What If Released Inmates Stopped Committing Crimes?: Prison Reform That's Already Working -- Like Nothing You've Seen Before

Last week, Senator Jim Webb posted a column discussing the need to reform our criminal justice system.

To help Senator Webb find a bipartisan solution to fixing our broken system, I'd like to suggest a relatively simple, practical, and actually cost-saving way to begin: Start by changing our lock-up facilities into places that actually cause inmates to change their behavior -- so that when they leave them they never go back. Instead, they become positively-functioning members of their local communities.

Sound impossible? Well, what if I told you it's already happening? And it's been happening in some communities for the past decade. What if you knew that there is a tried, researched, and proven solution to inmate recidivism? (the rate at which inmates return to incarceration facilities once they've been released) What if you knew that this solution is easily replicated in any jail or prison, while also customized for each facility? What if you knew that it dramatically reduces costs; improves public safety; makes life easier, safer, and far less stressful for correctional officers and staff; and has been shown to reduce inmate recidivism rates from above 50% to around 5%. (Yes, you read that correctly. That's about 5 out of a hundred released inmates repeating crimes and returning to jail vs. the more than 50 out of a hundred that usually repeat the cycle.) What if you knew that this correctional solution, when implemented, has reduced inmate violence in jail to zero incidents? (Yes, zero.) What if you knew that this solution makes sense to conservatives and liberals alike -- because it positively affects everyone, including police and other law enforcement agencies, corrections staff, inmates and their families, local communities, society at large, and government and administrative budgets?

What if you knew all that? Would you take a few minutes out of your life to check it out on the Internet, and then pass on the info to others for possible implementation in their community? Or to legislators who have the power to make a difference for the public safety and well being of the nation?

Here's what the solution is:

It's called the Community Model in Corrections and it's based on the concept of dignity -- dignity for all, including correctional officers, administrators, other staff, and inmates. The Community Model is the brainchild of Morgan Moss and Penny Patton of the Center for Therapeutic Justice. It aims to help inmates change themselves by changing the culture of incarceration to one of respect and dignity for everyone. The model's remarkable success is due, in large part, to the fact that it works entirely within the existing structure of correctional institutions. It supports existing institutional rules and regulations, so it actually makes corrections officials' jobs easier, not harder. It is not only a first-rate inmate rehabilitation program but also an effective facility management system. In the Community Model, inmates volunteer to participate, which means they choose to live as a community with other inmate volunteers in a designated section of the jail.

Together, they take responsibility for managing their unit, maintaining high security standards, developing themselves emotionally and psychologically, changing inappropriate behavior, and becoming able to function responsibly and appropriately within a community. Eighty-five percent of inmates are eligible for the program. In facilities where the program is currently operative, there is a waiting list to participate.

Dr. Philip Zimbardo, professor emeritus at Stanford University, creator of the now-classic Stanford Prison Experiment, and author of The Lucifer Effect, in 1971 made a horrifying discovery. He conducted a psychological experiment in which college students were placed in the roles of prison guards and inmates. The experiment, planned to last two weeks, was halted after only six days because participant behavior quickly grew dysfunctional and abusive. The research revealed that the culture of prison exerts an effect so powerful that it can dramatically alter the behavior of otherwise normally functioning individuals. We can conclude that a primary reason the Community Model works so well is that it changes the culture of incarceration, through its model of self-governance within a context of mutual respect and dignity, into a culture that exerts a positive influence on all involved. Dr. Zimbardo observes:

Of all the programs designed to enable prisoners to gain dignity and a sense of purpose while incarcerated, and prepare them to become effectively functioning citizens when released so that they are not recidivists, I know of none that do these jobs better than the Community Model in Corrections developed by the Center for Therapeutic Justice. It should be a central part of every correctional institution.

So...if you knew about a cost-saving, easy-to-implement program that could provide practical, fast, and powerful prison reform, the likes of which we've never even dared to imagine, what do you suppose you would do?

Would you ask your senators and congressional representatives to watch a 5- or 20-minute video about it? How about your local sheriff, county jail administrator, or newspaper? Would you post a link to the videos on your Facebook page? Would you twitter a bit to your friends?

Let's do it, folks--because we have nothing to lose; and by reducing repeat crime, we have a whole lot to gain.

Watch the 5-minute video here.

Watch the 20-minute version here.

Watch both! www.communitymodel.org

Pamela Gerloff is co-author, with Robert W. Fuller, of Dignity for All: How to Create a World without Rankism (Berrett-Koehler Publishing, 2008). She can be reached at [e-mail].

Comments

[CSCE]

We tend to send people to our prisons because they have made poor decisions. Once they are in prison, they are generally not allowed to make any choices at all, yet we expect them to be able to function well upon release. Without the "Community Model," prison is little more than a violent warehouse for human beings. It is about time our society awoke to the fact that prisoners are people too. Our sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, mothers and fathers need our help and support--especially if they have gone astray.
As Dave Connelly said above, this idea has been around for some time but its history has been largely hidden. People like Thomas Mott Osborne and William George ran confinement institutions democratically 100 years ago and reformed nearly everyone involved (including some of the guards). Thank you Morgan and Penny for your exemplary work in this area.

[Stacey Ingram]

I have had the pleasure of working the Penny and Morgan Moss for the past 4 years as a local mental health partner for the Community Model at Southside Regional Jail in Virginia. I have observed this program in action and it is truly inspiring to see these men accept responsbility for their actions while developing the skills necessary to become more productive citizens upon release. The inmates speak highly of the program and the results are evident when they follow-up with our agency. It is great to see our correctional system focusing on restorative justice rather than warehousing inmates.

[PaulTraina]

As a counselor and life coach I am very impressed with the Community Model for Correction. Fostering respect, personal responsibility, cooperative problem solving and lowered recidivism are the benefits that come from implementing this program. I have sent the site to many interested persons and all are in agreement that our present prison system suffers under old, outmoded, ineffective patterns of punishment that should be replaced by by this new paradigm for rehabilitation.

I will continue to put the word out about this enlightened program and plan to visit prisons in New Jersey with the Community Model dvd. It is time to go from being tough on crime to being smart on crime.

[AshleyB]

I had the privilege of working in a Community Model substance abuse treatment program established by Morgan Moss in a Virginia jail for several years. As a social worker it was a wonderful experience, as there was so much positive change occurring with the inmates. I witnessed firsthand true rehabilitation taking place. As the article mentions a fundamental component of the model is respect, and that respect of self and others (and receiving respect) fosters great motivation and pride in the participants. I fully believe that the recidivism rates were reduced in that particular jail due to the Community Model program, and for those individuals who did return it was often a result of lack of reintegration resources upon release. The jails and prisons throughout our country need these programs…not only do they lead to safer institutions, but they also rehabilitate the individuals passing through their doors.

[David Connelly]

Sat in with a Community Model session in jail recently and was blown away. The men acknowledged and honestly struggled with addictions -- not just drugs and alcohol -- and how the result is inevitably jail. If the rest of us only admitted like that to our own weaknesses!

The model works because it encourages such self-evaluation, and because it is shared in a community of mutual support, much like the AA model.

I also sit in with a Quaker worship group in the infamous Auburn, New York, prison and see some of the same struggles happening spontaneously, but without the kind of formal support necessary to help the men pull themselves out of their prison syndrome.

None of this is new, by the way. The prison reforms of Thomas Mott Osborne nearly a century ago contained all this, but his enemies so thoroughly swift-boated him and his model that they have yet to emerge again.

Perhaps after all the Community Model is making it happen.

[Tom Lagana]

I've seen this model working in a jail in Virgina, and it's amazing. My wife and I were fortunate to be able to present several seminars for the inmates in these communities. Every correctional facility should emplement this Community Model. We're pleased that the inmates in these programs are also using our books: "Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul," "Serving Time, Serving Others" and our newest one, “Serving Productive Time: Stories, Poems, and Tips to Inspire Positive Change by Inmates, Prison Staff, and Volunteers.”

[HD1961]

Is it possible for the 30 million felons of record to exit the punishment experience as functional, contributing community participants? Yes...although often improbable under our current politically and culturally defined "system of justice." And obviously not all of those sent to prisons and jails across America can and will function within the limits and boundaries of a constructive social order.

Some are irrevocably flawed; others acutely ill and about 3% just plain evil. But the vast majority are maladaptive looses spawned in the lower echelon of the general population who have been flushed and forgotten. If they are "dangerous" it is primarily unto themselves; immature, poor decision makers, disconnected with the law of cause and effect, mentally retarded, acutely alienated, and too quick to hold the world responsible for their plight.

But one thing is clear: they are all in a state of CHANGE! For better or for worse!! And it is far more rational and responsible to take creative steps to channel that change in a pro-social direction than to drop them into a dumpster and slam the lid shut. If for no other reason than it is painfully absurd to take a person who has been identified as a "problem" and render them systematically worse.

[blarrison]

This is great. Intitiatives such as this excite me. As a manager of mental health and substance abuse services, I know how valuable programs such as thiese can be. In our own local jail, just a few mental health and substance abuse services have reduced problems such as fire setting. I know Morgan Moss and know how empathetic he is and I am sure that any program he is associated with is person centered.

[bfuller]

I visited a jail in Virginia recentlly that has implemented the Community Model described in Pamela Gerloff's post. Indeed, it is as she describes. I spent 3 hours with 45 inmates locked in large room and watched as they processed events in a system of self-governance that would put most university faculties to shame. The watchword was dignity. Inmates treated each other with dignity, staff treated inmates with dignity and vice versa. Many of these men had never known dignity in their early lives, and were living examples of how chronic indignity causes indignation, which may sometimes erupt in violence. Now, in jail, they were finally experiencing what it is like to live securely in dignity with other people. The stunning drop in their rate of return upon release shows, once again, that dignity works. Chronic rankism, malrecognition, and indignity adversely affect productivity, creativity, and the bottom line in every organization or society in which they are the norm. The Community Model developed by Morgan Moss and Penny Patton offers America a way out of what is surely one of our largest embarrassments: our high rate of incarceration and recidivism. If anyone reading this knows how to get this message to Senator Webb, please do so. And to Governor Schwarzenegger, and President Obama. Our leaders must be made aware that there is a proven solution to the prison crisis at hand.

[PaulTraina]

As a counselor and life coach I am very impressed the Community Model for Corrections. Fostering respect, personal responsibility, cooperative problem solving and lowered recidivism are some of the benefits of establishing this program.

I have sent the C M site to many interested persons and all agree that the present criminal justice system is outmoded, unnecessarily costly and ineffective. It is time for a new paradigm for corrections based on compassion, intelligence and respect. Let’s be smart on crime, not tough on crime so that our prisons release people who have learned how to treat themselves and others with compassion and understanding. People who are less likely to return to prison because they have not been mistreated there and taught how to hurt themselves and others with greater severity.