NCJ Number
229374
Date Published
2009
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This chapter describes the work of the Public Safety Initiative (PSI) of LIFERS, Inc., an initiative created by a group of long-term prisoners and directed at change on the individual level among incarcerated men who formerly were involved in street crime.
Abstract
At a maximum-security State prison in Graterford, PA a group of long-term prisoners, wanting to be a meaningful part of the solution, initiated a movement to end the culture of crime and violence. Based on the belief that changed thinking leads to changed behavior, members of the LIFERS Public Safety Initiative (PSI) at the State prison utilize positive peer intervention to encourage and assist adherents to street-crime culture in a process of soul-searching designed to accomplish cognitive transformation. It was made clear in this chapter that PSI members who see themselves as transformed also see themselves as desisters, but they do not see all who describe themselves as desisters as being transformed. The chapter highlights stories of personal transformation, and the ongoing efforts of the men who have been transformed illuminate how even long-term prisoners can craft lives full of meaning and make valuable contributions to their incarcerated brethren, the institutional environment, and future generations. It also highlights ways in which PSI may be conceptualized as a mutual aid or peer-support organization, at least with respect to its cognitive transformation efforts. PSI represents a significant resource in efforts to encourage offenders to change their lives and desist from crime and reduce misbehavior both within and outside of correctional institutions. Notes and references