When I considered what
I would do to experience a side of the community I have not been exposed to, I concluded
that visiting the county court would be an enlightening experience for me. I
have always found law to be a fascinating subject, but to see it in action was
something entirely different. Through this experience I learned a lot about the
less privileged side of society here in Utah County.
Before the session of
court began, I sat down in the back of the court room and observed the accused
who sat in the stands. For some reason I was shocked to actually see chains and
hand cuffs on these people. I thought that that was something one saw only in
the movies, but this was real life. As I looked around at these unfortunate
souls I wondered what brought them to this point. Was it their background or
was it by the influence of someone they knew? I soon learned that while each
person’s situation was entirely different, they all shared one thing; none of
them had any cultural capital. These poor souls were in situations where they
did not have the resources to rise to a better life. One poor woman was
homeless and she freely admitted that she had no choice but to steal because it
was the only way she could survive! Being homeless left her without any
resources but her own choices. Other of the accused had jobs but were
influenced by their social capital, or their friends at work. They became
addicted to drugs because their friends offered it to them. Hearing their
different testimonies helped me to see the importance of having cultural and
social capital and how they can help or hurt a person in society.
In my observations
before the trial I made some pretty quick judgments. Many people on the stands
were drug addicts. Before the proceedings, I overheard one man who fell into
this category also had a family. I immediately thought how rude and selfish
this man must be to get involved in drugs when he has kids and a wife at home.
However, when he stood to give his testimony I was shocked to hear his tale. He
shared his sad background and how he got wrapped up in drugs. It was only after
this testimony that I realized that I had fundamentally attributed his
situation to his personality. I had assumed that he was a selfish man to do
this to his family but once I actually heard the poor man’s story I realized
that I had committed the fundamental attribution error because it was his
situation that got him involved in drugs. This occurred quite frequently
throughout the proceedings. I realized the value of a judge hearing a testimony
before assigning bail.
In addition to my
judgment errors, I noticed that throughout the proceedings the judges or
defendants frequently used their privileged background and discrimination in
making judgment calls. For example one Hispanic woman had been caught with
cocaine in her purse. When the judge turned the time over to the state of Utah,
the man at the bar proceeded to totally trash this poor lady. I counted he
called her “stupid” at least three times in about a minute. This poor woman was
an illegal immigrant and the man at the bar used this against her. He just kept
saying how foolish she was to put drugs in her purse and get caught with it! If
there had been a White woman up there I am not sure the man would have used
such ugly language. This same lady was assigned around $30,000 in bail and from
what I could tell most of that was because she was an illegal immigrant. On the
contrary a White man shortly after her was also caught with drugs. He, on the
other hand was only assigned about $200 in bail. This man had an “honorable”
job with the city so it seemed the judge took that into account when assigning
bail. This man had slightly more privileged circumstances than the immigrant
woman, and it showed in the bail assigned to him. It was sad to see this
blatant discrimination between races as well as the use of the bias of
privileged circumstances in assigning bail.
Finally throughout the
court session I noticed that the accused were all there for varying degrees of
crime. There was anything from petty theft to child kidnapping in that room.
Through the differences in crime I could clearly see the hierarchy of personal
values seep through. The homeless lady stole because, as she said in her
testimony, she had no other choice. It was her only way to survive. This woman
valued survival over obedience to the law. One woman on the stand however,
seemed to value repentance. She had become involved in a life of drugs but when
she got to the stand I almost cried for this woman. With tears in her eyes she
stood at the podium and expressed her true desire to change and get off of
drugs. Although she acknowledged that it clearly was easier said than done,
this woman seemed to really value that change. While I did not think that
criminals could possibly have personal values, this woman showed me otherwise.
Everyone has values and although you may not act on them all the time, they are
there.
This experience in a
county court session truly enlightened me. My experiences are totally
applicable to my classroom as well. If I can acknowledge the importance of
cultural and social capital I can better understand why some students will do
the things they do. Maybe they will steal a neighbors pencil but perhaps it was
because they do not have the resources to become successful at school. I can
learn to recognize these kinds of “symptoms” so that I can better help my
students. Also if I recognize that I can easily fall prey to the fundamental
attribution error it will be easier for me to stop myself before I hurt a
student’s feelings or jump to conclusions about the way they behave. Finally if
I recognize that not everyone has a life of privilege and that can lead to
discrimination, I will be able to prevent hurtful discrimination in the
classroom. I can also provide an equitable atmosphere in my classroom so that
the underprivileged do not feel left out in my class. I am glad I had this
experience so I could learn how to incorporate some of these serious issues
into my own classroom learning.
