Prison Saved My Life
Posted by Anna Debenham, April 30, 2018
One often hears how the prison system is broken and it’s the wrong way to help people get back on their feet. And it’s true – people do much better with rehabilitation rather than punishment. Having now worked in prison for 3 + years I see the other side too… That prison can be a life saver. People in prison have so many different feelings about being locked up. Some hate it, obviously… and feel like it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to them. Some feel it’s a way to press pause in their otherwise chaotic lives. I had one of guy say – “prison has taught me two things – 1. I don’t want to come back and 2. how to be a better criminal”… Some recognise that if they weren’t in prison they would be dead – either from drugs or being killed or something in between.
The best thing about the people who want to do better and live healthier lives is knowing that everyone has the possibility to change. No-one is left out. When they start to settle and connect with their innate wellbeing I see a deep grounding and okay-ness start to emerge. They then often see the real benefit of being in prison and learning this inside out understanding of life.
We had a great week in group last week. Michael Neill, author and speaker in our field come into prison and share with the guys on Friday. One thing he said really stuck with me. It was actually a quote from Archimedes. ‘Give me a lever long enough and a solid place to stand and I shall move the world.’ This struck a chord. The guys, and most of the rest of us, are given endless levers, techniques and tools to adopt to become ‘better’ people. But what we point to is helping them cultivate a solid place to stand. A place to come from in life. A knowing that they are OK, that they have an innate wisdom within them. We all do. When they reconnect with that place inside it makes all the difference in the world.
As one of the participants in our program said this past week, ”If I hadn’t come to prison I wouldn’t have learned this. I want to be a better father and a better man but I didn’t know how. Now I know. I know why I came to prison. To be here in this class. thank you.” BR
