Incarceration and the Art of Reconciliation: Resentment, Recognition, and Reframing Past Wrongs

How should we respond to past wrongs? Although answers typically turn to abstract arguments about forgiveness, this article focuses instead on a concrete case of right resentment, one found in Deborah A. Miranda’s memoirs about her formerly incarcerated father. Contrary to a common assumption, resentment is not all bad. Unfortunately, it tends to dehumanize wrongdoers and so, ironically, render them no longer responsible—or resentable. Right resentment, by contrast, holds wrongdoers responsible while recognizing their humanity—a balance achieved through the art of reframing, exemplified by the poetic practices Miranda employs. The ability to reframe—to reconcile a wrongdoer’s conflicting characteristics—is no mere luxury, but a moral necessity, especially in our era of mass incarceration. Consequently, each of us has a right to narrative capabilities—the storytelling skills and opportunities we need to make sense of the multidimensional self—as well as a responsibility to cultivate those capabilities in others and ourselves.