TRANSFORMATION PROJECT SDI No. 1 Prison Project

By Ed Winchester Hundreds of convicts and corrections personnel were introduced to centering prayer/meditation in a transformation project and stress management classes at the Lorton Correctional Facilities near Washington, D.C. The project was co-sponsored by the D.C. Department of Corrections and the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Reason for U.S. Department of Defense Mobility Assignment (March 1980)

"The assignment is to support a training in management seminar . . . . The training is uniquely structured to permit investigation of a new theory for transforming the effectiveness of organizations and of management systems. In particular, the reduction of stress and tension among prison inmates, correctional officers, and other staff is expected to be one of the major benefits. Reduced tensions and a higher level of creativity and intelligence due to neuro-physiological refinements are expected to produce marked improvements in individual behavior leading to measurable improvements in overall organizational effectiveness (OE)."

(Delbert C. Jackson, Director, Dept. Of Corrections and Karl F. Becker, Director for Personnel &Security, Office of the Secretary of Defense)

Results

Lorton Transformation Project This project was an exercise in collective consciousness to simulate an end to hostilities in the Middle East. Cellblocks in a maximum security facility represented different Middle Eastern countries. One senior official claimed that no assaults occurred in the maximum security facility for six-weeks during the entire period covered by the exercise: “Such a thing had not happened before in the seventy-five year history of the institution.”

From 1980 through 1983 centering prayer/meditation was the central feature of the prison project, which eventually involved at least 40 volunteers and a curriculum of courses aimed at personal and institutional transformation. Prison officials and many participants attributed positive changes in their lives and in prison administration to the success of the project. Overcrowding in prison facilities did not result in any serious problems during the period of time covered by this intervention, nor did an anticipated layoff of corrections personnel occur due to a budget shortfall of approximately $52,000,000. By 1994 the 1980 budget deficit turned around enabling prison administration and officials to make significant improvements to prison facilities such as dormitories and dining hall facilities, and implement new measures to improve security.

Memorandum to the Director, Department of Corrections June 30, 1980

A stress clinic was set up . . . at the Central Facility Hospital last April, and has been held on a regular basis by Mr. Edward E. Winchester. The medical staff and several hundred residents have participated in this program at the hospital; many of them commented about the immense good that is coming from Mr. Winchester’s work.

The stress clinic has definitely made a valuable contribution to our health care programs. Not only are there mental and physical health benefits to be derived from the program, but the Stress Clinic is beginning to be recognized as an important, if not essential, factor for the safety and security of the total population at Lorton, including correctional staff and residents.

. . . . If the Stress Clinic is continued, I would recommend that we begin making physiological measurements such as EEG, blood cortisol, GSR and other factors. Those measurements could be used to develop a ‘Rehabilitation Index’ for use by the Parole Board, Classification and Parole staff, and the courts as a guide in determining eligibility for discharge of residents from the institution. Measurements could also be made for correctional officers and administrative staff to gauge their fitness for duty and the extent to which harmful effects of stress are affecting their health.

. . . . I would like to see residents who are involved in disturbances within the institution or who violate rules of conduct given an opportunity by adjustment boards to participate in the Stress Clinic on a regular basis for a prescribed time. This form of treatment could be tested as an alternative to disciplinary and punitive actions against the residents. In my opinion giving residents special attention in the Stress Clinic would have significant advantages over other forms of corrective or disciplinary action. This form of treatment would enhance safety and security within the institution by causing more positive behavior through elimination of the harmful effects of stress. It would contribute also in a significant way to improving individual health.

(Dr. J. M. Seipel, Ph.D. MD, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Corrections Medical Unit, Correctional Services)

Letter from Mrs. Effi Barry July 26, 1983

Recently, I have experienced a most positive and emotionally stimulating interaction with the residents of Lorton Correctional Facility, through the Lorton Transformation Project. This project is unique but one whose time has come.

The Lorton Transformation Project is a volunteer operated program in which the residents can, through their own decisions, become involved in a number of classes such as: stress management, meditation, nutrition, development of positive thinking, and how to become in tune with the inner self.

It is a most invigorating experience to be involved with the incarcerated who are developing the necessary discipline to begin to take control of their lives, who are beginning to understand themselves and their actions, and are truly committed to making the necessary transformations to become positive contributing citizens once they are reunited with society as a whole.

The potential of the positive impact that the Lorton Transformation Project can have in the community is overwhelming. . . . In the final analysis, the quality of life for all is improved by one person reaching out to another. Please, won’t you reach out and touch with hands of love.

Effi Barry

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Report on the Lorton Sacred Summit October 3, 1983

I have been a newsman for almost 25 years, and during that time I have at times probed into the problems of incarceration and “correction,” at Rykers Island and Attica in New York, and elsewhere. As anyone who has spent any time at all in this area knows, there are no easy solutions. I have developed respect, however, for activities and processes that relieve tension in prisons, and I do believe that such occasions as [ the “Sacred Summit” organized by the Lorton Transformation Project] do operate to do just that. There was a lot of blowing off of steam, but even the most heated statements kept within the limits of “peaceful” intentions, a feat I marveled at during the event! It is my conviction that such programs operate as a healthy and constructive safety valve, which becomes even more necessary during periods of prison overcrowding. (Lawrence Mosher, Staff Writer, National Journal)

Letter to the President of the United States June 6, 1980

I recently visited Washington and was asked to observe a new innovative program at the Lorton Correctional Institution. Since then I have been most anxious to share with you this genuinely unique and moving program that the Pentagon is supporting in the District of Columbia Department of Corrections . . . . In my 13 year correctional career I have seen many programs come and go. They all had admirable intentions, but few if any gave the trainee (inmate or staff) the “tools” to understand their own actions and the feeling that they were in charge of their own lives whenever they wanted. This program accomplishes these things and gives the trainee the ability to eliminate the recurring daily stress that fills each person and each prison & contributes to a recidivism rate of 80% and an annual Correction Officer turnover rate of 40%. I am not exaggerating to state that this program can literally change the character of the prison system .

This program is the start of developing an alternate to prison, so that the offenders who do not require confinement can be dealt with in non-institutional settings. Supportive teachers & counselors within the school can monitor the daily practice of these simple mental techniques. The long term use of this system will result in a drastic reduction in our courts & jails. . . . I, like thousands of Correctional staff across the nation, have never been able to reach the inmate like this program will. (Robert W. Pershelli, Counseling Department, Youth Correctional Institution, State of New Jersey)

Prison Administrator June 30, 1980

. . . In the beginning many of our staff people were reluctant to take the course, but now all I can hear are praises and questions regarding when the seminar will be given again. I can not tell you how useful and meaningful your stress seminars have been to both the residents and staff of this Facility.

(Salanda V. Whitfield, Administrator, Central Facility Department of Corrections Government of the District of Columbia)

Letter to Secretary of Defense July 15, 1980

I have received numerous reports which are highly favorable and call for a continuation and expansion of the program offered at Lorton. Those reports come from all levels in the Department of Corrections – top management, other officials, correctional officers, staff, and even prisoners incarcerated in the Lorton Correctional Facilities. Over six hundred people participated in the initial ninety day demonstration program. We have profited immensely from this innovative approach to problem solving.

(Delbert C. Jackson, Director, Department of Corrections, Government of the District of Columbia)

Letter from Member of Congress to the US Secretary of Defense August 8, 1980

This letter is to thank you for a very successful and worthwhile program which your office made possible at the Lorton Correctional Facilities . . . . The success of the program has been spoken to by my own staff who have had contact with it, and has been addressed by Mr. Delbert Jackson, Director of Correctional Services for the District of Columbia, and by a petition signed by residents and staff of the Lorton Facility who had benefited by participation in this remarkable project.

There are several reasons why, in addition to the above testimonies, it is important that this project be made available to more residents at Lorton . . . to complete the results and findings that seem to point to significant applications in other areas of population groups – military and correctional – where heretofore stress management has not been at work, and in particular, minority groups with especially heavy stress burdens.

I should appreciate the opportunity to discuss the possibilities of this very worthwhile project further in terms of application to many of our “hot spots” and wish to thank you and your office for carrying forward this work thus far. (Wlater E. Fauntroy, Member of Congress)

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