Response:
With few programs currently available
for rehabilitation, it is hard not to support alternatives for
prisoners, especially if they may freely choose whether to participate.
I know from experience that faith-based programs provided by volunteers
at publicly funded prisons are worthwhile. The Zen Center of Orange
County offered Zen and meditation programs at a penitentiary for three
years. Many men, including those serving life sentences, eagerly
welcomed resources for healing and growth. For those unlikely ever to be
released, a spiritual path offered a means of living fully under any
conditions, and facing a future holding only more years of prison. For
those who would be released, programs on anger management, impulse
control, and addiction were well attended by men desperate to find the
key to avoid return to prison. Yet lockdowns, lack of meeting rooms,
staff shortages and various scheduling problems seriously interfered
with the volunteer program.
In India, the former Inspector of Prisons introduced meditation training,
retreats and residential programs at India’s largest prison. The
amazing transformation of inmates is documented in a 1997 film, “Doing
Time, Doing Vipassana.” Due to security
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concerns, it can be impossible to have
meditation cushions, retreat days, a somewhat quiet spot, or meaningful
support in offering this kind of program. Our group sat on folded army
blankets and we considered ourselves lucky to have them. Whether from
the public, as in India, or from private sources, programs offering
opportunities for faith-based transformation should be supported.
I would hope that faith-based
prisons would reflect the religious diversity of our culture, and that a
broad range of choices would exist. Nonetheless, I think it is an
illusion to believe that private volunteer groups can fill a job of this
magnitude, and one which is our public responsibility. It is hard to
imagine how prisoners will change their lives in prisons if there is not
adequate funding for ongoing therapy, treatment for addictions of all
kinds and a decent chance at rehabilitation—for the good of men and
women in prison and for the good of us all.
- Rev. Dr. Deborah Barrett |