INDIANAPOLIS — More than 25,000 Hoosiers are incarcerated, but not all of them will be there for the rest of their lives. University of Indianapolis students learned how difficult it could be to get back on their feet after being in jail.
The Indiana Department of Correction visited campus and asked criminal justice students to roleplay as recently-released former criminals. They were asked to rebuild their lives while avoiding setbacks or additional jail time.
"I always hear, 'There's no way it's this difficult,'" said John Mather of the Indiana Department of Correction. "I talk to them and say, 'Absolutely it is this difficult.'"
Players had to buy a new ID card and make money any way they could, including by taking out high-interest loans and selling plasma. They often faced obstacles such as failing sobriety tests and missing meetings with parole officers.
Alyssa Brook hopes to become a social worker for recently incarcerated women after graduation. She said her experience playing the game helped her understand the stress and frustration they face on the outside.
"It puts it into perspective that you just get stuck," Brook said. "You don't know what to do first."
Brook's character was put in jail during the game.
"It just felt like a mess," Brook said. "I said, 'I don't even know anymore.' I don't know where to go, I don't know what to do. Just put me back in jail.'"
"Rehabilitation to me is the full picture," Mather said. "It's somebody who can get out and be in a better situation than they were prior to coming to the department of correction."
According to the Indiana Department of Correction's most recent report, more than 7,000 former inmates are currently out on parole.
