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If I had to characterize Jim Chapman in a single though, I'd have
to say that he's a "nice guy." That may seem to be a strange
thing to say about a young man serving time for burglary, but
James Chapman is not at all an usual convict.
Almost since his birth he seems to have been ill-fated, destined, against his will, to be institutionalized, a whole life of being locked away, more because of cruel circumstances than because of evil intent. In spite of his harsh fate, Jim is a friendly man, tolerant, forgiving, sensitive and almost naive. He's understandably lonesome and frustrated, but also ambitious, mercantile and never self-pitying. While he likes to help people he's been hurt so often that he's made very few close friends. One can easily understand why. Jim's been rejected and betrayed, discarded by his family and by society. Yet at 15 years of age, almost all of which he'd spend in institutions, he altruisticly volunteered to help Habitat for the Humanities and also volunteered to help out in a local soup kitchen. In his mid-twenties, James Chapman is a big man, six feet, two inches tall and heavy, perhaps 280 pounds, a kind of friendly, playful bear. He was born just on the cusp of Virgo and Libra, 22 September 1980 in Jamestown, New York. His father died when he was two and, sad to say, his mother, rejected him. Through no fault of his, Jim's mother seems never to have wanted or liked him. That's got to be shattering for a child's psyche. He never criticizes her, but says they weren't close. He expresses little affection for her or for his younger sister. With them and with others, Jim is very seldom critical and almost never finds faults with others. When he was only a toddler, 3 years-old, Jim was put on powerful medications supposedly for seizures. Perhaps he was just a nuisance or a mystery for his family. James recalls that he threw a tantrum because his mother wouldn't let him have more candy (one glance and we can see that Jim like's his food!). From that time until he was twelve, his whole formidable childhood, he was in and out of psychiatric wards. It wasn't so much that he was insane. He's really painfully normal. The institutions were simply convenient baby-sitters. At twelve years-old, now a poorly adjusted preadolescent, he was committed to a juvenile facility in western New York. He was mature enough to realize that the medications were hurting, not helping him, so he stopped taking them. The seizures stopped. The authorities didn't know what to do with Jim and his mother apparently didn't want him. Jim was sent on to a place called Baker Hall in Buffalo, New York. He was pretty much a normal adolescent, but now he'd been institutionalized and made dependent upon a pseudo-family, the hospital/prison. Obviously his sexual maturity suffered. He never really had a girlfriend and is uncomfortable, self-conscious and confused around females. Both the females he'd known, his mother and his sister, had treated him unfairly. Imprisoned in his mid-twenties, he was still a virgin. His education suffered no less than his libido. All those years in institutions had crippled his education leaving him just barely literate. Not until he was a young man of 17 did Jim return "home" to his mother's house. It was then in Blairsville, Pennsylvania. He stayed there a short while with his mother and his 15 years-old sister. After a few months, his sister sabotaged her "competition" by claiming that James was homicidal and suicidal. He was sent to a psychiatric ward in the little town of Jeannette. There, the staff quickly realized that there was nothing wrong with the boy. They wanted to send him home. His mother didn't want him so James was sent on to Western Pennsylvania Adolescent Center a kind of group home in Hermitage. One can see that this boy was imprisoned from the time he could walk. He was discarded and deeply psychologically scared. For all of that, he survived pretty sound of mind and body, but with the unfortunate stigma of having been institutionalized. Once a boy is lost into that institutional morass, he's doomed, forever labeled. He's discarded. Cops and authorities treat him as a cliche which belongs in prison. That's unfortunately what lay in store for Jim. Finally, when he was 19, Jim took up residence in the village of Farrell and got a job working for Burger-King. One thing about James Chapman, he likes to work. Even more, he likes to trade, buy and sell. He's a natural-born merchant. He could be a success as a well-paid salesman. Once employed and earning a little money, Jim's mother asked him to move back in with her. He worked for Burger-King and washed dishes for Papa Sal's. On the side, he started selling things at two stalls at the local flea market. Interested in girls, but still ill at ease around them, Jim broke the ice by hiring a couple of his sister's friends to help at his flea market stalls. There he became re-acquainted with a young man who was dating one of the girls. Jim had known the boy in the group home in Hermitage. That guy was a victim of drug use. The guy always needed money. He broke into his own grandparents' home and stole some money. In an effort to avoid jail, the young man accused Jim of being the crook. He wasn't! No matter, he was tried and convicted, given five to fifteen years! Jim's case is typical of the all too frequent failures of the justice production line. The culprit in the burglary was described as thin, muscular and blue eyed. Jim is, as he himself says, "fat!" One can't say that Jim is a criminal type. As a kid, he sometimes stole things from stores and, like most boys, he occasionally got into spats with his peers. The biggest strike against him was his history of institutionalization. To the cops who aren't known for their clever thinking, that means that Jim is a criminal. At this writing, James Chapman, as Number EM 9782 is three years into his burglary conviction. He's in the Frackville prison in Pennsylvania, perhaps the most backward and least beneficial institution in Pennsylvania. In spite of the oppressive environment, Jim is doing remarkable well. Institutions have been his way of life since he was three. If you want to drop him a line, consult our prisoner locator. You are welcome to use or republish
any of our material.
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