…our two Root-Cause Rehabilitation hypotheses are not conclusions. They have not been proven.
Our hypotheses come from years spent working with inmates. They are ideas we believe are worth examining.
Our primary hypothesis: Lasting internal change begins when inmates willingly start facing the realities that brought them to prison.
Facing those realities does not guarantee change. Lasting internal change can happen in other ways. Our hypothesis asks whether willingly facing upstream realities may be one place meaningful change can begin.
Our secondary hypothesis: Inmates who experience lasting internal change can become positive influences within a prison’s informal culture.
Shepherds don’t make sheep. Sheep make sheep. Prisons are communities. Inmates influence inmates every day. That influence can be destructive. It can also be positive. If meaningful internal change occurs earlier in incarceration, an inmate may have years to live that change inside the prison—and influence others through that example.
We believe both hypotheses are worthy of exploration.