Identity Precedes Activity

I took a Ministry Leadership course through Calvin College this semester in the Calvin Prison Initiative. During our first class, Professor Kathy Smith made the statement, "Identity precedes activity." This statement struck me forcefully because of the applicability to every man and woman in prison. 

While Professor Smith was referring to the formation of leaders, I was impressed with the notion that most of us in prison are here because our activity flowed directly from how we viewed ourselves. We had formed identities in our own minds, right or wrong, that reinforced behaviors that led us to prison. These identities may have included feelings of worthlessness or over-inflated egos, abusive pasts or histories of codependency; they may have been based on the belief that money or power were necessary for significance, or founded on delusions of grandeur or feelings of hopelessness. 

To commit our crimes, many of us had to believe ourselves to be invincible. This misconception of invincibility is a failure to deal only with the truth. According to author Max De Spree, "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality" (11). The problem for many prisoners is that reality, as it is, is difficult to bear, so it is easier to manufacture a fantasy world to dwell in. Ending up in prison often does not help prisoners to gain a clear understanding of their identities. Prison only casts a deeper shadow on what is already a difficult thing to define. Dealing only with the truth, about ourselves, our crime, and the harms we have done to others, is a great start for those who choose to define reality with truth. 

If identity precedes activity, those who have committed crimes must learn how to properly see themselves before they can begin to behave in healthy ways. One doesn't have to be a leader to form a healthy identity that leads to productive behaviors. Prisoners simply need to learn that regardless of past mistakes, we have dignity as human beings and can go on to be valued by our communities. Perhaps then we can go on to be transformative leaders who help others avoid the same destructive choices we made that led us to prison in the first place. 

Source Cited: De Spree, Max, Leadership is an Art, NY: Dell Publishing, 1989.