Last year we took steps toward expanding the scope and effectiveness of what we do. This year we have been consolidating and deepening our understanding of what men on the inside need and the skills they need to pass on their gifts within and beyond the institutional environment.
Highlights:
- · On February 11th and 12th of this year JCP sponsored an Outside-Inside Training at the First Parish United Universalist Church in Canton, MA and the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk. The workshop focused on developing skills for both outside facilitators and inmates interested in “parts work.” The two-day workshop, attended by 13 outside men and 25 inside men was led by Bill Wich (Florida) and Jerry Kahn (Wisconsin).
- · On March 24 and 25th JCP offered a two-day prison intensive at Bay State Correctional Center. This workshop was our 7th at the institution where Jericho has offered men’s circles since 2002. Facilitators for this workshop came from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Florida.
- · On May 12 of this year the Jericho Circle Project was one of the sponsors of an event at Suffolk University in Boston entitled “Healing After Crime: The Promise of Victim-Offender Dialogue in the Wake of Violent Crime.” Much of the work done in our prison circles prepares men to take personal responsibility for their actions and develop a deeper understanding of their role in repairing the damages of their crimes. Hearing directly from victims at this event was a powerful reminder that crime begins with injury and healing of all parties is a critical process. Kim Book from Delaware’s “Victims Voices Heard” keynoted the day with moving contributions from both victims and former offenders in the Boston community.
- · In June, facilitators from JCP will travel to the California State Prison in Sacramento (New Folsom) to support the work being done at the 21st Inside Circle Training. This 4-day workshop has served as an important model for the development of work done in prisons through JCP. Over the years, Inside Circle Trainings have served as a training ground for men doing important healing work behind bars.
- In July 13-15, 2012, JCP will be bringing their eighth prison workshop to FMC Devens, a Bureau of Prisons facility in Ayer, MA. This weekend will mark the 20th intensive offered by JCP since its founding in 2001. As in previous years, the weekend will feature a purification lodge offered by the Native American inmate community in support of the work that Jericho offers to inmates from many different regions of the country.
- In October of this year, two men from JCP will be presenting a workshop at the Annual Meeting of the Center for Self Leadership in Providence, Rhode Island. The workshop, “Working with Parts in Prison: An Experiential Workshop,” will be led by Bill Wich and Steve Spitzer and will introduce the Internal Family Systems community to the type of work that offers inside men an opportunity to develop a more complete understanding of their interior landscape and their potential for change.
Photo by Albert Cook
Men’s circles to bring down the walls
Circles are a place where inner discoveries become possible and truth can be told. Joseph Campbell has said that “When a magician wants to work magic, he puts a circle around himself, and it is within this bounded circle, this hermetically sealed-off area, that powers can be brought into play that are lost outside the circle.”
The Jericho Circle Project volunteers create and facilitate men’s circles in prisons to support personal change and the discovery of deeper truth. These circles help incarcerated men develop tools to come to terms with their inner struggles and bring down the walls that separate them from their loved ones, communities and themselves. Carefully crafted to develop trust and support authenticity, Jericho circles help men see themselves more clearly, many for the first time. In Jericho circles men learn how to identify and express their feelings, communicate clearly, address conflicts in their lives, hold themselves accountable, identify new personal directions and, perhaps most importantly, find out “what makes them tick.” When equipped with these skills, men serving time are able to develop a more congruent way of living both within and beyond the walls. “Walking their talk” is one place that men in our circles begin to make diffeent choices and see different possibilities for their futures. Jericho encourages and supports men in “getting real.” Through JCP programs, offenders get to look at their shadows and come to understand the costs to themselves and others of keeping those shadows locked up. The “crisis of masculinity” has kept many men behind walls of their own and society’s making– many of those men end up in prison as a result.. JCP offers incarcerated and transitioning men support to bring down those walls and find new ways to reinvent their lives and become powerful and productive men in the world.
Contact Information: E-mail: info@jerichocircle.org Telephone: (617) 576-1066