The below is a translation of an article originally published on December 12th 2013 on www.gazeta.pl. We are posting it here so that you could learn about interesting rehabilitation initiatives from around the globe.
“My daughter is to study with a criminal?” An experiment at Catholic
University in Lublin, Poland
36 inmates have started studying at Catholic University in Lublin, Poland (Katolicki
Uniwersytet Lubelski - KUL); among them are those sentenced for murders, rape
and armed robberies. Alarmed parents of female students are calling the
university. And they hear: “These are the kind of people your daughter will
work with. She can still resign if it’s not for her.”
For the time being, the inmates are studying at the Lublin’s jail. Next
semester they will participate in lectures on the University’s premises-
together with other students. After three years they will receive a BA diploma
of a social worker, with a major in streetworking. When they regain their
freedom, they will be able to work in facilities that look after the homeless,
drug abusers and alcoholics.
They are paying so that I am not killing
Gabriel, born in 1971, killed his father and buried his body in the garden;
five years later he killed his mother:
“I’ve already done 20 years of my sentence and I’ve noticed that I’m getting
rusty. I’m getting retarded, for example in speaking. If you are cursing in
prison, you are accepted. And when you are using words such as: a propos, de facto, vis-a-vis –
they do not tolerate you much. That you are a smarty pants or a philosopher. I
hated my father.
“He was on probation for family abuse. He disowned me. He said I was not
his son. I killed when I was 16, in 1988. For over seven years his body was in
the garden. I attended railway vocational school, I was to study in Deblin (renowned
Polish school for pilots), like my uncle. I even earned a glider pilot
licence. I killed my mother five years later. We had an argument. She started
to remind me about killing my father, saying that I was worse than him.
“Studies at KUL are a chance for a better life. Doing time has some purpose
now. Earlier, except for isolation, it had none. Because if someone like me is
doing 25 years in a correctional institution, it is badly invested tax money.
They are paying for the board and lodgings, but they are getting nothing in
return from me. They are paying for safety- so that I am not killing.
“These studies will help me come to terms with the new reality. Because I
am a Neanderthal in a cave. I am afraid of technological barriers. The world
has changed a lot over all those years when I am in. I’ve never held a cell
phone.
“I have down-to-earth dreams. I need to start with small things. I’d like
to have a family. There are mainly girls in this department. Maybe I will meet
my future wife?
“I realize that our studying there is controversial. I’ve heard that
parents are calling KUL and asking- How come, my daughter is to sit at one desk
with criminals?”
What will be students’ reaction?
Professor Iwona Niewiadomska, psychologist, one of the originators of the
studies for inmates:
“Help or experiment? Both. No one knows how it will
end. We
don’t know what kind of people came here, on the side of motivation and
resources. Those resources are for instance: hope, ability to connect with
people, optimism, the sense of control of reality.
“It
is certain that it is a chance for those people as far as resocialization is
concerned. We need to reflect on what we can do to make sure they will not get back
to prison. Please note how many questions emerge: for example what will happen
when those people come to the university; how the students will react?
“For the time being, parents are alarmed. They are calling and asking: how
come, my daughter will be sitting at one desk with a criminal? There is a simple answer to their concerns: you need
to realize what kind of studies your daughter chose. These are the kind of people
she will most likely work with. Now she can still back off if it’s not for her.”
Female students may think: Cool guys
Boguslaw Woznica, The Warden of Investigating Jail in Lublin:
“The public opinion may be surprised that people who should be doing their penance, got an index, student’s ID and are
entitled to scholarship. These are reasonable doubts. One should remember,
though, that people who are leaving prison and who no one has invested in, and
who committed crimes, are a much bigger threat than when they got behind bars.
That’s why it’s crucial to rebuild their minds, show them different ways of
solving problems. And this is what we are doing with the help of the men of
science. How did the admission process look? At first, we wanted only
first-time offenders from the Lublin voivodeship (province) to study at KUL,
but we didn’t find enough candidates. There had to be at least 30 students. So
we extended our recruitment to the whole country. Only
those with life sentences were not accepted. We are observing the students, till June they must
convince us that we can let them go to classes outside their prisons. At this
stage, all have their chance, but I suppose that I won’t let everyone out.
“I
am not worried that something bad may happen during classes. I am more worried
about female students who can get involved in romantic relationships with
inmates. They may think: cool guys!
“If
my daughter studied with inmates, I would tell her to look at such a
relationship closely and not respond to sweet words. In such situations limited
trust should be a rule.”
I won’t tell my fellow students that I am in prison
Krzysztof,
born in 1982, tried to kill his fiancée:
“Outside, I graduated from an economy high school, passed GED exams. I will be
out in 3.5 year. I got 9 years and 8 months for growing marijuana and
attempting to kill my girlfriend.
“With that ‘attempting’ it was like this: we
lived together, slept together, ate together and suddenly we pass each other in
the street as if we had never known each other. A new man appeared in her life. One
day I was looking after our daughter. I was supposed to bring her back by 6 pm.
My brother tells me- It’s going to rain, I will give you a lift. She went
outside to take our daughter. We started to argue again. And there was a knife
in the car. A small one. The kind you take with you when you go to the
woods to pick up mushrooms. I took it…
“I know I will be a better streetworker than someone who has never been
incarcerated. A person who has gone through such things can help others more
than someone who has never had any problems. I can’t
wait to attend the classes at KUL. It’s a completely different world. I will surf the net and
be on Facebook during each break. It’s like earlier when I was at school. But
of course not only that. I will surely meet some cool people there.
“I won’t tell my fellow students that I am from a facility. I don’t feel
that I am a criminal. A criminal is someone who does his time, and gets out to
steal again. Someone who accepts the possibility of going back behind bars.”
There won’t be any special security
measures
Priest professor Miroslaw Kalinowski, dean of
the theology department, one of the originators of the studies for inmates:
“ I know what kind of sentences those inmates
have, but it doesn’t matter. They have full citizen’s rights. KUL students who will be studying with
prisoners have nothing to fear. Every day on a bus they may be travelling with
people who have been to prison or are still there but are going to town doing
some community service. I am surprised at how much we stigmatize those people by
not giving them any chance.
“Will
we protect our students from the inmates in any special way? No. In the street,
you cannot be sure that you won’t be run over by car that didn’t stop at red
light. Should there be a policeman over each driver to control if he’s not
breaking any traffic laws?”
My kids don’t know that I am incarcerated
Adrian, born in 1981, after he got into his child’s mother’s place, he
strangled her and hit her head against concrete floor:
“I’ve been in prison for 26 months. Sentence- 8
years. A friend, whom I was with for a few months in Pinczow, helped me a lot.
He’s very quiet, prays a lot. He shines with goodness. It made me want to come closer
to God.
“I
studied when I was still free- information technology at weekends. But the high
level of the courses surprised me. I gave up. Then there came a wife, two
children…
“And
then I had an affair with a friend, she had a baby. But his mother didn’t let
me see him. I got inside though balcony
door. In
panic, she tried to stop me, I pushed her away…
“My children still don’t know that I am incarcerated. Together with my wife we
decided to wait till something good happens. And it did happen. When in a
year’s time I will be able to attend classes at KUL, they might come to
Lublin….”
Punishment has its end
Priest Professor Andrzej Szostek, former rector of KUL, he teaches ethics in
prison:
“Guilt and punishment in a religious sense are God’s business. I can only
discuss it in an earthly context. If a man did not receive a life sentence, his
punishment has its end. When the sentence is over, he becomes a normal citizen-
and this is how we should be treating him. I know that it is difficult to
forget the wrongs the convict did. But we can’t stop at a revenge level and
think that prisoners should have the worst possible lives till they die. This
is a primitive way of reacting, harmful both for them and for us.
“I
like to go to those classes. The inmates
listen carefully, ask for Reading materials, ask intelligent questions. When
they told me they would like to have at least seven copies of my “Talks in
Ethics”, I thought to myself: “Dear Jesus! I can afford to get one for each of
them. It’s not a big expense on my part, but let them have this kind of
response for their involvement.
“Those who oppose the project, I respond this way: “The punishment goes on and
the classes do not make their incarceration null and void. However, adding to
this punishment blocking their development is acting against the idea of those
facilities being correctional ones. Prison is not only punishment, which gives
some people satisfaction, that prisoners are suffering due to the wrongs they
once did, but it’s also a place that is supposed to prepare people for their
coming back into society.”
I’ll invite my daughter to KUL
Marek, born in 1970, sentenced for theft and armed robberies:
"I’ve already done 7 out of 15
years. I have a university degree, in prison I graduated from an IT course. I
had a wife, a child, I worked at a travel agent’s. We made ends meet. It
was a robbery, it went so smooth, suddenly we had more money. I didn’t mean to
kill. I just responded with shooting to someone shooting at me. It’s hard for
me to live with it.
"Daughter. A difficult subject. For a few years we only communicate via phone. And
with these studies, there is a slight chance to meet outside prison walls. I
will invite her to KUL. We used to compete with grades. Now I sent her a copy of the first page of my
index. She said: 'We will see who’s better'."
They are not studying to kill
Pawel Moczydlowski, a former chief of
penitentiary services:
“Prison can be trying to do its best, and work wonders,
but it’s the society that is more responsible for return of inmates to normal
life. If we approach prisoners in a panicky way, like “O gosh! My daughter will
associated with them!”, then the probability that such a prisoner will stumble
again is huge. You need to have really strong will to get through such
discrimination.
“This experiment not only gives inmates a bigger chances of a successful
return to the society. It’s also our fight against horrible stereotypes.
“In the West, studies for inmates have not created a sensation for a long time.
The law sentences them to limiting their freedom, not to anything more. We
cannot take their right to education from them. I would understand if the
controversies were due to paid jobs for inmates. Because you know- it’s
difficult to get a job and prisoners may be competition. But studies? Education- absolutely yes!
“I am not worried about them going to the university, because many convicts have been free
for a long time. First, an army of people with sentences are not in
prison because there are not enough beds in there. And others also get out,
either when they have done their time or are on pass. Moreover, if someone
wants to get higher education, they are not doing it to kill people. I do not
know why certain things are not obvious to us.
“True, these are people with long sentences, but
none of them is a hitman. Their crimes originated in complicated family
relations, they were often done under severe provocation- it can happen in many
families.
“Prison must prepare for life outside. They will get out anyway one day. Is
it better if they get out as mad dogs?”
Some of the comments under the
article:
Igraszkabis: An initiative worth
praise. It is true resocialization, backed up with deeds, not only words. And
inmates can be more motivated than many pampered students.
thomos85: Strange things in that
Lublin. Not so long ago a student was expressing his indignation that someone
dared to ask him questions during his diploma exam. Today students of social
work (or their parents) are complaining about having to deal with inmates. If
things go this way, then some resentful apprentice at a bakery will grumble
that they made him bake bread and he got dirty with flour!
The whole text in Polish can be found here:
