Pace e Bene has been offering nonviolence trainings for English-speaking and Spanish-speaking inmates in San Quentin State Prison for men and for English-speaking inmates in Federal Correction Institution (FCI) in Dublin, CA for women for the past three years. Currently, Pace e Bene board member Rose Elizondo leads the Spanish-speaking programming and Pace e Bene trainer Kathryn McCarron leads the English-speaking programming in San Quentin. At FCI, Pace e Bene Associate Cindy Preston-Pile and Pace e Bene trainer Laura Magnani lead the women’s programming.

The inmates have given very positive feedback about the program, which gives them a chance to meet every week for several months. They have specifically appreciated learning skills in spiritual grounding, nonviolent communication, and leadership development. A sense of community and trust have been cultivated through the weeks.

The program also helped create greater understanding of restorative justice. In the Circle of Truth exercise, the participants role-play different scenarios where each person gets to play each of five roles in a given scenario. The inmates found it helpful to role-play the people who participate in parole board hearings they face each year, which include presentations from victim’s families. In the role-play, participants speak as a member of the victim’s family. This helps them feel and assume the victim’s perspective. When they role-play themselves, they start to realize the consequences for their behavior. Often they report that they experience remorse at causing harm to the family through this exercise. Sometimes, they are able to ask for forgiveness and make amends. They can also start to free themselves of the huge weight of guilt they bear because of their actions. This exercise has encouraged participants to take responsibility for their actions and their lives.

This year the program will expand into San Francisco Jail with a new program for women there. Pace e Bene trainer Joi Morton-Wiley will lead the program.

Other specific examples of feedback from the inmates include:

The program teaches nonviolent communication skills.
For example, the inmates gain skills in nonviolent communication through our 4-step nonviolent engagement process. This process empowers them with tools to de-escalate conflict situations and find solutions where each person gets their needs met. One woman reported how she was better able to deal with a conflict with her prison roommate. Another option they learned in this process was not to engage in a conflict. For example, one man talked about how he was better able to deal with his cell mate who was provoking him. The inmates have also talked about looking forward to relating differently and more constructively with their family members when they are released.

The program builds community among the inmates.
For example, through this process inmates who have experienced the program formed a nonviolent support system. As the inmates share experiences of conflicts they have, other members of their support group offer strategies with how to respond to those situations. Some women reported it was the first time they developed relationships with other women in their lives.

The program emphasizes leadership development among participants.
For example, an important development of the program this year has been inmates have been trained as facilitators of the process. Based on this we expect them to take more of a leadership role in this support process. For example, as these inmates have assumed more leadership we are seeing them become mentors to other inmates in the program. In addition, this program has helped create safe space for inmates to talk with each other about these issues.

The program nurtures trust among participants as well as with the supporting institution.
For example, in contrast to the conventional experience in prison where non-inmates are present in taking notes during groups led by outside facilitators, in our groups no one from inside the jail is present to take notes, etc. In our groups, no one besides the inmates is present. This allows the inmates to share more freely and intimately about their experience. The women reported that the program’s affirmation of self was empowering in a setting that incessantly challenges their self-worth. Our training also offers spiritual grounding skills. The inmates enjoyed guided meditations envisioning places of peace. They men reported how this brought them to an oasis of calm in the middle of a very tense experience in prison. The women reported that program helped many of them center themselves, sleep better, and transform their anxiety.

The program teaches powerful stories of leaders who model nonviolence.
The inmates also appreciated hearing about the stories of the heroes of nonviolence. In general inmates reported that it was powerful to hear about heroes of nonviolence in contrast to role models growing up that included gang leaders, etc. They said that when they were young their role models were gang leaders because they were powerful. Violent role models fed into their behavior. But studying Gandhi, King, Dorothy Day and Cesar Chavez gave them new roles models. The Spanish-speaking inmates especially enjoyed learning about Cesar Chavez, as a number of them worked as migrant workers.

For more information about the Prison Project, contact Ken Preston-Pile at kenpreston@paceebene.org.