My Personal Experience on House Arrest: How Did it Feel?
When I stood in the courtroom that fateful day to face the rap, I had to hide my inner smile as I heard those beautiful sweet words “sentenced to house arrest“ come out of the Judges’ mouth. At that moment in time, I must admit, I was giddy, thinking this would be a breeze.
I must also admit, I am an absolute idiot.
Yup, I had no clue what was in store for me. No freaking clue. You hear so many stories of privileged people in the world who serve their sentences on House Arrest, and instantly think How hard could it be?
How Hard is House Arrest?
House Arrest is extremely hard and complicated for anyone, however, much less so (like many things in this world) if you happen to be rich.
Assuming you are not some dictator of a third-world country, nor some coked-up Hollywood starlet who’s crashed her third Bentley into a school bus this year, and are just some normal random asshole like myself, it will test every fiber of your mental and emotional being and be one of the most grueling challenges an ordinary human could ever endure. Fun times, huh… yeah, well wait, there’s a lot more:
What happens when you are put on House Arrest?
Simply put, house arrest is a punishment by law where you are confined by the authorities to your residence or another specified location as an alternative to serving out your sentence in jail/prison. The term House Arrest is used interchangeably with other names such as:
- Curfew
- Community control
- Supervision
- Home detention
- Home confinement
- Electronic Surveillance
- Electronic Monitoring
The more often widely used House Arrest (my fave), is the more popular household term (pun intended). Although the terminology and what it’s called will vary by individual from state to state (country to country), one thing universally recognized as the same is the absolute horror of it all.
Your residence, for all practical purposes, has taken the place of a cell. Your cellmates, for all practical purposes, are comprised of your family (lucky them).
Aside from being confined to their ~cell~ home, participants in this program have major restrictions imposed, such as:
- Curfew.
- Weekly reporting/scheduling/accounting of time and whereabouts to probation officer/probation office.
- Random (unplanned) (awkward) drug testing.
- Frequent (unplanned) and (awkward) random visits by a probation officer to your place of residence and/or work.
- Use a stylish ankle bracelet (electronic monitoring) to gauge your whereabouts 24/7.
One note on (GPS) ankle monitoring; If you do happen to be in the fortunate group not needing to wear one, congrats! On the other hand, if you happen to be in the unfortunate gang needing to rock one, fret not my confined friend. Just keep reading, as I’m certain you’re bound (no pun intended/sorry, I’ll stop) to get some useful info that may be applicable to your given situation.
House Arrest allows you the opportunity to keep your job(s) or go out and seek employment (that is always a fun experience), keep family responsibilities, attend rehabilitation programs and therapy, school, religious services, doctor, and even in some cases grocery shopping and dry cleaning.
House Arrest is a way of serving your time while under heavy supervision of the court, all in an effort to show that you are of better use and value to the world than being locked in a cage.
The courts are then able to save the state some money by not having to house a prisoner, all while allowing them the opportunity to (re) integrate with society.
You would think win, win right? Wrong. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as House Arrest (by design) is almost ~ designed for failure, seeing as there is a very strong possibility that you will violate and/or re-offend. Over a fifty percent chance to be more precise.
Read that part again.
There are heavy odds stacked against you that you’re going to mess this thing up. It is called recidivism, and it should scare the living hell out of you. You may say How on earth could I mess this up? Why on Earth would I?
Simply put, many individuals really have no clue of just how grueling House Arrest will be and are not prepared. I know I wasn’t.
The House Arrest Experience
As a result, most, if not all that opt for House Arrest as their punishment are ill-prepared for what lies ahead. In a nutshell, life and all the constant and never-ending bullshit problems that come with it, but now with more stipulations and restrictions attached.
Be that as it may, it seems nowadays that house arrest has gained a bit of cache, as it has gone mainstream and become en-vogue in pop culture. Everyone from Wall Street swindlers, celebrities, down to your local neighborhood fraudster are lobbying for it.
Is House Arrest Stressful?
Yes, it is, positively, one of the most stressful (if not THE most stressful) experiences of my life I have ever had to deal with – and outside of a personal battle someone would have with cancer, this would probably constitute the worst experience someone has in their life. Yep, if you had to rank them (in no particular order)….
- Divorce
- Death
- Getting Disfigured
- Cancer
- Prison
- House Arrest
How does it feel to be on House Arrest?
There is a misnomer among individuals that House Arrest is soft, thinking you could sit at home all cozy and Netflix the night away, all while having free access to all the luxuries that life has to offer. Yeah, um, not exactly.
House Arrest has a very insidious nature to it, hell-bent on destroying all aspects of your life and those around them till there is nothing left. House arrest is a mindfuc*.
Something that looks promising, appealing, and quite doable from the outside, yet is host to logistical and technical nightmares that interfere with everyday real-life living, almost tempting one to run afoul of the law (violation).
Now to those on the outside looking in, I know what you would like to say: Boo-hoo. Deal with it, this is your punishment. Yeah, yeah… just understand the tremendous toll it has on your loved ones.
Watch as it infects you personally, professionally, physically, and financially. All slowly and methodically. Very calculating. Soon, misery will ensue. Shortly thereafter, nothing will be left (friends, family, employment, your mind – all could be lost).
Things can go very dark very quick, and you could lose your mind. I am telling you, House Arrest is no joke, as you can find yourself in a very bad place with your mental health.
It is a different form of lockdown and survival mode, but an all too familiar set of emotions and feelings attached as one would have surrounded by concrete walls. The monotony of day-to-day living can wear you out.
Wash, Rinse, Repeat. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
Pile up the additional stress of family, work, and bills, as food, clothing, and shelter are not provided, and that ends up making a lot of individuals go ahead and opt for jail or prison with a smile on their faces.
Loyalty and trust all come into question, spilling into very contentious, bitter disagreements. The divorce rate is already over fifty percent (not like that number needs any help) and now you stack this little legal hiccup you’re going through in life on top of an already frosty relationship with your husband or wife, and your significant other may just throw in the towel.
Moving on to a lighter note, there are some positive benefits to being on House Arrest…
What Are the Big Benefits of Being on House Arrest?
Home Confinement is a less severe punishment that allows you much greater freedom and flexibility for you to live and maintain your life – as opposed to adhering to a super strict schedule while being locked up.
Imagine… you get to eat what you want, when you want, watch your TV, be up on all shows, surf the net, and even manage your sleep schedule. You get to shit when you want, without having an audience.
You can have company (normal non-conjugal visits) and visitors may come by at almost any time, although a curfew might be in place that limits contact after a specific time.
Home Incarceration provides a structured yet flexible environment that allows you to serve out your punishment.
I guess the biggest upside of House Arrest is the ability to enjoy your privacy. You don’t realize the little things that we take for granted in life, that all go away when our freedom is taken from us, and we are forced to adhere to someone else’s strict monitoring.
Once again, House Arrest is no joke (THIS IS NOT A STRICTER FORM OF COMMUNITY SERVICE – that is incorrect) but even more so, Prison is no joke.
Introverts and homebodies will have less issues to contend with than your average social butterfly. Ironically, they are now armed and fully loaded with the perfect excuse to not attend certain get-togethers, functions, and/or bullshit functions with family members.
I myself have partaken and enjoyed this glorious benefit many times getting to weasel out of certain social functions.
I need you to pick me up at the airport…Sorry, I can’t, I’m on House Arrest.
Can you stop and get some eggs from the store after you get off work? No can do…. I have to get home, I’m on House Arrest.
Hey Felon, you wanna hang out and go do something this weekend? No. I don’t really like you. Plus, I can’t since I’m on house arrest. Maybe next time.
Like I said, you are now armed with the gold standard of all legitimate excuses. Use responsibly, my friend.
Who is eligible for House Arrest?
House Arrest is not just handed out to anyone. To be eligible, some criteria must be met to retain this option, such as:
- First-time offender
- No violent crimes/non violent offenses
- Those considered non-flight risks
- Stable or maintaining employment
- Strong community ties
- Dependent care (responsible for the well-being of others)
Sorry, Not Eligible….
All of these factors come into play, with the vantage point from the court being that you are less likely to break the terms and conditions of home confinement with all that on the line.
Bear in mind, that you may be placed on electronic monitoring (by way of a GPS monitor), in order to not be considered a flight risk.
Why Choose House Arrest as Punishment?
This brings us to the big question and for someone to ask why. Why opt for this route – I mean, isn’t there an easier alternative? Would you like to be on House Arrest? How would you feel on House Arrest?
Despite anything negative, House Arrest is still considered a great privilege. You are given great power and (somewhat) control over your well-being. As the saying, with that comes great responsibility.
It’s an opportunity to show off your character without incident in this skewed legal scenario, all in an effort for it to lead to something positive. You also get the little things and the creature comforts. Your privacy, and the opportunity to be physically present for certain special moments.
The small things in life that are sometimes taken for granted, not realizing that they’re a big deal. And you obviously wouldn’t get to enjoy them with the alternative – serving out your punishment with jail time or prison.
As weird and sad as it sounds, many would prefer the actual prison sentence, as it eliminates the threat of violations (over fifty percent, remember) than having to start from scratch.
In essence, it’s gambling, as you’re betting on yourself. Only with the odds stacked heavily against someone to violate, the debate lingers on as to who benefits more on a supervision program, the $tate or the offender?
Also, not to minimize the role, but family, friends, counselors, probation and parole officers, et cetera, can all offer support, but in the end, it is up to you to gamble heavily on yourself, bet the house (pun intended), and beat the odds.
Conclusion
When I got done with House Arrest, I felt like one of those athletes who competed in a decathlon. I was exhausted, depleted, and spent. Weirdly enough though, I was very proud of myself.
I mean, I know what I did to land myself in this predicament, but I was proud that I didn’t compromise everything (thus landing my ass with jail time) by doing something stupid (not that I wasn’t tempted).
Completing my house arrest sentence was an extremely stressful experience that required discipline and self-reflection to survive and get through the challenge.
During that time, I focused on self-improvement. I was writing, working out, studying, and reading up on different subject matter that I had never thought of, in order to occupy my time, all of which helped me stay positive and productive.
As I said, things can go dark for you very quickly if you are not prepared to deal with the challenges at hand when serving a House Arrest sentence, but for the determined individual, you may just come out of it stronger and more improved than ever.
