Sunny Schwartz's Dreams From The Monster Factory

For a long time, jails have been delineated as a common breeding ground for crime and violence, considering recidivism remains a high probability among many offenders. Sunny Schwartz’s enthralling book Dreams From the Monster Factory highlights her mission to break the conventional method of incarcerating violent criminals through the concept of “restorative justice.” Through restorative justice, both victims of violence and offenders seek to mediate a meaningful restoration agreement that will satisfy everyone that was hurt. At the same time, communities and local governments will be involved to heal the destruction caused by crime. Schwartz is a believer of hope; if someone can just provide real opportunity and possess the audacity to venture …show more content…
Although Schwartz held an intimate relationship with her father, it was filled with violence and uncertainty for the most part. She admits, “Truth be told, I didn’t feel safe in my house. Between my dad and the torment of my two older brothers, I didn’t feel safe.” (15-16) Consequently, this led to Schwartz adopting many of the same tempers her father had. Since she wasn’t taught the proper way to manage that rage, it eventually negatively affected her personal relationships later on her life. In her book, Schwartz writes about a dream that her brother Stevie, was apart of. It goes on about Stevie asking her what she would do with an angry bear trapped alone in the forest. Later on, Schwartz concludes why she was having that dream and discovers that she was that angry bear (125). This evidently shows that the inmates weren’t the only ones who had an internal struggle with managing their emotions; Schwartz shared the same issues but unlike the inmates, she didn’t resort to violence to deal with her problems. Therefore, growing up in an abusive family where she was regularly tormented motivated Schwartz to change her life for the