CHANGE YOUR THOUGHTS, CHANGE YOUR LIFE

It is Never too Late to be What You Might Have Been. ~ George Eliot

I used to teach and counsel criminals. Yes, you read that right. No, I wasn’t extolling the virtues of a life of crime to my minions or teaching an underground network of. protégés how to execute the perfect crime a lá The Art of the Scam 101 (Yes, I just made that title up, adding italics for dramatic effect.) Rather, I taught life skills and interpersonal relations to small groups of incarcerated men prior to their release from a medium security prison back into mainstream society. This bold initiative was part of a comprehensive Correctional Recovery program based on a cognitive-behavioral approach to change, with the intended outcome of reducing risk of recidivism.

Recidivism refers to the tendency of a convicted criminal to re-offend upon release into the community, thereby hastening a rapid return to prison, usually within the space of a year, and often within the first couple of months of freedom.

By participating in this intensive curriculum, hardcore criminals learned new ways of thinking and acting while also developing prosocial problem solving skills and effective coping skills. This new social skillset empowered them to take responsibility for their life choices and enabled them to effectively deal with everyday stress and find alternative responses to stimuli, contrary…