Fostering Forgiveness Therapy in Prisons for Lasting Change

Back in 2017, Sylvester Jackson decided to participate in a forgiveness therapy group primarily as a way to escape the confines of his cell in a maximum-security prison. Without that opportunity, he probably would not have engaged in the sessions at all. This unexpected participation ended up drama

Back in 2017, Sylvester Jackson decided to participate in a forgiveness therapy group primarily as a way to escape the confines of his cell in a maximum-security prison. Without that opportunity, he probably would not have engaged in the sessions at all.

This unexpected participation ended up dramatically altering the trajectory of his entire life. These days, residing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he guides community members who have been deeply affected by the criminal justice system through the identical forgiveness program that transformed him.

Throughout his upbringing in the church, Jackson had always viewed forgiveness through a spiritual lens, but it truly resonated with him only after he managed to bridge the gap between the spiritual principles and scientific insights. For Jackson, the practice of forgiveness extended to the pain he had inflicted on others, as well as the wounds he had endured from their actions. He explains that forgiving does not involve minimizing the offense in any way. Rather, you forgive not for the sake of the offender, but for your own sake and well-being.

Jackson came to realize the profound effects that harboring anger can have on one's physical health, mental state, and spiritual life. Maintaining hatred toward others demands tremendous emotional energy, he notes. One of the key lessons he took away was that forgiveness stands as the most powerful antidote to hate, possessing immense transformative potential.

Upon his release from prison, Jackson made a point to contact the psychologist who had facilitated his therapy group, expressing how deeply it had influenced his life.

Delving into the Reasons Behind It

In 1994, Robert Enright, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin, established the International Forgiveness Institute, pioneering the scientific exploration of forgiveness. His influential publications, including The Forgiving Life and Forgiveness Therapy, detail his pioneering contributions to therapeutic practices in this domain. Starting in 2016, Enright's research team introduced forgiveness therapy sessions for male inmates at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin, which is where he first encountered Jackson. In 2018, Lifan Yu, a graduate student under Enright's supervision, extended this research by working with a fresh group of inmates at the same facility.

Drawing directly from Enright's foundational research, Yu structured her therapy sessions to avoid dwelling on the specific crimes committed by the inmates. Instead, the focus was on exploring how their histories of personal abuse had fostered deep-seated anger and adversely affected their psychological well-being.

Yu often reflects on the question of why these individuals ultimately chose to harm others. She points out that many prisoners were themselves victims long before they engaged in criminal acts, carrying that trauma throughout their lives, which in turn drove them to inflict pain on others.

Mirroring Jackson's own transformative experience with Enright, Yu assembled a group of 12 men who studied Enright's book 8 Keys to Forgiveness together, while a separate control group of 12 men utilized the Carey Guides. These guides consist of a series of cognitive behavioral tools and worksheets designed for prison staff to foster positive behavioral changes among inmates and are commonly implemented across various prison systems.

Every member of the therapy group shared compelling narratives about being exploited, mistreated, or betrayed by people they had trusted or admired. Over time, the group bonded closely, much like a family, creating a secure environment where they could openly confront their anger and lingering resentments, as one participant described in an anonymous letter handed to Yu upon the study's conclusion.

Prior to the sessions beginning, all participants completed comprehensive surveys assessing levels of anger, depression, anxiety, their general disposition toward forgiveness, and additional factors. The selected men exhibited severely compromised mental health across these measures. Following the six-month therapy program, Yu administered the surveys once more. The experimental group demonstrated statistically significant improvements, whereas the control group showed no notable changes. Subsequently, the research team extended the forgiveness therapy to the control group participants, yielding similar positive outcomes.

Six months after both groups had finished the therapy, Yu conducted follow-up assessments, revealing that the gains were sustained over time, thus affirming the enduring efficacy of forgiveness therapy in this setting.

The anonymous participant's letter to Yu elaborated further:

I gained insight into how my upbringing had exerted a deeply negative and lasting influence on my development. Through the program, I was able to forgive those from my past for the harms they caused me. The pain has lifted from me completely. I have participated in numerous groups, programs, and counseling sessions over the years, but none ever helped me comprehend why I repeatedly hurt others. This was the first initiative that genuinely inquired, 'What happened to you that shaped you into who you are today?'

Disrupting Patterns of Violence and Trauma

Many prison-based therapies prioritize behavioral correction to reduce the risk of reoffending, often overlooking broader mental health enhancement, according to Yu. This limited perspective neglects the critical link between an individual's criminal actions and their background of personal victimization and abuse.

Sylvester Jackson's personal journey exemplifies this dynamic. He endured sexual abuse from the ages of seven through 13. By age 14, he had begun sexually abusing someone else for the first time. Without any healthy mechanisms to process his trauma, he reached a breaking point where he refused to remain the victim; instead, he became the perpetrator, as he recounts.

Jackson traces the origins of his hatred back to his father, who neglected his family while supporting children elsewhere in the city. This betrayal fueled his early resentment.

Before long, Jackson found himself homeless on the streets of Chicago, drawn into gang life. At 27, he received his initial prison sentence in Texas for forging checks. After release, he reconnected with his faith and maintained stability for several years, but the death of his mother in 2002 triggered a severe mental health decline. During this dark period, he sexually assaulted his youngest daughter. She entered his life at an inopportune moment amid his downward spiral, he reflects. In doing so, he perpetuated the cycle of abuse he had suffered, ultimately leading to his imprisonment.

In 2007, Jackson entered the Wisconsin prison system, where he spent the next decade. It was there that he met Enright and participated in forgiveness therapy. Desperate for relief, Jackson turned to prayer. After a failed suicide attempt, he challenged a higher power: 'If you won't let me die, then help me truly live. If you are real, reveal yourself to me.' He sought restoration for his fractured mind, and forgiveness therapy emerged as a vital component of that divine response.

Jackson's experiences highlight a widespread issue among inmates: Yu and her collaborators documented elevated levels of adverse childhood traumas in medium- and maximum-security prison populations compared to the broader population. Their investigations probed whether prison therapy initiatives could promote psychological recovery and potentially decrease recidivism. The forgiveness therapy research substantiated strong correlations between the nature of abuses suffered and the types of offenses committed.

In the study's preliminary survey of 103 men, an astonishing 90% disclosed childhood abuse—nearly all reporting multiple instances—and 82% indicated that these experiences continued to detrimentally affect their lives. Among the 33 men who acknowledged sexual abuse, 67% had been convicted of sexual assault crimes. Similarly, of the 70 men reporting physical abuse or familial neglect, 80% were imprisoned for violent offenses, including armed robbery, murder, or felony murder charges.

Remarkably, Yu discovered that 46% of these men had never disclosed their past traumas to anyone previously, and the majority had never received validation for their pain or support in healing from it. Essentially, by suppressing their suffering, they were subjecting themselves to ongoing re-traumatization, Yu observes.

Pathways to Profound Personal Transformation

Aaron Griffith, a historian at Duke Divinity School and author of God’s Law and Order: The Politics of Punishment in Evangelical America, notes that individuals entering prison ministry or chaplaincy roles quickly recognize that incoming inmates often arrive bearing significant harms inflicted upon them.

However, for Christians steeped in 'law and order' ideologies and focused on individual salvation, grasping the repetitive cycles of abuse, harm, and violence that many prisoners endure can prove challenging. Griffith explains that there's often reluctance to view inmates as trapped in such vicious cycles. Among evangelical Christians, this stems from an emphasis on personal conversion narratives: from sinner to saved, in a straightforward arc.

Although evangelicals significantly influenced mid-20th-century prison policies, Griffith highlights that Christians from diverse traditions have long championed restorative justice practices both within and beyond incarceration systems. Proponents of restorative justice regard it as a method to tackle crime's underlying causes, such as personal traumas and systemic injustices in prisons. While forgiveness therapy shares some similarities with restorative justice, Griffith suggests it is distinct—and this distinction may be beneficial.

Restorative justice typically prioritizes the victim's perspective, engaging all crime stakeholders to identify steps for repairing the inflicted damage. In contrast, forgiveness therapy operates independently of victim involvement. That said, concentrating solely on the offender's forgiveness might insufficiently address reparations owed to victims or the practical forms of amends. A key strength of restorative justice lies in its caution against coerced forgiveness, instead focusing on all parties' needs—beginning with the victim—to facilitate authentic change.

Nevertheless, as Abilene Christian University associate professor Brad East argues, therapeutic methods that quantify emotions or virtues like forgiveness cannot fully capture its deeper dimensions. Even under ideal conditions—such as between close friends involving acknowledgment, repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation—the process remains imperfect and ongoing. Human forgiveness, prior to eternity, is always incomplete, incremental, and demands daily perseverance, he articulates in his essay 'The Theological Terrain of Forgiveness' published in Comment magazine.

Forgiveness therapy in prisons will inevitably reach only a tiny fraction of the approximately 2 million individuals incarcerated in the U.S. by 2025, and systemic changes are unlikely to expand its scope dramatically. Although prison psychologists and chaplains acknowledge the vast unmet needs, Griffith emphasizes that the criminal justice infrastructure simply isn't designed to address these challenges comprehensively.

Exploring Sin, Redemption, and Human Dignity

Griffith recounts that in 1976, evangelicals intensified their advocacy for harsher penal systems. The National Association of Evangelicals asserted that divine forgiveness for sins requires prior atonement, drawing parallels between criminal acts and moral failings. From that era onward, Griffith documents, the evangelical response to societal lawlessness prioritized stricter enforcement over the spiritual rehabilitation of offenders.

Calvin University psychologist Blake Riek identifies two primary theological frameworks influencing perceptions of crime. One posits universal human sinfulness, while the other underscores the inherent dignity of every person.

These perspectives shape self-perception and views of others profoundly. Riek poses the question: Are prisoners inherently evil individuals, or simply people who committed wrongful acts? This distinction profoundly impacts how they see themselves and are seen by society.

Both shame and guilt arise as responses to violating personal moral codes. Riek's studies reveal that fixating on one's bad character fosters shame, trapping individuals in stagnation and away from forgiveness. Guilt, centered on specific behaviors, motivates reparative action and forgiveness-seeking. A major 2007 study linked initial guilt feelings in prison to reduced recidivism, whereas shame predicted higher reoffense rates. Guilt proves actionable because it targets modifiable behaviors, Riek explains.

Enright and Yu's methodology stands out by eschewing shame-based tactics for behavioral change, instead affirming the dignity of those incarcerated. The anonymous letter to Yu underscored the importance of early intervention: 'I firmly believe that had I accessed this forgiveness program during my first rehab or prison stint, I would not be incarcerated today,' the inmate asserted.

The profound shift Jackson underwent via forgiveness therapy compelled him to share it widely. 'It liberated me from excruciating torment, and I knew it could do the same for others,' he shares. 'Countless individuals today remain ensnared by abusers from their past, unaware of how to release that hold.'

Unable to contain his experience, Jackson, alongside his wife Lavansa, founded Believers for Change, a nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding formerly incarcerated individuals in reintegrating into society. They deliver the same forgiveness curriculum that reshaped Sylvester's life, complemented by restorative justice processes aimed at mending families fractured by personal traumas and the justice system.

'Hurt individuals tend to hurt others,' Sylvester Jackson affirms. 'Yet those who achieve healing possess the capacity to heal others as well.'