How Service In Prison Brings Forgiveness And Healing

"Prison isn't a place... It's a state of mind."

Freedom To Choose is a 22 minute documentary based on the 7th workshop conducted at Valley State Prison for Women at Chowchilla California in 2007. This film won the award in the Documentary category, Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the American Pavilion at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

In 2004, responding to a request for help from an inmate of Valley State Prison, a group of 30 volunteers from the University of Santa Monica in California took a 2 day workshop into the prison for 60 of the inmates. Valley State Prison is a high security correctional institution, housing some 4,000 women. These people are deemed dangerous.

The workshop consisted of processes, including counselling, used by students in their graduate courses. Such an initiative had never before been undertaken by a university. Would it work?

When you make a mistake, do you punish yourself? Do you criticize, judge and condemn? When others make a mistake, do you want to "punish" them, to get back or get even? A child, spouse, boss, a parent?

What if, as one workshop volunteer did, you threw a picture frame at your partner. It missed and crashed against the wall. Or what if, as an inmate, you had a loaded gun, fired at your partner, resulting in their death and your imprisonment. The outcome may be different. The emotion is the same. These two people were part of a counseling group of three, examining what led up to their choices.

"Between stimulus and response, there is a space.
In the space is the power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
Victor Frankl

There is a division in the correctional system. A significant number of people within it view prison as a place of rehabilitation, while others focus on punishment. The division is about 50/50. Does punishment serve to correct? What can be learnt such that rehabilitation takes place?

Could prisons become places of education and healing, in which inmates discover that they are not victims? That they are responsible for inappropriate choices they have made. That no matter the consequences of former choices, they may nevertheless retain the most fundamental human choice, as did Victor Frankl when a prisoner of war: that of attitude.

The inmate could choose to use her circumstances for her learning, growth and development; to own and be responsible for her choices; to forgive herself. Does this work?

A prison culture breeds hopelessness, low self-esteem and conflict. Workshop participants have reported a change of attitude: viewing their prison experience as an opportunity. Many have attended several workshops. They learn how not to get involved in altercations, to stay out of fights, to not take sides. Their human dignity is restored. So far, over 1,000 people have been involved in the project. One woman declared: "I am free inside - the prison does not know it yet."

"The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity."
Leo Tolstoy

The benefit to the University volunteers is deeply transformational. Many have assisted at workshops more than once, donating their time and expenses. They take in with them a consciousness of loving acceptance. It is this loving that heals ancient hurts, both within themselves and those they serve. Volunteers return to their normal lives in profound silence, as if they had been on a sacred retreat.

"The high destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule..."
Albert Einstein

On June 22nd, President and Michelle Obama launched a summer initiative going through to September 11th and beyond: United We Serve. Whether or not you live in America, it is a call worth responding to.

Give yourself a few minutes to write down and spontaneously complete the following statements:

1. One way I could be of greater Service to myself is . . . . .
2. One way I could be of greater Service in my family is . . . . .
3. One way I could be of greater Service in my community is . . . . .
4. One way I could be of greater Service in the world is . . . .

You might read over what you have written and then, if you were inspired by it, go out and do the thing you recognized you could do. You will be glad that you did.

"The purpose of human life is to serve,
and to show compassion and the will to help others."
Albert Schweitzer

The University of Santa Monica embraces a culture of giving. Students learn the skill of "prizing" - to appreciate and celebrate each other's innate essence, independent of beliefs or behavior. It is in this light that they learn to meet the world, and any part of it, with a compassionate heart.

Have you ever made choices that hurt you, or someone else?
How do you think that serving others might help you to heal?
How could you best enrich yourself in this summer of service?

I welcome your comments and thoughts, either below here or by email: [e-mail].

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Comments

[Kevin Kirby]

From my experience, immersing prisoners in a meditational environment only increases their danger to society. They come out just as sociopathic as when they were convicted, except now they've got that extra boost in mental power and deception abilities. Not only that, these prisons will often tend to turn formerly "normal" inmates, some not even truly "criminals" when captured, into hostility-­expressing sexual deviants as well.

Transcendentalists must be very careful about the psychic tools they are bringing into prisons. It's a bit like seeking out roughly-playing children, and then making sure they have real weapons in their possession. Completely irresponsible behavior, and somebdy should be held liable for the results.

In my opinion, meditating ex-convicts should be monitored all the more closely, as a result of their proven potential to do real harm...

[tapeatsbill]

Whoa there woman. You rock! This is one of the most concisely powerful things I've read in a long time. Those at USM are rock stars too big time!!

Am most definitely a fan!!!

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

tapeatsbill

Thank you very much for your comment. I appreciate your enthusiasm. Yes I agree what you say about USM - a truly remarkable group of people!

Blessings to you,
Anne

[bumblebee08]

Anne-I am so grateful to you for writing this inspiring article. You even qouted me and didn't know it! I am the woman who said in the short film that "I am already free and the prison just doesn't know it yet." I was found suitable for parole for the second time on November 17, 2007 and released on April 24, 2008. I have been living a free life for over a year. I am a first year student at the University of Santa Monica and I can say wholeheartedly that I wouldn't be as insghtful and whole had the volunteers from the prison project come in to show me that I was lovable and could make a positive difference in the world no matter where I was living! I attended the first 9 workshops, becoming a mentor to the other inmates, there were times the other inmates mistook me for an outside volunteer that is how different I was from the normal prison mentality. I am ONE example of hundreds of women who are assests to the communites we live in even while they are still incarcerated. These programs work and need to be expanded and not taken away like the Governor is proposing to fix the buget. Thank you for portraying these women as human beings worthy of care and concern. Everyone needs to be concerned with the continuation of this project, why, you ask? What kind of neighbor do you want?

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

bumblebee08

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and to share your experience with the project. I am very happy for you that you found such assistance through the programme. But then, your commitment to yourself made the difference. Congratulations!

With love and blessings to you,
Anne

[anniebuddy]

Anne, loved this article! And what a brilliant idea ... give psychology students the opportunity to use what they are learning while giving inmates the oppotunity to learn new ways of thinking. Although I've not experienced physical prison, I remember the first time I realized I didn't have to think the way I did ... that there was a whole wonderful world outside the prison made by my mind. The staggering number of inmates in our prisons tells us we're doing something very wrong in this country and we need to change our criminal justice system. Rehabilitation through teaching inmates new "tools" to think differently ... now there's a concept that can work for anyone who want to create a better life for themselves!

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear anniebuddy

Thank you very much for your comment and your enthusiastic insights. I agree with your observations. A new approach really is possible and could work so well for all parties concerned. The Valley State Prison project is I think quite illuminating.

I appreciate your taking the time to express your views.

Warm good wishes to you,
Anne

[Ohioan730]

As for the inmates, I dont believe most of the people there are incorrigible. In fact, people who turn their lives around and help others are a goldmine for programs that help drug addicts and offenders get their lives on track. Not only are these people educated and rehabilitated but they may be street smart as well. That helps a lot when it comes to outreach and people who fall by the wayside but have hope.

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear Ohioan730

Thank you very much for your comments. Your observations are very heart-warming and match my sense of things. With the right help comes fresh hope for many.

I appreciate your taking the time to write here.

Blessings to you,
Anne

[Ohioan730]

When my daughter is done with her summer sports/camp activities, we are probably going to sign up at our local APL (if we dont miss the deadline for orientation). Kids age 8 and older can volunteer with parents and sign up for a variety of different jobs. Some jobs are off the premises if that's what you prefer. There are several different programs that extend to local pet stores and mobile animal clinics or you can just stay around the shelter. There are ALWAYS lots of cats to be loved and dogs to be walked.

Almost forgot: 16 year olds can volunteer without parents. Its a good beginning for any kid who loves animals and might want to be a vet or animal caretaker in the future.

[Marty Mazzocco]

I run a business that utilizes inmate work crews from the Arizona state prisons - we pay much more than what the inmates would make working on the yard and we allow then to start to develop (or reconnect to) work skills and people skills to use on the outside.
Still - people don't realize what prison life and culture can do to a person. It is an uphill battle for many of these men and women and without support on the outside - many of them end up right back inside.

It often seems as though the system is designed to trip them up and get them back in prison.

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear Marty,

Thank you very much for your comment. What a useful service you are offering to inmates.

I appreciate the insights you point out. I hope that one day true rehabilitation becomes standard practice.

Warm good wishes to you,
Anne

[Dr. Cara Barker - Huffpost Blogger]

Your post really touches, me, Anne, and takes me down memory lane a bit. Years ago, I did several projects in prisons. What those men, and also women taught me I shall never forget. It is so easy to judge. Honestly, with the history of so many of them, and an absence of much needed support, it was distressing to see how the culture perpetuates the problem.

This present project is just beautiful, and surely,inspiring. I cannot help but think about the analogy to those of us who are free in the outside world. How are we imprisoned by our own thinking?
What must we free within ourselves to be greater instruments of compassion?

I am truly grateful to both you, and Eli, for your fine, individual contributions.

Love your way, Anne,
Cara

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Dearest Cara,

So good to see you here and receive your wisdom - thank you! It would be wonderful to turn the tide on inmate culture such that healing does take place for the good of all.

I love your questions. They are inspiring to me. How do we limit ourselves? How can we liberate ourselves and grow our compassion? Simply sitting with those and similar questions I think may begin to open doors.

As always, huge love and blessings to you,
Anne

[AngieMom57]

This is such an important subject that I felt compelled to post again.

My thoughts are to send this link to www.whitehouse.gov and www.amnesty.org just so POTUS Obama might just hop on the bandwagon and decide that perhaps requesting an act of contrition from the former Bush administration along these venues just might heal their woes ;-)

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear AngieMom57

Please follow your thoughts. Raising awareness is always valuable. One of the most touching aspects of the Valley State Prison project is how much the volunteers benefit from their experience. That the inmates discover that they do have value for people who come in from the outside.

And beyond that, we are all "victims" to the areas in our lives in which we lack awareness and understanding. That those who are most rejected in society serve a valuable purpose in our awakening. We truly are "one" world.

I appreciate very much your returning for another comment.

With love,
Anne

[Kari Henley - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you Anne for a wonderful slant on an important story.

The project sounded so powerful when Eli wrote about it a few months ago. I am so glad it is receiving the attention it deserves.
Perhaps it will inspire other prisons to do the same. The United States puts more people into prison than any other country -
Thanks!
Kari

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Hello Kari,

Thank you very much for your comment. I too really hope that his project may inspire others - that would be so wonderful.

I appreciate seeing you here today!

With love,
Anne

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Norge

Thank you for your comment. Here is one place where your views can be made known. Enough people sharing the same point of view will make a difference. Change can be brought about.

I appreciate your taking the time to express what is important for you.

With warm good wishes,
Anne

[Eli Davidson - Huffpost Blogger]

Hot Dog!
I am so thrilled to see your wonderful post. Thank you so much for sharing about the profound work at USM and the out reach they are doing in the Freedom To Choose Prisons Projects. Everything you shared is so true. I hoep that we have the joy of serving there together sometime!

Love,
Eli

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Hello Dearest Eli,

Thank you very much for showing up here - much appreciated. Being part of the USM Prison Project is in my sights - it would be great to share that gift with you.

With best love and blessings to you,
Anne

[llisa]

Because of the title of this essay, i thought it was the prisoners who were doing service for others and thought, "What a beautiful idea. I have to see what they are doing."

I led a youth service club for 20 years. I believe that the act of doing something to help others can be a learning, growing, healing thing. Too often kids are all about, "Me. Me. Me." When they are put in charge of planning a flower garden in a park, then buying and planting the flowers and see the results of their hard work, it is wondrous to behold. Put them in charge of planning and executing a Halloween party for developmentally disabled adults, and even the youngest of them are thrilled to be handing out the game prizes instead of greedily collecting them.

I think if we could get prisoners to stop dwelling on themselves (their "victimhood") and start doing something that would benefit others, the prisoners would begin to see themselves in a different light, as did even the most spoiled and the most neglected of my youth club kids.

So, who do I talk to?

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear llisa

Thank you very much for your comment. The workshops at Valley State Prison demonstrated how service is a two way street in which the greater community is served - for both those without and outside the facility.

What a wonderful experience you had with your youth service club. It is inspiring to me. It is natural from my point of view that we all wish to give, to contribute and have the warmth giving returns to us. Giving back is one great way to find ourselves back "on track" in our lives.

My understanding is that the VSP inmates derive benefit from the ways in which they contribute to the lives of the volunteers.

I very much appreciate your contribution here.

With blessings to you,
Anne

[brooklyncitizen]

Yikes.California is famous for two things: wines and prisons. It is a profitable business for a handful.

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you, brooklyncitizen, for your comment. Fortunately, there are Californians who are adopting another approach to profitability, which incorporates greater compassion.

We are blessed to be living in a changing world with the possibility for greater understanding and humanity.

With love and happiness to you,
Anne

[dhan548]

Prisons are a Big Government Program that does no good for the inmates.
The purpose of the prisons is to provide cushy jobs for union members and fat contracts for politically connected vendors.
With a revenge-based system of punishment, coupled with the unforgiving and hostile attitude of society, the people in prisons have little choice but to do it again when they get out.

America's middle class has been bamboozled into paying for this fiasco.

[Anne Naylor - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear dhan548

That which we do not condone can be changed. When enough people stand forward for change, change will happen.

I hope that it does. Thank you very much for your comment.

Blessings to you,
Anne