Book on Tranformation in Prison • Prospectus • Book Summary • Chapter 3   *** PROSPECTUS THE BREAKING POINT by Stephen Chinlund Scope This is the story of the remarkable changes in the prison system of New York State from 1962 to 2008.Starting nine years before the Attica tragedy in 1971, it chronicals the move away from “goon squad” discipline in a system which was run as a “garbage dump” for humans convicted of felonies, where nothing mattered except keeping them inside and minimizing violence toward staff. It has slowly evolved into a professionally managed way to confine convcted felons with an increasing focus on doing everything possible to insure that they will not go out to the community and commit new crimes. The narrative is essentially anecdotal with continuing references to the changing larger picture. Chinlund makes it clear that we still have a long way to go. The history is narrated against the background of Chinlund’s autobiographical involvement in the system. He was first a volunteer, working as an Episcopal priest to visit parishioners, then founder and leader of the Network program, a peer group undertaking designed to elicit a sense of worth in people who believe they are worthless. He continued as Director of the Manhattan Rehabilitation Center, a place of confinement for three hundred female heroin addicts where the Network concept of peer support and challenge was further refined. Going on to be Superintendent of Taconic Correction Facility (the first work-release prison in the state), he was ultmmately appointed by Governor Hugh Carey to be Chairman of the Commission of Correction, an agency charged with the monitoring of all the prisons, jails and police lockups of the State of New York. Since 1988 he has helped grow the Network program as Executive Director of Episcopal Social Services. Now a participant on the Board of Managers and a volunteer in the Network program, he continues to visit prisons and the re-entry meetings in New York City, observing and training staff. Length The manuscript is 247 double spaced pages. There are two appendices: one a short history of prisons, from their beginnings to the present; the other is a short treatment of the death penalty. Audience The book is directed at a general audience. Even most well-informed and public-spirited citiizens are unaware of the realities of modern prisons and are astonished to learn that they are more progressive places than they had imagined. Furthermore, the budget pressures have brought conservatives and liberals together in seeking ways to reduce costs by improving the hopes for crime-free lives after release. The enormous costs of prisons will be a civic issue for years to come.   Some who have read the manuscript have said that they were frequently inspired to apply the material of the book to the “prisons” in which we find ourselves in the world outside. There are departments of criminal justice in colleges and universties around the country, many of them new. Many of the students have no knowledge of life inside prison. This book could be assigned reading. Books are almost all from two points of view: dry, statistical accounts of the sociological aspects; or angry accounts by former prisoners. Even Ted Conover’s book, New Jack, is told from the point of view of a staff person involved in the system for a year. Chinlund’s account comes from one who has been a prison reformer over a 45 year period, who knows first hand the reasons for the bitterness of those who have been sent to prison, but who also knows the challenges of making prisons better- more likely to release people to lead crime-free lives. He is an Episcoipal minister, a former Superintendent, former Chairman of the Commission of Correction and a citizen determined to continue to struggle for an improved criminal justice system. Table of Contents 3     - Prologue                                                                                                8     - Chapter One            Beginnings                                                             30   - Chapter Two           Commitment Tested: Priesthood                           49   - Chapter Three         Learning by Going Inside                                    107 - Chapter Four           Opening Doors                                                        136 - Chapter Five           Manhattan Rehab                                                   164 - Chapter Six             The Horrors of Attica; Becoming a Superintendent  194 - Chapter Seven        Chairman of the Commission of Correction              225 - Chapter Eight         Network Communities at Last                                249 - Chapter Nine          Back on the Streets                                          281 - Chapter Ten            Holding Still; the Breaking Point                     324 - Chapter Eleven       Revenge and the Theology of Prison                 336 - Chapter Twelve      Prisons Can Be Different                                        360 - Appendix A          A Brief History of Prisons and Some Reformers 370 - Appendix B          On the Death Penalty Chapter Three of this book, “Learning by Going Inside,” appeared in almost identical form in the Journal of Religion and Health. The Editor is David Leeming, who has assured me of his cooperation with publication.    Abstract  The Breaking Point  is the story of the changes in the New York State prison system from 1962 to 2008 as experienced by Fr. Stephen Chinlund, an Episcopal priest, founder of the Network Program (nside prisons and at re-entry points in New York City), former Superintendent and former Chairman of the Commission of Correction. The history of the system unfolds as Chinlund continues to be involved in various ways, telling of the changes  through anecdotes of interactions with prisoners, parolees, staff administrators and legislators. It describes a system which must continue to change, but more responsive to the present needs of the public and the prisoners than citizens generally realize. It concludes with recommendations for continued improvement. Chapter-by-Chapter Outline Prologue   (Could be replaced by one written by Sam Waterston who has visited two of the prisons where the Network Program operates.) As written, the Prologue is a summary of the book. Chapter One: Beginnings Tells of Chinlund’s childhood and early motivations to help people inside prison: Quaker school; the shock of the news of the Holocaust; early visits to monasteries; conversion in spite of agnostic parents; Harvard study that reinforced a commitment to respect multiple truth. Chapter Two: Commitment Tested; Priesthood Motivation from Episcopal priests involved in inner city, inter-racial work. Struggles in seminary with hard-liners. Expelled. The best of Union Seminary. Ordination. Work on the Lower East Side led to first prison visit. Started group work inside. James Baldwin. March on Washington and King speech. Fired from second parish. Chapter Three: Learning by Going Inside Creating an East Harlem ministry. Drug rehabilitation. Sheltered workshop for recovering addicts. Shelf for Mayor and Mrs. John Lindsay. Beginning work in state prisons: continuity. Failures on the street. Brutal world inside prison. Individuality of each prisoner. Beginning of group work inside. Visiting the Commissioner. Foolish mistake exposes prisoner fury toward me. The deepening trust of the group. Breakup of my marriage. Importance of self-esteem. Beginning of the Four Part Meeting. Chapter Four: Opening the Doors Going deeper with self-esteem. Importance of silence in the meetings. Some of the many who have bgained from being in prison from St. Paul to Malcolm X. Story of George the Hit Man. Chapter Five: Manhattan Rehab Responsible for 300 women, heroin addicts confined under original Rockefeller drug law.  “We will blow this place up like a fire-cracker on the 4th of July.” Narcotic Correction Officer Therapists. Benefits of working with women. Success of Julia and Marie. Problems of being explicit about my faith. Suicide of a resident. “Unitizing” as a way to create community. Making the place co-ed. Chapter Six: The Horror of Attica; Becoming a Superintendent The story of the lead-up to the Attica tragedy; the event itself and the aftermath. Creation of the New York State Commission of Correction. Becoming Superintendent of Taconic prison, proposed to be a “prison college,” then changed to be a work release prison. Spending the night in prison. Successful creation of first Procedure Manual for work release. Change to be Executive Director of Big Brothers. Chapter Seven: Chairman of the Commission of Correction Meeting with Governor Carey and appointment. Stormy start, firing staff. Threat of new strike at Attica. Meeting with inmate leaders and legislators. Confirmation hearings. Conjugal visits. Confrontation with Sheriff McNulty and his resignation. Meeting Editorial Board of the New York Times. Angry County Executives. Correction Officers strike. Abuses in Special Housing. Visiting prisons in South Carolina, California. Midnight visit to Great Meadow prison with a reporter. Confrontations with Commissioner Ward. The overcrowding horror. Chapter Eight: Network Communities at Last Planning Network. Reluctant rejection of full monastic ideal.Choosing the first prisons. Positive beginnings. Importance of self-affirmations. Eventuial inclusion of the Shock Camps under the Network philosophy. Beginning the re-entry meetings in New York City. After Shock. Hostage taking at Cxsackie prison. Chapter Nine: Back on the Streets The Prisoner Family Program. Creation of a curriculum. Rector of Trinity Church in Southport, Connecticut. Ecuador. South Africa. Visit to prison in Leeuwkop; the eyes of men in solitary confinement. Pilgrimage. Return to New York City to be Executive Director of Episcopal Social Services and return to leadership of Network. Contract with the Division of Parole. Valentine’s Day revelation. Gilberts- the great volunteers. Funding from the Clark Foundation. Chapter Ten: Holding Still; the Breaking Point Network at Bedford, the prison for women. The fury of a 400 pound prisoner. Restarting college inside after its termination in 1994. The story of “T” and some implications. The variety of “breaking points” in individual stories. Mental illness in prison. “Double-celling.” Maxi-max prisons. Disruption of meeting by a rapist. Chapter Eleven: Revenge and the Theology of Prison Revenge as expressed by ex-offenders. Revenge in me. The Bible and revenge. Forgiveness as an alternative has limits. Problem of doctrine of hell. Chapter Twelve: Prisons Are Being Transformed Three phases of prison philosophy: a place of punishment; a place of reconstruction and the current phase: offering the opportunity to change. Youth Courts and Drug Courts. Victim Offender Mediatioon Dialogue. Deterrence; incapacitation; rehabilitation. New conservative/liberal coalitions across the USA. New Hope.