Back to Jail

I didn't think that I would be going back to jail this soon, but I did.

No, don't fret. It's my choice to go to jail this time around. The San Francisco Youth Commission invited me to go to San Bruno County Jail to look at a program called "Resolve to Stop the Violence Project (RSVP). "RSVP implemented throught the San francisco Sheriff's Department, was designed to test a hypothesis concerning the causes and prevention of violence through a jail-based violence prevention experiment."

I went inside the jail for two days to observe the prisoners participate in the program. The first thing I noticed walking inside the housing unit was the smell. There was this strong odor that I'd recognize anywhere - the smell of dirty laundry. The other visitors didn't smell it. It's a prison thing. I can never forget that stench smell of orange clothing on prisoners' backs.

The prisoners were separated in groups under the supervision of one outside facilitor to conduct the sessions. Some of them lead the discussion and others give feedback. Everyone participated in the process of embracing the deconstruction of violence in order to reduce violence in their lives. Whatever reasons motivated those guys to join the RSVP or how much they get out of it, they have started the healing process.
I believe there should be more programs like that in all prisons as well as schools and in the community.

I was in those types of self-help program myself. It works. As I walked out of the jail, I remembered that it used to be the other way around - me staying in prison and others walking out. Freedom is great.