REHABILITATION IS CRUCIAL

Rehabilitation is a crucial step in a slaves road to freedom and true happiness. When I talk about rehabilitation I am talking about the dictionary definition of the word, to restore to a former state or capacity. I am not just talking about an actual rehabilitation center although sometimes that is necessary, especially when drug addictions are involved. A slave can also be rehabilitated through education, entrepreneurship, and by finding meaning in life. The horrors of slavery are not things that can easily be forgotten. "To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains," -Nelson Mandela The Impossible Will Take a Little While. Someone who has physically escaped enslavement might still be burdened psychologically. Slaves who suffer from drug addictions desperately need rehabilitation. Their drug addictions can cause them to return to brothel that they have escaped from. "The challenge for every prisoner, particularly political prisoners, is how to survive prison intact, how to emerge from prison undiminished, how to conserve and even replenish one's beliefs." -Nelson Mandela. In Victor E. Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning Frankl observed three mental reactions a prisoner has. He observed this while imprisoned in German concentration camps. Frankl talks in terms of a prisoner but his work can just as easily be applied to slavery. These prisoners were forced to do work against their will for no pay so they were slaves. The first mental reaction a prisoner experiences is shock to the horrors of slavery or imprisonment. The prisoner witnesses atrocities that occur without any recourse. The second is a state of apathy that the prisoner adopts as a necessary protective mechanism. The prisoner regresses to a more primitive mental state. He must learn to value only what helps him survive. The third reaction occurs after the prisoners release and liberation. The prisoner suffers from severe disillusionment with life outside of prison or slavery. This new found freedom is different from what they expected. They are physically free but mentally and emotionally scarred. That is why some type of rehabiltation or therapy is necessary. Education is a great way to start a new life outside of slavery. It gives you increased job oppurtunities which allow you to provide for yourself. Entrepreneurship is also great because it gives a former slave a sense of accomplishment. They are able to provide for themselves which makes them feel empowered. Frankl states that the way to find true happiness is by finding meaning in life. the main way to find meaning in life is by creating something or doing a deed.