Indian Creek Correctional Center is the only Cognitive Therapeutic Community for male inmates in the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC). The mission of the facility focuses on substance abuse, with the majority of the inmates being enrolled by court order. As part of the ongoing enhancement of the use of pro-social behavior and cognitive skills, the opportunity to introduce Dialogue Skills Training to inmates made perfect sense. By developing these skills, inmates can

What is the purpose of the criminal justice system? Is it punishment? Or retribution? Perhaps rehabilitation? Deterrence? Public safety? While there is undoubtedly a little of all of these in practice, rehabilitation is at the heart of modern penal policy in the UK and US systems where I have worked. In my experience the reality of the aspiration to provide rehabilitation (defined as ‘the reintegration of a convicted person into society’) is hampered by the fragmentation of t

It is sometimes said that organizing church communities is like herding cats. This is meant to be funny, but there is more than a grain of truth to it. Cats cannot be pushed into formation, but they can, in fact, be herded. All we need do is put a fish on a line. In effect, we need to find what they all hunger for and hold it out there: they will come, and they will eat and be better for it. It is the same way in an effective dialogue with members of church communities who