Kelly Phillips Erb on Her Podcast. Link to article and podcast here.
Business Talk with Jim Campbell: Jeff Grant Talks with Jim About Going to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud and What to Know When Taking Coronavirus Relief Money, Biz Talk Radio Network, Broadcast from 1490 AM WGCH Greenwich, CT. Listen on YouTube here.
Babz Rawls Ivy Show: Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant Talk SBA / PPP Loan Fraud and 7 Things to Know Before You Take Coronavirus Relief Money, WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven. Watch on YouTube here.
Also: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, Podcast Episode 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest Kelly Phillips Erb. Link here.
Blessings, לשלום
Jeff
Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he, him, his)
Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide
Co-host, The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast
Host, White Collar Week
Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798
Website: prisonist.org
Email: jgrant@prisonist.org
Office: 203-405-6249
Donations (501c3): http://bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ
Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/jeff-grant-woodbury-ct/731344
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/revjeffgrant
not a prison coach, not a prison consultant
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice community. Founded by husband and wife, Jeff Grant and Lynn Springer in Greenwich CT in 2012, we incorporated as a nonprofit in Connecticut in 2014, and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015. Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive and religious leadership. As Jeff was incarcerated for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001, he and Lynn have a first-hand perspective on the trials and tribulations that white-collar families have to endure as they navigate the criminal justice system and life beyond.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is nonsectarian, serving those of all faiths, or no faith whatsoever. To date we have helped over three hundred fifty (350) individuals, and their families, to accept responsibility for their actions and to acknowledge the pain they have caused to others. In accordance with our commitment to restorative justice, we counsel our members to make amends as a first step in changing their lives and moving towards a new spiritual way of living centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance, empathy and service to others. Our team has grown to over ten people, most with advanced degrees, all of whom are currently volunteering their time and resources.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. We have found that these individuals are suffering from a void but are stuck, and don’t know what to do about it. Our objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems. Many of those we counsel are in a place where their previous lives have come to an end due to their transgressions. In many cases their legal problems have led to divorce, estrangement from their children, families, friends and support communities, and loss of a career. The toll this takes on individuals and families is emotionally devastating. White-collar crimes are often precipitated by other issues in the offenders’ lives such as alcohol or drug abuse, and/or a physical or mental illness that lead to financial issues that overwhelms their ability to be present for themselves and their families and cause poor decision making. We recognize that life often presents us with such circumstances, sometimes which lead us to make mistakes in violation of the law.
All conversations and communications between our ordained ministry, and licensed clinical relationships, and those we serve fall under state privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with us while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
If you, a friend, family member, colleague or client are suffering from a white collar criminal justice issue or are experiencing some other traumatic or life-altering event, and would like to find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what seems like insurmountable problems, please contact us to schedule an initial call or appointment.
Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.
Understanding Trauma: A White Collar Perspective, by Basia Skudryzk
Basia Skudryzk is a team member of our ministry, and a member of our White Collar Support Group that meets online on Zoom on Monday evenings, 7:00 pm ET, 6:00 pm CT, 5:00 pm MT, 4:00 pm PT.
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While the term trauma was originally largely confined to medicine and psychotherapy, it’s found its way into everyday language, where it is often used, semantically overstretched, for any form of painful or frustrating experience. Yes, even for the infamous word…Covid-19.
We have learned that trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body. This imprint has ongoing consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present. Trauma results in a fundamental reorganization of the way mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think.
Traumatic events encompass anything from a sexual assault or physical/mental abuse to a cancer diagnosis. “By abuse, we often mean things that are a lot milder than things people typically think of as abuse. It might include being hit with a hard object, like a whip, a belt, or a paddle,” says Roberts. “The behavior doesn’t necessarily need to be illegal to induce a traumatic response.”
People who experience traumatic events sometimes develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD. PTSD can develop after a person experiences violence or the threat of violence, including sexual violence. It may affect people who have a close relative who experienced those things as well. These traumatic events are generally incidents that are considered outside the ordinary and are exceptional in their intensity.
Avoidance of painful intrusions as a measure of self-protection is only one of the reasons that makes it difficult to share a traumatic experience with others. There are many other reasons such as: speaking about what happened can be subject to interdiction, social taboo, or shame; a common ground of experience or knowledge is missing; one does not want to burden others with one’s own pain; the violation and the suffering have not yet been socially acknowledged.
“[A]nyone speaking or writing about concentration camps is still regarded as suspect; and if the speaker has resolutely returned to the world of the living, he himself is often assailed by doubts with regard to his own truthfulness, as though he had mistaken a nightmare for reality.” (Arendt 1951/1979: 439)
Our risk for mental and physical health problems from a past trauma goes up with the number of events we’ve experienced. For example, your risk for problems is much higher if you’ve had three or more negative experiences, called adverse childhood experiences (ACEs.. Adverse events include physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, witnessing domestic violence, substance misuse within the household, mental illness within the household, parental separation or divorce and incarceration of a household member.
While severely traumatic events are believed to have the greatest effect on long-term health, other stressful events that don’t necessarily meet the psychological definition of trauma can still cause problems. This might include a sudden death in the family, a stressful divorce, or caring for someone with a chronic or debilitating illness. These milder events might lead to a mental health disorder, such as anxiety or depression. Trauma pushes your ability to cope, so if you have a predisposition toward anxiety, for example, it may push you over the edge.
People who are suffering from traumatic memories may try to escape them by participating in risky behaviors such as drinking, smoking, drug use, compromising behavior for acceptance or even overeating for comfort. Coping mechanisms are used as a way of dealing with emotional disregulation that occurs when someone has been traumatized. These habits, in turn, lead to health problems. Experts believe that there is actually a direct biological effect that occurs when your body undergoes extreme stress. When you experience something anxiety-provoking, your stress response activates. Your body produces more adrenaline, your heart races, and your body primes itself to react. Someone who has experienced trauma may have stronger surges of adrenaline and experience them more often than someone who has not had the same history.
People who have experienced trauma may also struggle with getting help. One of the most common outcomes of trauma is avoidance. It makes sense. If you experience something traumatic, you want to avoid thinking about it and going to places that remind you of it. Some people may be in denial about the role past trauma is playing in their life. One of the hallmarks of trauma is the fact that people often use defense mechanisms to protect themselves from stress. Denial is one of those, as is trying to normalize past problems.
To get more information about trauma and PTSD or to find treatment resources, the following professional resources may be of use:
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The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (www.istss.org)
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The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (www.adaa.org)
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The National Center for PTSD (www.ptsd.va.gov)