The Pace e Bene Prison Project

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Beginning in Spring 2005, Pace e Bene launched the Pace e Bene Prison Project at San Quentin Prison and at Dublin Federal Corrections Institution (FCI).  Katherine McCarron, a Pace e Bene facilitator, approached the chaplains at these two Northern California institutions and the inmates requested the From Violence To Wholeness nonviolence study series, which was adapted to the circumstances of prison life. These series were designed to offer incarcerated women and men tools for responding creatively to violence in concrete and empowering ways.

Pace e Bene Associate Cindy Preston-Pile teamed with Laura Magnani of the American Friends Service Committee to work with women inmates at Dublin FCI. The participants explored their spirituality, reflected on their relationship to anger, and affirmed their power, beauty, and strength as women. They shared their stories with one another and participated in “real plays” (role-plays using incidents from real life). The participants reported finding the training series healing and helpful.

At San Quentin, a State of California maximum-security prison, Pace e Bene fielded two facilitation teams. David Constante and Brenda Vaca adapted and led a FVTW ten-part series with Spanish-speaking men, while Katherine McCarron and Jack Dison led this series for English-speaking men at the facility. Some of the inmates said they found this process helpful in dealing with the challenges of prison life.

With the successful completion of the first phase of this project, Pace e Bene is exploring continuing this program at these institutions and launching similar programs in other prisons.  We are deeply grateful to the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, California, the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois, and the Hospital Sisters of Springfield, Illinois for their generous support of this prison project.

Pace e Bene Prison Project Trainers:

For more information, contact Ken Preston-Pile at kenpreston [at] paceebene [dot] org