We're seen as the organization that is the bucket for failed social policy. I can't define who comes to us or how long they stay. We get the people for whom nothing else has worked, people who have fallen through all of the other social safety nets. They can't contain them, so we must. That's our job: contain them, control them.
我们被看作为那种失败的社会政策 善后的机构。 我不能规定谁来我们这里 或者他们停留多久。 我们接收那些任何方式对他们来说 都不管用的人, 那些其他社会安全保障体系的 漏网之鱼。 社会不能容纳他们, 所以我们必须这样做。 那就是我们的工作: 容纳他们,控制他们。
Over the years, as a prison system, as a nation, and as a society, we've become very good at that, but that shouldn't make you happy. Today we incarcerate more people per capita than any other country in the world. We have more black men in prison today than were under slavery in 1850. We house the parents of almost three million of our community's children, and we've become the new asylum, the largest mental health provider in this nation. When we lock someone up, that is no small thing. And yet, we are called the Department of Corrections. Today I want to talk about changing the way we think about corrections. I believe, and my experience tells me, that when we change the way we think, we create new possibilities, or futures, and prisons need a different future.
多年以来,作为一个监狱系统, 作为一个国家,以及作为一个社会, 我们已经变得非常善于做那件事, 但是那不应该使你高兴。 现在我们监狱人口占人口比例 比世界上任何一个国家都要高 我们今日在监狱里的黑人 比1850年奴隶制实行的时候还要多 我们监禁接近三百万 社区儿童的父母 我们已经成为新型的收容所, 全国最大的精神健康服务提供者。 当我们拘禁某一个人, 那不是一件小事情。 可是,我们被称为惩教署。 今天我想谈谈关于 改变我们看待惩教的方式。 我相信,以及我的经验告诉我, 当我们改变思考问题的方式, 我们就能创造新的可能性, 或者未来, 而监狱需要一个不同的未来。
I've spent my entire career in corrections, over 30 years. I followed my dad into this field. He was a Vietnam veteran. Corrections suited him. He was strong, steady, disciplined. I was not so much any of those things, and I'm sure that worried him about me. Eventually I decided, if I was going to end up in prison, I'd better end up on the right side of the bars, so I thought I'd check it out, take a tour of the place my dad worked, the McNeil Island Penitentiary.
我花费了我整个的职业生涯在惩教上, 超过了30年。 我跟随我父亲进入这个领域。 他是一个越战老兵。惩教适合他。 他强壮,沉着,遵守纪律。 我并没有太多那些特质, 我敢肯定那使他担心我。 最终我决定,如果有一天我会终老在狱中, 我最好终老在栏杆正确的那一边, 所以我想我应该去看看, 到我父亲工作的地方游览一下, 麦克尼尔岛监狱。
Now this was the early '80s, and prisons weren't quite what you see on TV or in the movies. In many ways, it was worse. I walked into a cell house that was five tiers high. There were eight men to a cell. there were 550 men in that living unit. And just in case you wondered, they shared one toilet in those small confines. An officer put a key in a lockbox, and hundreds of men streamed out of their cells. Hundreds of men streamed out of their cells. I walked away as fast as I could.
这是早期的80年代, 监狱还不太是你们 在电视上或者电影里看到的样子 在许多方面,它更糟糕。 我走进一个五层高的牢房里。 在一个牢房里有八个人。 一个生活单元里有550人。 以防你不知道, 他们在那些小隔间里共用一个厕所。 一个警官把一条钥匙插进密码箱里, 数以百计的人从他们的牢房里涌了出来。 数以百计的人从他们的牢房里涌了出来。 我以最快的速度离开了。
Eventually I went back and I started as an officer there. My job was to run one of those cell blocks and to control those hundreds of men. When I went to work at our receptions center, I could actually hear the inmates roiling from the parking lot, shaking cell doors, yelling, tearing up their cells. Take hundreds of volatile people and lock them up, and what you get is chaos. Contain and control — that was our job.
最终我回去了, 我在那里成为了一个狱警。 我的工作是管理其中一个牢房区 以及控制那里数以百计的犯人。 当我去我们接待中心工作的时候, 我能真的听见犯人从床上滚下, 摇晃牢房的门,叫喊, 毁坏他们的牢房。 把许许多多不稳定的人关起来, 你得到的只有混乱。 容纳和控制——那是我们的工作。
One way we learned to do this more effectively was a new type of housing unit called the Intensive Management Unit, IMU, a modern version of a "hole." We put inmates in cells behind solid steel doors with cuff ports so we could restrain them and feed them. Guess what? It got quieter. Disturbances died down in the general population. Places became safer because those inmates who were most violent or disruptive could now be isolated. But isolation isn't good. Deprive people of social contact and they deteriorate. It was hard getting them out of IMU, for them and for us. Even in prison, it's no small thing to lock someone up.
我们学习到更有效的一种方式 是一个新型的居住单元 叫集约化管理单元,IMU, 一个现代版的“洞穴”。 我们把犯人放进用实心钢门封住的牢房 戴上手铐,以便于我们能限制他们 还有给他们食物。 猜猜怎么样? 变得更安静了。 骚乱在普通人群中逐渐消失。 地方变得更加安全 因为那些最暴力 最具破坏力的犯人 现在能被隔离起来了。 但是隔离并不好。 剥夺犯人的社交联系, 他们变得更恶劣了。 把他们从IMU弄出来是很困难的, 无论是对他们还是对我们来说。 即使在监狱,把某一个人关起来 决不是一件小事情。
My next assignment was to one of the state's deep-end prisons where some of our more violent or disruptive inmates are housed. By then, the industry had advanced a lot, and we had different tools and techniques to manage disruptive behavior. We had beanbag guns and pepper spray and plexiglass shields, flash bangs, emergency response teams. We met violence with force and chaos with chaos. We were pretty good at putting out fires.
我的下一个任务在州里其中一个 关押更暴力或者更具破坏性的囚犯的监狱。 到那时候为止, 行业已经进步了许多, 而我们拥有了不同的工具和技术 去管理破坏性行为。 我们有了豆袋枪和胡椒喷雾 还有防爆盾, 闪光弹,应急反应小组。 我们用暴力来对付暴力 用混乱面对混乱。 我们很擅长解决问题。
While I was there, I met two experienced correctional workers who were also researchers, an anthropologist and a sociologist. One day, one of them commented to me and said, "You know, you're pretty good at putting out fires. Have you ever thought about how to prevent them?" I was patient with them, explaining our brute force approach to making prisons safer. They were patient with me. Out of those conversations grew some new ideas and we started some small experiments. First, we started training our officers in teams rather than sending them one or two at a time to the state training academy. Instead of four weeks of training, we gave them 10. Then we experimented with an apprenticeship model where we paired new staff with veteran staff. They both got better at the work. Second, we added verbal de-escalation skills into the training continuum and made it part of the use of force continuum. It was the non-force use of force. And then we did something even more radical. We trained the inmates on those same skills. We changed the skill set, reducing violence, not just responding to it.
在那里工作的时候, 我遇到了两个经验丰富的管教人员 并且他们都是研究员, 一位是人类学家还有一位社会学家。 一天,他们其中一人对我说, “你知道,你很擅长平息战火, 你又没有想过如何预防它们呢?” 我对他们很耐心, 解释我们的暴力法, 那是为了把监狱变得更安全。 他们对我很耐心。 从那些对话中我得到了一些新的想法 并且我们开始了一些小型的实验。 首先,我们从培训几组狱警开始 而不是一次送一个或者两个狱警 到州立培训学院。 我们提供给他们10周的培训, 而不是原本的4周。 然后我们尝试了一种学徒制模式 我们将新的员工跟经验丰富的老手配对。 他们俩在工作上都变得更好了。 第二,我们增加了口头降级技巧 到连续不断的训练中 以及令它成为武力使用等级的一部分。 它是暴力的非暴力形式的应用。 然后我们做了一些更加激进的事情。 我们训练犯人那些相同的技巧。 我们改变了技巧, 减少了暴力,而不仅仅是回应它。
Third, when we expanded our facility, we tried a new type of design. Now the biggest and most controversial component of this design, of course, was the toilet. There were no toilets. Now that might not sound significant to you here today, but at the time, it was huge. No one had ever heard of a cell without a toilet. We all thought it was dangerous and crazy. Even eight men to a cell had a toilet. That small detail changed the way we worked. Inmates and staff started interacting more often and openly and developing a rapport. It was easier to detect conflict and intervene before it escalated. The unit was cleaner, quieter, safer and more humane. This was more effective at keeping the peace than any intimidation technique I'd seen to that point. Interacting changes the way you behave, both for the officer and the inmate. We changed the environment and we changed the behavior.
第三,当我们扩建设施的时候, 尝试了一个新型的设计。 现在,设计中最大以及最受到争议的部分 当然是,厕所。 那里没有厕所。 对于今天现场的你们来说, 这些可能听起来不重要, 但是在那时候, 这是个很严重的问题。 没有人听说过 牢房没有厕所。 我们全都认为这是危险的和疯狂的。 即使八个人的牢房也有厕所。 那个小的细节 改变了我们工作的方式。 犯人和工作人员开始 更频繁和开放地 互动以及发展出了和谐的关系。 探测冲突和在升级前干预 变得更加容易。 单元变得更加整洁,安静, 安全以及更加人性化。 这在保持和平上比任何其他 我见过的恐吓技术都要更有效率。 互动改变了你的行为方式, 无论是对狱警还是对犯人来说。 我们改变了环境, 我们还改变了行为。
Now, just in case I hadn't learned this lesson, they assigned me to headquarters next, and that's where I ran straight up against system change. Now, many things work against system change: politics and politicians, bills and laws, courts and lawsuits, internal politics. System change is difficult and slow, and oftentimes it doesn't take you where you want to go. It's no small thing to change a prison system. So what I did do is I reflected on my earlier experiences and I remembered that when we interacted with offenders, the heat went down. When we changed the environment, the behavior changed. And these were not huge system changes. These were small changes, and these changes created new possibilities.
这时候,以防万一 我没有吸取这个教训, 他们接着安排我去总部, 那是我直接执行系统改革的地方。 这时候,很多事情对系统改革不利: 政治和政治家,法案和法律, 法院和诉讼,内部政治。 系统改革是困难以及缓慢的, 而它时常带不了你 去你想到的地方。 改变一个监狱系统并不是一件小事情。 所以我反省了一下过去的经验 并且我想起来当我们与罪犯交流的时候, 紧张度就下降了。 当我们改变环境的时候, 行为就会改变。 而这些不是大的系统性的改革。 这些是小的改变,并且这些改变 制造出新的可能,
So next, I got reassigned as superintendent of a small prison. And at the same time, I was working on my degree at the Evergreen State College. I interacted with a lot of people who were not like me, people who had different ideas and came from different backgrounds. One of them was a rainforest ecologist. She looked at my small prison and what she saw was a laboratory. We talked and discovered how prisons and inmates could actually help advance science by helping them complete projects they couldn't complete on their own, like repopulating endangered species: frogs, butterflies, endangered prairie plants. At the same time, we found ways to make our operation more efficient through the addition of solar power, rainwater catchment, organic gardening, recycling. This initiative has led to many projects that have had huge system-wide impact, not just in our system, but in other state systems as well, small experiments making a big difference to science, to the community. The way we think about our work changes our work. The project just made my job more interesting and exciting. I was excited. Staff were excited. Officers were excited. Inmates were excited. They were inspired. Everybody wanted to be part of this. They were making a contribution, a difference, one they thought was meaningful and important.
接下来,我被分配到了一所小监狱当狱长。 并且在同一时间,我正在为我在 艾沃格瑞州立学院的学位而努力。 我去很多与我不同的人接触, 跟我有不同想法的人, 还有有着不同背景的人。 其中有一个人是雨林生态学家。 她看了一下我的小监狱而她想到的是 一个实验室。 我们交流并发现监狱以及犯人是如何 能够通过帮助他们完成试验项目 从而来帮助科学发展。 他们没法自己完成, 像重新繁衍濒临灭绝的物种: 青蛙,蝴蝶,濒临灭绝的草原植物。 与此同时,我们发现了 让我们运行的更有效率的方法, 通过引入太阳能, 雨水收集,有机园艺,回收利用。 这种首创精神已经导致很多 有巨大系统性影响的项目, 不仅仅在我们的系统内, 在其他州的系统也一样, 小型的实验对科学 对社区产生巨大影响。 我们看待工作的方式 改变了我们的工作。 项目使我的工作更加有趣和令人兴奋。 我很兴奋。工作人员很兴奋。 狱警们很兴奋。犯人们很兴奋。 他们都受到了启发。 每一个人都想成为其中的一份子。 他们对有意义和重要的事, 做出了贡献,产生了影响。
Let me be clear on what's going on here, though. Inmates are highly adaptive. They have to be. Oftentimes, they know more about our own systems than the people who run them. And they're here for a reason. I don't see my job as to punish them or forgive them, but I do think they can have decent and meaningful lives even in prison. So that was the question: Could inmates live decent and meaningful lives, and if so, what difference would that make? So I took that question back to the deep end, where some of our most violent offenders are housed. Remember, IMUs are for punishment. You don't get perks there, like programming. That was how we thought. But then we started to realize that if any inmates needed programming, it was these particular inmates. In fact, they needed intensive programming. So we changed our thinking 180 degrees, and we started looking for new possibilities. What we found was a new kind of chair. Instead of using the chair for punishment, we put it in classrooms. Okay, we didn't forget our responsibility to control, but now inmates could interact safely, face-to-face with other inmates and staff, and because control was no longer an issue, everybody could focus on other things, like learning. Behavior changed. We changed our thinking, and we changed what was possible, and this gives me hope.
让我尽管澄清一下这里正在发生什么事情。 犯人们非常适应。 他们不得不这样做。 他们时常比管理他们的人 更清楚自己的系统。 他们进监狱是有原因的。 我并不认我的工作是去 惩罚或者原谅他们, 但是我认为他们即使在监狱 也能拥有得体和有意义的生活。 所以那是个问题: 犯人们可以过上体面而且有意义的生活吗? 如果可以,会带来怎样的不同? 我带着那疑问回到最困难的部分, 那个关押最暴力的罪犯的地方。 记住,IMU(集约化管理单元)是用于惩罚的。 你不会在那里得到额外的好处,比如规划。 我们就是这样想的。 但是我们开始意识到 这些特定的犯人,比任何其他人 都更需要计划指令。 事实上,他们需要强烈的适应。 所以我们在思想上有了180度的转变 开始寻找新的可能性。 我们找到的是一种新型的椅子。 取代了原来用来惩罚的椅子, 我们把它放置于教室。 好吧,我们没有忘记控制的职责, 但是犯人可以安全地相处, 跟狱友还有工作人员面对面沟通, 而且因为管制已经不再是一个问题了, 所有人都可以集中精力到其他的事情中, 像学习。行为改变了。 我们改变了思维,创造不同的可能性, 而这给我们带来了希望。
Now, I can't tell you that any of this stuff will work. What I can tell you, though, it is working. Our prisons are getting safer for both staff and inmates, and when our prisons are safe, we can put our energies into a lot more than just controlling. Reducing recidivism may be our ultimate goal, but it's not our only goal. To be honest with you, preventing crime takes so much more from so many more people and institutions. If we rely on just prisons to reduce crime, I'm afraid we'll never get there. But prisons can do some things we never thought they could do. Prisons can be the source of innovation and sustainability, repopulating endangered species and environmental restoration. Inmates can be scientists and beekeepers, dog rescuers. Prisons can be the source of meaningful work and opportunity for staff and the inmates who live there. We can contain and control and provide humane environments. These are not opposing qualities.
现在,我无法肯定这完全可行。 我能告诉你的是,它正在起作用。 对工作人员和犯人来说 我们的监狱都变得更加安全, 而当我们的监狱安全了, 我们可以把精力更多地投入到 控制犯人以外的事情。 减少惯犯也许是我们的终极目标, 但是它不是我们的唯一目标。 坦白跟你们说,预防犯罪 需要更多的人力物力 以及机构参与其中。 如果我们仅仅依赖监狱去减少犯罪, 恐怕永远都达不到目标。 但是监狱能够做一些 我们从未想过它们能做到的事情。 监狱可以是创新和 可持续发展, 重新繁衍濒临灭绝的物种 以及环境修复之源。 囚犯可以是科学家和养蜂人, 犬只救援人员。 对工作人员 和犯人来说, 监狱可以提供有意义的工作和机会。 我们可以容纳和控制 以及提供人道的环境。 这些不是相对立的。
We can't wait 10 to 20 years to find out if this is worth doing. Our strategy is not massive system change. Our strategy is hundreds of small changes that take place in days or months, not years. We need more small pilots where we learn as we go, pilots that change the range of possibility. We need new and better ways to measure impacts on engagement, on interaction, on safe environments. We need more opportunities to participate in and contribute to our communities, your communities. Prisons need to be secure, yes, safe, yes. We can do that. Prisons need to provide humane environments where people can participate, contribute, and learn meaningful lives. We're learning how to do that.
我们不能等待10年到20年去发现 这是不是值得做的。 我们的策略不是巨大的系统改变。 我们的策略是数以百计的小改变 发生在几天或者几个月,而不是几年。 我们需要更多小的试点, 在前进中学习, 改变可能性范围的试点。 我们需要新的更好的方式去衡量影响 在参与上,在互动上, 在安全的环境里。 我们需要更多的机会去参与 和贡献我们的社区, 你们的社区。 监狱需要变得牢靠,对的, 安全,对的。 我们能够做到。 监狱需要提供人道主义环境 人们可以参与,贡献, 以及学习有意义的生活。 我们正在学习如何去做到那件事。
That's why I'm hopeful. We don't have to stay stuck in old ideas about prison. We can define that. We can create that. And when we do that thoughtfully and with humanity, prisons can be more than the bucket for failed social policy. Maybe finally, we will earn our title: a department of corrections.
那就是我满怀希望的原因。 我们没有必要停留在对监狱老旧的观念上。 我们可以定义它。我们可以创造它。 当我们细心地以及人道地做事, 监狱可以不只是 承载失败社会政策的桶。 也许最终,我们将会赢得我们的头衔: 一个修正的部门。
Thank you.
谢谢。
(Applause)
(掌声)