Review of “Pizza & Puppies!”

Bring 2 dogs into a room and the outcome is inevitable: a crowd forms.  Well, the same thing happens in the prison.

“Dogs have this special quality – it’s hard to put into words.  But it changes the atmosphere in the prison.  The guards want to see the puppies; the inmates want to see the puppies.  People in prison are still human, and the puppies have an amazing way of bringing this human element out and connecting people,” said Gilbert Molina, an Assistant Instructor with Puppies Behind Bars.

Nora Moran, Director of the Dog Tags Program went on to explain how the program serves to empower individuals in prison.  “The program is rigorous and takes commitment.  It’s unusual to have a program in prison where the inmates are the leaders.  But they get to know their dog’s body language, behavior, and needs the best, so when it’s time to hand the dog over to the veteran, the prisoner gets to teach them the commands.  They become the experts and the instructors.”

Both Nora and Gilbert are former puppy raisers, so they can attest to the power of the Puppies Behind Bars program.  On April 25, Nora and Gilbert, along with their adorable dogs (Hannah and Fairfield), explained the details of the Dog Tags Program in a workshop entitled Pizza & Puppies! at Columbia University School of Social Work, sponsored by the Criminal Justice Caucus in partnership with the Veteran’s Affairs Caucus.

Not only does the puppy help the individual accept their time in prison and make the most of it, but it also allows them to give back to society and to our troops while serving their sentence.  “These dogs work with people in prison who have been wounded and who have wounded others, and they are trained to work with and serve people who are wounded and have wounded others,” said Nora.

Puppy raisers are responsible for caring for their dog from 8 weeks old until they are about 2 years old in the prison.  During this time, the dog is taught over 90 service commands, including how to turn lights on and off, carry shopping bags, do laundry, and even pick-up your keys if you drop them!  To help with the socialization process, Puppies Behind Bars relies on volunteers to take the dogs for 1 week every month into their homes and expose them to grocery stores, parks, crowded malls, and parking lots.  The puppy raisers also keep journals chronicling the day-to-day activities of the puppy, which is given to the veteran when they are ready to adopt their service dogs.  Being a puppy raiser while in prison forced Nora to grow and stay focused.  “You need to be the best ‘you’ you can be for these dogs, and that is what changes people.  It’s a transformation.”

The Dog Tags Program places 15 dogs per year with wounded veterans across the country.  The program serves a unique need because while society has grown accustomed to guide dogs for the blind, psychiatric service dogs are much less common.  In addition to the 90 commands taught to all service dogs, the puppies in this program are being trained to learn 7 new commands specific to serving veterans with PTSD and/or Traumatic Brain Injury.  Some of these new commands include “HELP” (the dog uses a programmed phone to dial 911 in the event of an emergency), “CLEAR” (the dog enters a room before the veteran, turns on the lights, and searches the perimeter to see if anyone is in the room), “TAKE POINT” (when in a crowded room, the dog will lead the veteran to the nearest exit if they start feeling overwhelmed), “WATCH BY BACK” (the dog stands behind the veteran and informs them if anyone is behind them using their body language), and “BLOCK” (the dog creates a physical, yet not intimidating, boundary between the veteran and other people who are interested in approaching).  The puppies in this program even know how to “SALUTE” (showing patriotism and respect, as well as a distraction when the veteran feels uncomfortable engaging in conversation with the other person).

Gilbert explained that the process of giving up their closest companion for the past 20+ months with incredible emotion and honesty.  While it is taboo for men in prison to show their feelings, it is one of the hardest things they have to go through.  However, the tremendous sense of pride they feel in themselves and in their dogs while training the wounded veteran and service dog to become a team makes it all worthwhile.  When the 2-week long farewell is finally over, what do most puppy raisers do?  They go straight back to the office to sign-up for the process all over again.  That’s the good kind of revolving door.

Review of “Innovative Ways to Empower Youth”

“If you can take a moment to step back your anxiety decreases, and we truly believe people can feel empowered to make safer decisions when they are feeling more in control.”

On Wednesday, April 18, the Criminal Justice Caucus in collaboration with the Men’s Caucus invited Beth Navon, LMSW, RYT, Executive Director of The Lineage Project to Columbia University School of Social Work to talk a bit more about what their work entails and why they do it.  The Lineage Project teaches yoga, meditation, and awareness-based practices to empower youth to find alternatives to stress, violence, and incarceration, helping them become vital and contributing members of their communities.  The result?  In 2011, a structured assessment and evaluation of The Lineage Project was conducted and findings conclude that students, by participating in the classes, developed an increased capacity for self-awareness, self-knowledge, and a more compassionate response to events in both their internal and external environments.  In addition, the study found a significant reduction of perceived stress among participating students in the fourteen-week group.

To really understand the group process, Rebecca Bateman, first ever Social Work Intern at The Lineage Project (from Fordham University) led workshop attendees in an abbreviated version of the class, using the same practices and tools she uses with the youth.  Every class starts with ringing of chimes, and participants were asked to count the number of rings in their head, increasing the level of awareness and mindfulness as they begin.  A theme is then introduced – ours was “stress” – and Rebecca explained what happens in our bodies when we react to stressful situations.  The chemical reaction that produces stress only lasts for 60 seconds, so, she asked, “Why doesn’t that feeling only last in our minds and bodies for 60 seconds?”  This is due to the connection between the physical reaction and the mental response, which allows us to replay the stressful incident over and over and over again.  The purpose of these workshops is to break that cycle of stress and bring participants back into the moment with mindfulness.

Each participant in the room then said their name, where in their body they hold their stress, and what coping strategies (effective or ineffective) they use to help rid their bodies of that stress, followed by a clink of the chimes.  To ring the chimes takes stillness and focus and therefore becomes a sort-of mini-mediation as went around the room.  We then practiced some chair-yoga and upper-body stretching poses, as well as some mindfulness and meditation practices, leaving everyone in the room noticeably calmer and more alert than when they entered.

The Lineage Project currently offers awareness-based programming in detention centers, alternative schools, subsidized housing complexes, alternative-to-incarceration programs, and Boy’s Clubs.  Feedback from students paints a clear picture of the impact their work has had on the lives of many at-risk youth in NYC:

“I feel like someone put a new life inside of me. At this moment I’m feeling calm and relaxed. Nothing is really bothering me and I feel some of my anger melting away. I got in touch with my inner self. I know who I am on the outside but really never knew who I was on the inside.” — Eduardo, age 17

“My home is really chaotic and I used to get stressed as soon as I stepped in the door. Thanks to the teachings, the minute I get home I can go into a small space I set up for myself and do the breathing. Then I can face the drama in my house in a calmer way.” — Shawna, age 16

“Well, I can honestly say that me being incarcerated for 11 months, this yoga program is very helpful. I have grown accustomed to my new coping skills, which is learning a lot of multiple methods to stay calm and a new way of expressing myself.” — Roseanne, age 14

PIZZA and PUPPIES!!!

Join the Criminal Justice Caucus and the Veteran’s Caucus for

PIZZA & PUPPIES!!!

A workshop facilitated by Nora Moran, Director of Dog Tags Initiative at Puppies Behind Bars and the puppies from the program!

WHEN: April 25 @ 12:15PM

WHERE: Columbia University School of Social Work (1255 Amsterdam Ave.) | Room 404

Nora Moran will provide an overview about how the dogs are raised in prison and then go off to work with wounded veterans, deeply affecting the incarcerated individuals, veterans, and dogs by providing a sense of connection and loyalty to those in need.  During her time in prison, Ms. Moran raised puppies in the Puppies Behind Bars program, so she will speak about how the experience affected her life.  Today Ms. Moran is an instructor in the prisons, as well as a trainer for the veterans who will be receiving the dogs, so she will demonstrate some of the commands that are taught specifically for veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

 

 

Review of “No One Wants to Work With Me: Working with Difficult Populations” Workshop

Criminal, dangerous, scary, stay away, scared, murder, watch out, offensive, terrible, aggressive…these are some of the phrases chosen to describe “violent offenders” in a free association exercise.

On April 11, Nicole Rochat, LMSW, Director of Social Work/Reentry Program at Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD) and Bill Brosh, LCSW, Forensic Social Worker at Legal Aid Society challenged attendees to re-frame these labels to avoid “othering” in a workshop entitled “No One Wants to Work With Me:” Working with ‘Difficult’ Populations, hosted by the Criminal Justice Caucus in partnership with the Men’s Caucus.

Parent, student, classmate, relative, teacher, friend, boss…if we are going to label people, these words do a much better job of identifying the many roles people play outside of the criminal justice system.

Mr. Brosh drew an important distinction when we talk about “difficult” clients; some clients present as difficult for us to work with professionally because they are non-compliant, challenging, or defiant, while others are difficult for us to work with personally because they committed a heinous crime but we often find them to be very engaging and likeable.  “It’s very upsetting when your entire worldview gets challenged.  That’s why we need to separate the behavior from the human being,” he explained.

So, what is it about working with certain populations or individuals that makes us so uncomfortable?  The feelings identified related to anxiety, anger, frustration, powerlessness, fear, and being unsafe.  In response to a question about how to empathize with someone when you cannot understand how they could have committed a certain crime a participant stated, “I could never murder someone else.  I just couldn’t.”  Mr. Brosh responded, “It’s very hard to know what you would do when the pressure gets turned up and up and up…  Really, you could do almost anything.  You might just be capable of doing things you never thought you could do.”

Mr. Brosh added, “What is your view of humanity?  How does the world really work?  If you come into the room with some kind of mindfulness and acceptance around the reality of how humanity works, it makes it much easier to work through some really challenging stuff.  I’m not saying you should accept heinous crimes as okay from a judgmental place; just that this is the reality and to be accepting of everything is often so challenging.”

Ms. Rochat ended the workshop by showing a clip from MTV’s True Life: Sex Offender followed by a brief discussion about our misconceptions and judgments of people labeled registered sex offenders.  She encouraged the room to consider whether or not the registry requirements actually promotes public safety or just serves to publicly shame individuals who have already served them time.  The title of this workshop came from a client at OAD on the sex offender registry who has been told so many times that he is unworthy and undeserving that he really started believing it and questioned why anyone would want to work with or help someone like him.

The light at the end of the tunnel: “some people want to work with me.”  While they are certainly not the majority, there are quite a few providers who genuinely want to work with those who are routinely marginalized and oppressed, pushed to the outer limits of society and deemed undeserving by most others.  Ms. Rochat acknowledged that it is perfectly acceptable to questions why we would want to help anyone who has harmed someone else, but she forced us all to remember, “Everybody is a human being with a story.”

INFORMATION/RESOURCES:

Brisson-Smith, A., Capozziello, C., Gunther, C. J., & Kagan, S. (2009, September 24). Patient Voices:  O.C.D. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/09/24/health/healthguide/TE_OCD.html?ref=health

Conover, T. (Host). (2010, February 8). All prisoners lie. The Moth Podcast. Podcast retrieved from The Moth Podcast: http://www.tedconover.com/2010/02/1797/

Conover, T. (2001). Newjack: Guarding sing sing. Vintage Books.

I’m a sex offender [Television series episode]. (2012). In True Life. MTV Productions. Retrieved from http://www.mtv.com/videos/true-life-im-a-sex-offender/1677462/playlist.jhtml

Isett, S., Kagan, S., Makarewicz, B., Sauger, J., Smialowski, B., & Waselchuk, L. (2008, July 16). Patient voices: Bipolar disorder. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/07/16/health/healthguide/TE_BIPOLAR_CLIPS.html

Miller, T. (Director) (2011). 4 Myths About Attica [Web]. Retrieved from http://vimeo.com/29285165

The Legal Aid Society is a private, not-for-profit legal services organization that provides legal representation to low-income New Yorkers.  It is dedicated to one simple but powerful belief: that no New Yorker should be denied access to justice because of poverty.  Forensic Social Workers at Legal Aid Society interview and assess clients’ needs and readiness for treatment, investigate and write psychosocial reports and pre-pleading and pre-sentencing memorandum and advocacy reports, advocate in court for clients, coordinate service provision, and identify and secure appropriate alternative-to-incarceration program placements.

*  Check out Bill Brosh’s private counseling services at http://www.billbrosh.org *

The Office of the Appellate Defender is a not-for-profit law firm devoted to providing excellent legal representation to low-income persons convicted of felonies in Manhattan and the Bronx.  OAD’s Social Work/Reentry Program focuses on providing direct-service social work assistance and case management to clients being released from prison.  In addition, the social work program provides institutional advocacy as needed, which includes visiting clients in upstate prisons, and collaborates with the legal practice in preparing clients for Parole Board appearances and preparing relevant psychosocial materials for various court hearings. The social work program also created and hosts a biweekly Peer Empowerment Group, encouraging mutual aid, support, and a sense of community amongst clients.

*  Check out Nicole Rochat’s holistic health counseling services at http://nicolerochat.com  *

WORKSHOP: Innovative Ways to Empower Youth

Join us for

INNOVATIVE WAYS TO EMPOWER YOUTH

A discussion and skills-based workshop facilitated by Beth Navon, LMSW, RYT, Executive Director of the Lineage Project about using awareness-based practices, such as yoga and meditation, as a positive means of intervention to address the high rate of youth incarceration and disproportionate confinement of racial minorities from low-income neighborhoods

WHEN: Weds April 18 @ 12:15PM

WHERE: Columbia University School of Social Work (1255 Amsterdam Ave) | Room 404

Powerpoint Presentation

Watch a Lineage Project class in action:

The Cutting Edge of Trauma Treatment

Initial Evaluation Report

Click here for recommended readings on mindfulness practices and criminal justice.

Click here for research on mindfulness practice.

About the presenter: Beth Navon, LMSW, RYT, Executive Director of the Lineage Project

Beth Navon has been an administrator in the non-profit sector for over twenty-five years. Recognized for her expertise in the mental health field, she has traveled all over the country to be on panels, lead workshops, and moderate national conferences. In her prior capacity as an executive director of an organization focusing on youth reentering the community after incarceration, she created a nationally recognized service delivery model. Currently Ms. Navon is the Executive Director of the Lineage Project whose mission is to teach mindfulness practices to youth at risk of involvement in the criminal/juvenile justice system. Ms. Navon graduated from Simmons College School of Social Work with a Masters degree in Social Work in 1973. In 2003 Ms. Navon was certified in Executive Management from Columbia University’s School of Business.

NO ONE WANTS TO WORK WITH ME

Join us for

No One Wants To Work With Me
Working with ‘difficult’ populations

A discussion and skills-based workshop facilitated by Nicole Rochat, LMSW, Director of the Social Work/Reentry Program at Office of the Appellate Defender and Bill Brosh, LCSW, Forensic Social Worker at Legal Aid Society

WHEN: April 11 @ 12:15PM

WHERE: Columbia University School of Social Work (1255 Amsterdam Ave.) | Room 404

What do you think of when you hear SEX OFFENDER:

What do you think of when you hear VIOLENT OFFENDER:

What do you think of when you hear DRUG ADDICT/SUBSTANCE USER:

What do you think of when you hear MENTALLY ILL:

What do you think of when you hear DIFFICULT CLIENT:

Check out the different versions of the flier for this event
and the words people use to describe these populations.

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Conference 2012 Success

Thank you to everyone who joined us at Removing the Bars: TAKE ACTION this past weekend.  We had a great event that was kicked off on March 23 with Angela Y. Davis and was wrapped up on March 24 with a performance from the IMPACT repertory theatre and other performers.

There is so much to say about this wonderful conference.  While we compile information and evaluations from the conference please check out the 2012 Conference Page for photos, videos, and information from the conference.  We will be regularly updating this page and will be reaching out to presenters to share any of the materials they had at the conference.

Stay tuned!

Hoodies + Justice

I must admit something I am not proud of.  Everyone has lives that they get caught up in and with the Removing the Bars conference beginning TOMORROW, one can imagine how busy we have been.  Unfortunately because of how busy I have been, I have barely paid attention to the news around Trayvon Martin.  I have heard his name and mentions of hoodies and injustice and kept telling myself I would look into it soon or later or after I finish something else.  But that is not how these things should be handled.  I am the Co-Chair of the Criminal Justice Caucus at Columbia University School of Social Work.  I was not only ignoring Trayvon’s memory, I was ignoring the values of social justice I seek to embody and impart and the goal of furthering awareness of the infinite problems of our criminal justice system.

We are proud of the conference we have been instrumental in organizing but part of our role as student leaders in a social work school is to make sure that what is happening NOW is seen, recognized, and addressed.  I was reminded of this when my C0-Chair mentioned that she wanted to write something to acknowledge the situation with Trayvon Martin and find a way to bring it into the conference.

Working on the systemic issues and the bigger picture is important and necessary, but we can never forget that right now, in the moment, people are suffering.  A young man was murdered.

I missed the Million Hoodie March yesterday so I will be wearing my hoodie to the conference tomorrow night and Saturday as will my Co-Chair.  I encourage anyone else who is interested to join us.

Please see my Co-Chair’s message below.  Thank you.

-Ronin A. Davis
Co-Chair of the Criminal Justice Caucus 2011-2012

Good Afternoon,

Rarely do I communicate on the list serve, but a recent event has
been weighing heavily on my heart. On Sunday, February 26, Trayvon
Martin, a 17-year-old high school student was killed by 28-year-old
George Zimmerman. Because Trayvon looked suspicious to Mr. Zimmerman,
he alleged to have shot the teen in the chest in self-defense. Trayvon
was unarmed. What pains me most about Trayvon’s story is he was in an
upscale community visiting his father, Tracy Martin. Mr. Zimmerman
called police stating that Trayvon appeared mischievous. Despite law
enforcement’s instruction NOT to pursue Trayvon, Mr. Zimmerman
confronted and shot him. So, to Mr. Zimmerman, Trayvon looked as
though he did not belong to a community here his father is a member.

 I am not a parent, so all I can do is imagine how Mr. Martin
feels to have worked to live in a community where his “neighbor”
violently decided that his son was not welcome. Mr. Zimmerman has not
been arrested nor have any charges been filed against him. Therefore,
I can only empathize with Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon´s mother. How must
Ms. Fulton feel to have a child slain and for law enforcement to
respond that his assailant has a college degree and was a student of
criminal justice? These thoughts and a host of others and an onslaught
of emotions render me speechless and heart-broken.

As the co-chair of the Criminal Justice Caucus and a student of
Social Work, I feel obligated to acknowledge Trayvon Martin. I would
be remiss to allow the Removing the Bars 2012 Conference to begin and
end without addressing such an egregious act of violence and
misappropriation of justice in favor of Mr. Zimmerman. Yesterday, in
New York City and throughout the nation, were Million Hoodie March
rallies in the streets and on social media. In the Million Hoodie
March participants sported hoodies either in the street rallies or in
Facebook profile pictures. Therefore, I compose this letter with what
I believe is a simple request. I ask that those attending the Removing
the Bars 2012 Conference join in solidarity with Trayvon Martin, his
family, his community and other adolescents who are told, constantly,
they do not look like they belong. One way to express this solidarity
is to wear a hoodie tomorrow night and/or Saturday, as I will be doing
in commemoration of Trayvon Martin. Because this year’s conference is
a ‘community collaborative event’ wearing hoodies in his honor
or other demonstrations of support would be in line with the spirit of
Removing the Bars: TAKE ACTION. So please spread the word.

Thank you all for reading this letter and showing your support.

Sincerely,

Natasha Orilus
Criminal Justice Caucus Co-Chair, 2011-2012

The Conference Is Almost Here!

We have had an enormous amount of interest in the conference and all of our Saturday daytime events have filled up!  But the Friday Night Kickoff Event featuring Angela Y. Davis and the Saturday Night Removing the Bars Concert produced by Voza Rivers and Jamal Joseph still have spots available, but they are filling fast!

Click HERE to register.  You will receive SEPARATE confirmations for the Friday Night event and the Saturday Night event.  On the Saturday registration page be sure to scroll down and click the box next to the concert before completing your registration.

For your convenience, once you’ve registered you can pick up your tickets for Friday Night at Columbia University’s Ticket and Information Center (TIC) located in Alfred Lerner Hall located at 2920 Broadway between 116th St and 115th St.

We look forward to seeing you there!

 

Why Mass Incarceration Matters to Social Workers

“WHY MASS INCARCERATION MATTERS TO SOCIAL WORKERS …or… The Importance of Reckoning with the History of, and Wrestling with the Present-Day Impact of, the Carceral State on the Ground and in the Trenches”

 with Dr. Heather Ann Thompson

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 – Columbia University School of Social Work

While social workers have always faced such challenges as the effects of poverty, abandonment, poor education, and lack of decent employers, and while inequality and injustice are deeply embedded in the fabric of our nation, it is crucial to note the ways in which the current crisis of mass incarceration has both informed and exacerbated the problems faced by America’s already most fragile communities.

 “From tampons to telephones to tasers – crime pays…for some”

Between 1970 and 2010 more people were incarcerated in the U.S. than were imprisoned in any other country. By 2006, the American prison population had increased more rapidly than had the resident population as a whole, and 1 in every 31 U.S. residents was under some form of correctional supervision, such as in prison or jail, or on probation or parole. Just as important is the fact that the incarcerated and supervised population of the United States was, overwhelmingly, a population of color. By the middle of 2006, 1 in 15 black men over the age of 18 were behind bars as were 1 in 9 black men aged 20 to 34. In the 35 years leading up to and including the tumultuous 1960s, the number of Americans incarcerated in federal and state prisons had increased by 52,249 people. In the subsequent 35 years that group increased by 12,662,435.

What happened to contribute to the carceral crisis that we have today? Dr. Thompson points to a phenomenon she calls the “criminalization of urban space,” a process by which increasing numbers of urban dwellers – overwhelmingly men and women of color – became subject to new laws that regulated bodies and communities in new ways but also subjected violators to unprecedented time behind bars.

“Mass incarceration undermines and distorts democracy and actually perpetuates radical right political philosophy”

To truly understand the large net cast by the existence of a carcel state, Dr. Thompson identified a myriad of arenas in which we can clearly see the repercussions of this crisis, including drug law policy, policing in public schools, foster care, unemployment, welfare policy, public health, political power, voting rights, and prison privatization.

 “The carceral state forces us to question our moral economy: you can’t maintain a business that is based on the pain and suffering of others”

So, what can we do about the carceral crisis?!

Dr. Thompson stressed that if we learned one lesson from history, it is that we cannot depend on the government to fix this problem. Change must come from a collaboration of efforts including 1) education; 2) advocacy and agitation; and 3) resistance, and the change must come from within the academy, within communities, and within prisons themselves.

By Stephanie Stroh

—————————————————————————————–

Dr. Heather Ann Thompson is an Associate Professor of History in the Department of African American Studies and Department of History at Temple University. A scholar of African American, urban, labor, political, and policy history in the U.S. during the 1960s and 1970s, her current work centers on the rise of the carceral state during this period and the devastating long-term costs of mass incarceration. She is currently writing the first comprehensive study of the history and legacy of the Attica Prison Rebellion of 1971 (forthcoming from Pantheon Books), a study that she hopes will recapture this dramatic and complex story and underscore the event’s historical and contemporary importance. Thompson, the recipient of several research fellowships and awards, has written numerous book chapters and scholarly articles. Her article “Why Mass Incarceration Matters: Rethinking Crisis, Decline and Transformation in Postwar American History” (JAH, Dec. 2010) received the Best Article in Urban History prize from the Urban History Association. She is author of Whose Detroit: Politics, Labor and Race in a Modern American City (Cornell University Press, 2001) and editor of Speaking Out: Protest and Activism in the 1960s and 1970s (Prentice Hall, 2009). Currently Thompson is also consulting on award-winning filmmaker Chris Christopher’s forthcoming documentary of the Attica Prison Uprising.

http://www.temple.edu/history/thompson/index.html

Resources:

Why Mass Incarceration Matters: Rethinking Crisis, Decline, and Transformation in Postwar American History (pdf)

Criminalizing Kids: The Overlooked Reason for Failing Schools (pdf)

Why Mass Incarceration Matters to Social Workers (ppt)