…what might happen if inmates were given the opportunity to begin looking at the realities that brought them to prison?
Every inmate has a past. This past is upstream in the River of Time. Long before the crime, things happened. Relationships formed. Beliefs developed. Choices were made. Some needs were met. Others were not.
These are realities already upstream in the inmate’s River of Time. Realities that eventually reached the prison gate. Looking upstream asks an inmate to turn and examine those realities.
- What happened to me?
- What didn’t happen to me?
- What did I come to believe about myself?
- How did those beliefs affect the choices I made?
Looking upstream is not about finding someone else to blame. Understanding the past does not change responsibility for the crime.
Turning upstream may sound simple. Facing what is found there may not be. Some realities may involve trauma, abandonment, rejection, shame, fear, or other deeply personal experiences. This is not work for untrained people.
Our years working with inmates have led us to two hypotheses about what might happen when an inmate willingly begins looking upstream in the River of Time.