Prisoner Rehabilitation

Expand your vision and see that inside every culprit is a victim crying for help. If you heal the victim, you will eliminate crime from the planet." - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

 

prisoner_rehab1.jpg Addressing the Victim in Every Culprit
Sri Sri began the Prison Program in 1990, to provide prisoners with an opportunity to integrate into the mainstream society and heal themselves. The program features self development workshops with an emphasis on human values, microfinance incentives and vocational training programs. The project also features programs for law enforcement officials.

In a study of 604 participants of the self-development segment of the Prison Program at the Taipei Tu-Chen Detention Center and the Taichung Detention Center in Taiwan, more than half of the participants reported significant reduction in negative emotions such as anger, depression, fear, and insomnia.

 

The Prison program has benefited 3,50,000 prison inmates.

 

Rehabilitation of Prisoners around the World
India * Russia * South Africa * United States of America * Namibia* Thailand * New Zealand * Cameroon * Malawi * Israel * Australia * Dubai * Guernsey * Kenya * Mexico * Lithuania * Bulgaria * Kosovo * United Kingdom * Denmark * Singapore * Fiji * Scotland * Taiwan * Norway * Croatia

 

The prisoner rehabilitation program was initiated in 1999 in Tihar Jail, home to some of India's most notorious criminals. The program is active in eight of the 17 jails in Tihar, and more than 30,000 inmates have participated in the programs.

In New Zealand, the program was launched in partnership with the Juvenile Justice department. In Malawi, the program saw amazing results at the Chasili prison and in the United Arab Emirates, the Al Wathba women's prison welcomed the program. In a landmark decision in Denmark, the country's judicial system ordered that instead of sending juvenile offenders to prison, they should undergo the Art of Living prison program. In Fiji, Kosovo, and in Iraq, the program has been launched in all prisons in the region, and the Taiwan After-Care Association recognized the Foundation's efforts in 2005.

Recently, the Foundation introduced the SRIJAN (Social Rehabilitation of Inmates in Jail and Aiding the Needy) initiative. SRIJAN offers inmates with a variety of opportunities such as theatre, music and dance workshops, and personality development. The initiative also offers vocational training in commercial arts, costume jewellery, fashion technology, and weaving.

Three SRIJAN workshops were recently held in New Delhi, India, where inmates were trained to produce items such as office stationary, gift boxes and lampshades. The Foundation works with local NGOs and partners to market these handicrafts in India and abroad. All proceeds go to the craftsmen, thus making them economically independent.

 

Testimonials
"I used to actually look forward to fights? but now, since doing this course, I?m a totally different person. I can now walk away from a fight."
- Inmate, Pollsmoor Prison, Cape Town, South Africa
"I suggest that such training programs be implemented for troops in all war affected regions."
- G.M. Kolmikov, Head of Military Headquarters, Ministry of Domestic Affairs, Russia
"I never realized I could get so high on breathing! Wow! I feel so relaxed and peaceful. And I've done it just on my own breath."
- Minor Challenger Memorial Youth Center, Los Angeles, USA
"The Prison Smart Courses has brought out remarkable transformation in jail inmates. Even the most hard core of criminals has been touched by the essence of the basic course. In the bitterness and monotony that surrounds the life of a jail inmate, The Art of Living Foundation has given the inmates an opportunity to vent their emotions and cleanse their psyche."
- Ashok Choudhary, State Minister, Home (Jail) Dept., Bihar
"So satisfying has been the experience working and collaborating with the Art of Living that I strongly recommend these programs be conducted throughout the world in all prisons, and all throughout the police force, in addition to schools, hospitals, other organizations, and just about everywhere else."
- Kiran Bedi, former Inspector General Prisons, Tihar Jail, former Joint Commissioner of Police
"If an iron rod is heated in the middle, the rod bends at that point like that, my life has turned. In the 90's, I used to smoke. In the millennium, it was something even worse. But now, I am changed completely transformed. Now we have understood that only love can win the world."
- Ex Terrorist, Udhampur Jail, Jammu & Kashmir, India
"There were times when I wanted to die so I could be rid of all the embarrassment of being in prison. I have spent so many sleepless nights and would constantly have to take sleeping pills. But now after doing the Sudarshan Kriya, for the first time I felt all past impressions and rigidity dissolving and I cannot explain how light I feel. I can talk to myself now. I feel free from inside."
- Niloufer, Byculla Jail, Mumbai, India
"Whatever I did in my life was wrong. But now I have taken a vow not to indulge in any criminal activity."
- Inmate, Beur Jail, Bihar, India