Prison Creates an Identity Crisis

"Prison not only robs you of your freedom, it attempts to take away your identity." 

When I read these words penned by Nelson Mandela in his book "Long Walk to Freedom," they resonated with me. As Mandela eloquently points out, "[Prison] is by definition a purely authoritarian state that tolerates no independence or individuality."

Prison, by its very nature is designed to strip men (and women!) from their identities. On the surface this might appear like a good idea, because many of the things that have defined most prisoners are worth stripping away. Things like criminal thinking patterns, addictive thoughts and behaviors, and antisocial behaviors all need to be removed from the identity of prisoners. The problem is that prison is not designed to replace these antisocial identities with pro social ones. Instead, prisoners are left feeling like they have no identity at all.

Just the other day I heard another prisoner say, "I can't tell you anything interesting about myself. Prison has taken away everything that gave me an identity." I was saddened to hear him feel this way.

The unfortunate reality is that many of the men who came to prison at a young age had no opportunity to form an identity through normal social influences. These men have been influenced by an authoritarian, dependent condition that discourages one from forming any purpose by which an identity is built. 

Yet, even though prison necessarily influences a person, it does not have to rob him of an identity. Prisoners must be intentional about claiming and embracing their own identity. Even in prison men can find a purpose bigger than themselves. They can begin to see the world outside of the bubble of prison and find ways to connect to and engage in the greater human struggle. 

Prison might encourage a self-centered perspective, but humans were not designed to be purely independent creatures. We need each other and we often discover our own identities as we pursue a life that is focused on others.

Maybe independence and individuality aren't something to cherish after all. But neither are dependence and conformity. Instead, prisoners can find a balance through interdependence that appreciates our need for others while still maintaining a healthy responsibility for our own unique contributions to the benefit of all.

Victim Offender Mediation

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Let's Not Build Walls, Let's Build Credibility

Aristotle, who was passionate about and perhaps the greatest practitioner of rhetoric, said that ethos is the most effective mode of persuasion. Speaking of ethos (credibility) he said, "Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him [or her] credible. We believe good [people] more fully and more readily than others." We are at the end of an exhausting political season where both top presidential candidates (not to speak of plenty of state and local candidates) seriously lacked credibility. It will remain to be seen if any of the politicians elected this year will prove themselves as people of good character. If history has anything to say about it, I wouldn't hold my breath in hope! Prisoners who are working to reform themselves face a credibility problem. Their prior credibility is normally shot and many prisoners continue to damage their credibility during their incarceration by minimizing their crimes, continuing violent behavior, and manipulating family and friends. Other prisoners try desperately to build their credibility, yet their efforts are rebuffed and they find it difficult to overcome their failures from the past. Most people cannot build credibility simply with speeches of unity and promises of reform, and prisoners are no different. To build credibility after damaging or destroying it, prisoners (and others!) must follow these principles: 1. Deal only with the truth. Whether it relates to discussing one's crime or simply in daily conversation, truth is an essential element of building credibility. 2. Develop a habit of faithfulness. Be faithful to your word and faithful to your convictions and values. Practice what you say you value. 3. Treat others with respect. People respect others who show people respect. People with different views and beliefs still deserve to be treated with dignity as image bearers of God. 4. Speak only about what you know and only when it is appropriate to speak. Prisoners gossip and spread rumors too much. They also claim knowledge they don't have. Study what you don't know so you are prepared to speak intelligently at the right time. 5. Be quick to ask for forgiveness and generous when giving it out. Someone who can easily admit he is wrong will often earn the respect of others. Likewise, one who recognizes that he who is forgiven much must also forgive much will gain the respect of others. Building credibility takes time and consistency, but nothing precludes starting today. Prison does not have to define someone, but just like those who destroy their credibility but don't end up in prison, prisoners must be intentional about rebuilding (or building!) their character and by extension their credibility. [Aristotle's quote comes from "The Rhetoric", Aristotle (1984), H.R. Roberts Tr., New York, The Modern Library]

Capable of the Greatest Horrors and the Greatest Goodness

I read a quote the other day in one of my classes that spoke to me. It came from C.S. Lewis, the author of the Chronicles of Narnia book series, from his book Weight of Glory:

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror or a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal."

This quote struck me for two reasons:
1. No man or woman is immune to the possibility of a fall greater than even they could imagine.
2. Every person I meet has the potential to be used by God, regardless of how I may view them now.

Some people are raised in a culture where prison is a very real possibility for their future. I was not. I never imagined coming to prison. I had plans for my life, great plans. I was proud of myself and my accomplishments, and I had a future laid out for myself. I certainly didn't view myself as "ordinary." But I made choices that derailed my "great" plans, and now I sit in prison finding it difficult to imagine much of a future at all, let alone a great future. I never envisioned myself falling to these depths.

It is easier to envision in other people their potential for horror or corruption. It is safer than imagining myself capable of harming anyone. Even uninteresting people whom I don't think of as capable of corruption I often find difficult imagining as capable of greatness. Yet, God is not a respecter of persons. He uses people that most of us would overlook.

This leveling of the playing field humbles my view of myself and also helps me see others as carrying the dignity of God's image. It compels me to awaken others to the possibilities God has planted inside each of them. And as I waken to the value of others around me, I begin to discover for myself a possible future that was perfectly modeled by Jesus: The greatest work one can do is in spending oneself for others.

Forming Good Habits Requires Good Communities

Most people have heard the moral insight that bad company corrupts good morals, and the truthfulness of this insight is no more evident than in prison. While many prisoners were connected to the influence of negative communities before coming to prison, the unfortunate reality is that in being removed from these negative communities, prisoners are usually also cut out of whatever positive community influences they may have had. For example, my faith community was my primary community before I came to prison. When I came to prison though, I was not only removed from that community but also actively ostracized by them. This disconnection from my primary community was immediate and complete. In its place I was thrust into an unfamiliar and highly negative community which offered me no sense of belonging. At the time in my life when I needed the positive influences necessary for good habit formation, I was instead left without a positive community at all. The philosopher Aristotle said that good habits are difficult or even impossible to form in bad communities. Yet, that is exactly the herculean task given to prisoners who wish to change their lives and leave the negative influences of their past behind. Because positive communities are difficult to find in prison, to affect this change in themselves prisoners must often form their own sub-communities that lend the support and positive influence where positive change is found. Fortunately, I've been blessed to be a part of several positive communities in prison, and the Calvin Prison Initiative is only the latest of these. We prisoners may have been cut out like cancer from the communities where we belonged before prison, but some of us are now preparing to shape new communities in positive ways by developing or deepening good morals in positive communities like CPI.

How Education Leads to Freedom for Prisoners

As I've written about before, research has found that education is an important key to reducing re-offense rates among paroled offenders. Perhaps it is because education expands one's options, and a former criminal no longer feels compelled to commit crimes to meet his needs and desires. Perhaps it is because more education changes a person's worldview so that crime is no longer viewed as an acceptable option. In his article "Only Connect: The Goals of a Liberal Education" William Cronon states that a liberal education is about human freedom and growth. If this is true, than a prisoner's incarceration begins long before he ever comes to prison. A lack of education can itself be a prison as it restricts one to the limited knowledge and frame of reference one gains through the social influences of his culture and upbringing. A greater education exposes one to broader ideas, social arguments, and research that have the power to change one's viewpoint from egocentric individuality to a community-centric focus. Through education one grows into the realization that his beliefs and behavior have consequences that extend beyond himself. No longer can he ignore the impact of his behavior on his family, friends, community, and culture. As Cronon says, education is not a state, it is a way of living that promotes connection to the human community. On the other hand, Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, said that "reformation comes, if at all, through the heart, or the emotional side of man, not through his head or reasoning side." This statement seems to contradict the evidence that education, clearly a cognitive function, can lead to reformation of one's behavior. But I don't think it contradicts at all. While education is a function of the mind,I would argue that one's beliefs that result in changed behavior are a function of intellect and emotion. The apostle James stated in James 2:19 "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the devils believe that--and shudder." His point is that not all knowledge or belief changes behavior. Only the knowledge that one takes to heart and believes in his heart results in changed behavior. So why does education change a criminal's behaviors? Is he really taking this education to heart and changing his beliefs? Probably some are. Others may simply finally understand that pro-social behavior will serve their own wants and desires rather than continuing anti-social behavior which only leads to prison. Whether educations results in true reformation of beliefs and character or simply in a change in behavior as a consequence of greater understanding, those who would otherwise become victims of an offender's crimes would thank those who made the investment to reach the hearts and minds of offenders through education. As Cronon eloquently concludes, education frees one to discover his connection to community and finally focus on the greatest form of connection: Love for others.