by Efren Paredes, Jr.
For nearly 26 years I have been housed at a number of
different prisons across the state of Michigan.
Throughout my incarceration I have advocated the need for
increased prisoner rehabilitative programming opportunities and been critical
of Michigan prisons for their refusal to address the scarcity.
Research shows that 95% of all prisoners will one day return
to society. Despite this fact most Michigan prisons only offer rehabilitative
programming to prisoners who are within a year of their earliest release date.
Prisoners who are serving life or long indeterminate
sentences are often prohibited from participating in the majority of these
programs.
The blame for this falls squarely on the shoulders of
Wardens who manage the prisons. They are responsible for not only the safety
and security of the facility and protecting the public, but also for programs
that are made available at their respective prisons.
Denying rehabilitative programming to prisoners throughout
their incarceration compels them to spend years utilizing the dysfunctional
thinking they had when entering the prison system.
Being dumped in a place that is teeming with like-minded
people for years further exacerbates the problem and fosters an environment for
them to adopt more criminal thinking.
This leaves prisoners in even more need of treatment than
when they arrived and more vulnerable to negative influences. Instead of
rehabilitating prisoners prisons are actually making them more likely to recidivate.
Prisons should be places with myriad programming
opportunities. They should be therapeutic environments that minimize room for
problems and maximize space for the flowering of human consciousness.
The earlier we can reach people with distorted thinking
patterns the sooner we can help turn their lives around. Likewise, the more
prisoners we can reach sooner, the more other prisoners we can influence to
change.
I have witnessed firsthand how prisoners' lives are
prevented from continuing in a downward spiral by immersing them in therapeutic
programming and cognitive restructuring classes.
The more prisoners are taught to enrich their lives and
purge themselves of criminal thinking the better they become prepared for their
eventual transition to society.
If a prisoner has distorted thinking we cannot expect them
to change on their own. It is akin to blaming addicts for their addictions and
returning them to drug infested communities expecting them to change. They need
help.
When I arrived at the Muskegon Correctional Facility (MCF) a
month ago I discovered a prison whose Warden, Sherry Burt, understands these
realities.
In just the past 30 days I have had the opportunity to
participate in programs at MCF such as Transition to Success (a class offered
by Muskegon Community College), The Power of Peace Project, and a male
leadership development class taught by Bishop Mbiyu Chui.
After the new year I am scheduled to enroll in the programs
Juvenile Restoration in Progress (JRIP) and Chance for Life. The latter teaches
the need to develop critical thinking skills, understanding the value of family
and community, and the perils of addiction.
At the previous facility I was housed the only programming I
was permitted to participate in was a parenting class. I was denied the
opportunity to participate in the Thinking for Change, Violence Prevention
Program, and any of the vocational trade programs.
Warden Burt is the only Warden whose name I have heard
consistently be used synonymously with rehabilitative programming by prisoners
at various facilities across the state.
According to the prisoners Warden Burt has earned their
respect because of her commitment to help them recognize their unexercised
infinite potential. They also note her desire to help them return to society as
better human beings.
Rather than simply talk about rehabilitation Warden Burt
steadfastly works to see it manifest into reality. She not only creates the
space for the opportunities, she is known to be present at numerous events
where prisoners graduate from the programs.
When Kit Cummings recently flew in from Atlanta, Georgia to
begin two days of presentations about The Power of Peace Project Warden Burt
was in attendance. Many other Wardens would not have attended the evening
prisoner program even if invited.
Warden Burt understands the need for her stewardship and to
demonstrate to others by example what it means to genuinely care about
transforming lives. She also understands how lives are adversely impacted when
they remain neglected.
Most prisoners have a sixth grade education, grew up in
single parent homes, and were raised in communities where they frequently witnessed
violence, drug abuse, and other forms of crime. Many of them were victims of
various forms of abuse.
Changing these prisoners requires hard work, dedication,
time and developing innovative ways to effectively reach them. It also calls
for society to recognize that people are not perfect.
Just as people cannot be defined by the greatest
accomplishment in their lives, they should not be defined by the worst mistake
they make in their lives. Each person has inherently redemptive qualities and
they possess the enormous capacity to change.
There is no magical cure to solving the crime problem. There
are, however, sensible evidence-based methods to reducing the problem and
rehabilitating prisoners.
Each prisoner who is released will eventually become
someone's neighbor in society. We can help determine what kind of neighbor they
will become during their incarceration.
It begins by reproducing Warden Burt's progressive model of
rehabilitation statewide and immersing prisoners in programming that will
transform them by the renewing of their minds.
