Letters to an Incarcerated Brother: Encouragement, Hope, and Healing for Inmates and Their Loved Ones
Page 32
Eating healthy: This will promote a better overall mood
Getting bright light or sunshine
Avoiding alcohol and drugs
Meditation
Listening to relaxation CDs or music
Getting regular physical exercise LIST THREE PEOPLE YOU CAN RELY ON WHEN YOU ARE FEELING DISCOURAGED OR JUST NEED A HELPING HAND
1.
2.
3.
Track stress-reducing activities and the time spent doing each activity below.
MON
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
SUN
Week 1
Meditated 30 minutes
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Be the change: Another way we can get stuck in negativity is by not believing that we can change. In Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, author Carol Dweck talks about the difference between a growth mind-set and a fixed mind-set.1 The first step, she says, is to “learn to hear your fixed mindset ‘voice.’” She suggests that you write down these thoughts and then write down thoughts with a growth mind-set that can counteract the fixed-mind-set thoughts.
FIXED-MIND-SET THOUGHTS
1.
2.
3.
GROWTH-MIND-SET THOUGHTS
1.
2.
3.
Believe you can change: One way to change negative behaviors is to believe that you can change, according to Changing for Good by James O. Prochaska, John C. Norcross, and Carlo C. DiClemente. The authors advise readers to seek out people who want to help them to change and social situations that will enable them to change. It is also important to take credit for your success when you do succeed, instead of attributing it to others or outside influences.
Another good book about making permanent positive changes is Do One Thing Different: Ten Simple Ways to Change Your Life. In it, author Bill O’Hanlon advises people to pay attention to patterns in their life and change what they can. He also says that we should notice what we’re doing when things are going well and do more of it, and whenever you find yourself doing a behavior that’s problematic, force yourself to also do something positive for yourself that you really don’t like to do.
PROBLEMATIC
BEHAVIORS
WAYS I CAN CHANGE
THE BEHAVIOR
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
4.
5.
5.
Be optimistic: Martin Seligman, the author of Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, spent years studying why optimists seemed better able to thrive, even in the face of failure. He showed that people can actually learn to be more optimistic and that an optimistic attitude allows people to get over hurdles. According to Seligman, it helps to dispute your belief that you are doomed to failure, and also you must not blame yourself for things that are out of your control. Finally, write down the thoughts that you have right before you feel sad or angry, so that you recognize them the next time they occur and fend off the unhappy feelings.
THOUGHTS THAT OCCUR BEFORE I BECOME SAD OR ANGRY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Getting your driver’s license: Following this owner’s manual is a suggested reading list. I would like for you to read every single book on this list, and to track your progress, here’s a checklist for your reading plan. Make a copy for each month of the year, and try to read at least one book a week. Once you have read all the books on the list, you will have passed your “road test” and will be an expert on living fully and well.
MONTH: _____
TITLE OF BOOK
DATE
COMPLETED
WHAT I THOUGHT
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
SUGGESTED READING
Wrongful Conviction: Law, Science, and Policy by James R. Acker and Allison D. Redlich
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Mandela’s Children by Oscar A. Barbarin and Linda M. Richter
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
The Bible
Doing Time on the Outside: Incarceration and Family Life in Urban America by Donald Braman
Wrongful Convictions: Cases and Materials by Justin Brooks
Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown
Bear by Paul W. Bryant
Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Tom Lagana
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams by Deepak Chopra
Spiritual Solutions: Answers to Life’s Great Challenges by Deepak Chopra
Innocent: Inside Wrongful Conviction Cases by Scott Christianson
Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho
Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho
Cage Your Rage: An Inmate’s Guide to Anger Control by Murray Cullen
An Autobiography by Angela Davis
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing by Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mohandas Gandhi
Convicting the Innocent: Where Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong by Brandon L. Garrett
Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
You Can Make It Happen: A Nine-Step Plan for Success by Stedman Graham
The 50th Law by 50 Cent and Robert Greene
The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham
No Death, No Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Conversation: How Men and Women Can Build Loving, Trusting Relationships by Hill Harper
The Wealth Cure: Putting Money in Its Place by Hill Harper
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Fragments by Heraclitus
Teaching Critical Thinking by bell hooks
Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson by George Jackson
Steve Jobs: His Own Words and Wisdom by Steve Jobs
Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard
“Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Power of Negative Thinking by Bob Knight
The Koran
The Way of Life by Lao Tzu
The Worry Cure: Seven Steps to Stop Worry from Stopping You by Robert L. Leahy
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
The Man Who Outgrew His Prison Cell: Confessions of a Bank Robber by Joe Loya
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
The Courage to Create by Rollo May
The Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book that Changes Lives by Dan Millman
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore
Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees by Nalini Nadkarni
Within Prison Walls by Thomas Mott Osborne
15 to Life: How I Painted My Way to Freedom by Anthony Papa with Jennifer Wynn
Freeing the Innocent: How We Did It—A Handbook for the Wrongly Convicted by Michael and Becky Pardue
False Justice: Eight Myths That Convict the Innocent by Jim Petro and Nancy Petro
The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography by Sidney Poitier
In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance by Wilbert Rideau
Here I Stand by Paul Robeson
Counting the Years: Real-Life Stories About Waiting for Loved Ones to Return Home from Prison, edited by Sheila R. Rule and Marsha R. Rule
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange
The Gift of Acceptance by Janine Shepherd
Fail Up: 20 Lessons on Building Success from Failure by Tavis Smiley
The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn
Super Brain: Unleashing the Explosive Power of Your Mind to Maximize Health, Happiness, and Spiritual Well-Being by Dr. Rudolph E. Tanzi and Deepak Chopra
Prisoners’ Guerrilla Handbook to Correspondence Programs in the United States and Canada by Jon Marc Taylor
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough
The Upanishads
RESOURCES
Alcoholics Anonymous: www.aa.org
Alternatives to Violence Project: www.avpusa.org
Bard Prison Initiative (for New York State only): www.bpi.bard.edu
Books Through Bars: www.booksthroughbars.org
Connections 2012: A Guide for Formerly Incarcerated People to Information Sources in New York City and The Job Search, published by the New York Public Library: www.nypl .org/sites/default/files/11_1_11__connections_2012.pdf
Dr. Carol Dweck’s site: www.mindsetonline.com
Family and Corrections Network: fcnetwork.org
The Innocence Project: www.innocenceproject.org
International Network of Prison Ministries: www.prisonministry.net
Job Corps: www.jobcorps.gov
Longtermers Responsibility Project: www.osborneny.org
Mrs. GE-6309 Time, Reesy Floyd-Thompson’s blog: pwgp.org/ mrs-ge-6309-time-the-blog
Narcotics Anonymous: www.na.org
Office of Correctional Education: www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/AdultEd/correctional -education.html
Prison Fellowship: www.prisonfellowship.org
The Quantified Self: www.quantifiedself.com
TED conference talks: www.ted.com/talks
Think Outside the Cell Foundation: www.thinkoutsidethecell.org
The Voice from Inside, John Wannamaker’s blog: www.thevoicefrominside.blogspot.com
STATE CORRECTIONAL EDUCATION COORDINATOR BY STATE
ALABAMA
Correctional Education Division
J. F. Ingram State Technical College
PO Box 220350
Deatsville, AL 36022-0350
Phone: (334) 285-5177
Fax: (334) 285-2521
E-mail: dchambers@ingram.cc.al.us or jmerk@ingram.cc.al.us
Website: www.ingram.cc.al.us
ALASKA
Inmate Programs
State Department of Corrections
Suite 601
550 West Seventh Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: (907) 269-7434
Fax: (907) 269-7420
Email: annaherzberger@alaska.gov
Website: www.correct.state.ak.us/corrections/index.jsf
ARIZONA
Correctional Education Bureau
State Department of Corrections
Third Floor
1601 West Jefferson
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone: (602) 542-5620
Fax: (602) 364-0550
E-mail: bganz@azcorrections.gov or lkrause@azcorrections.gov
Website: www.azcorrections.gov/adc/divisions/newsuppdiv/newsupp_Workforce.aspx?
ARKANSAS
Arkansas Correctional School
Correctional School System
8000 Correction Circle
Pine Bluff, AR 71603
Phone: (870) 267-6725
Fax: (870) 267-6731
E-mail: dubs.byers@arkansas.gov
Website: arkcs.arkansas.gov
CALIFORNIA
Correctional Education Division
State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
PO Box 942883
Sacramento, CA 94283-0001
Phone: (916) 445-8035
Fax: (916) 324-1416
E-mail: doug.mckeever@cdcr.ca.gov
Website: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/OCE/index.html
COLORADO
Correctional Education Division
State Department of Corrections
2862 South Circle Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80906-4195
Phone: (719) 226-4417
Fax: (719) 226-4424
E-mail: tony.romero@doc.state.co.us or bill.zalman@doc.state.co.us
Website: www.doc.state.co.us
CONNECTICUT
Correctional Education Division
State Department of Correction
Unified School District #1
24 Wolcott Hill Road
Wethersfield, CT 06109-1152
Phone: (860) 692-7537
Fax: (860) 692-7538
Email: doc.pio@po.state.ct.us or angela.jalbert@po.state.ct.us
Website: www.ct.gov/doc/cwp/view.asp?a=1503&q=265554
DELAWARE
Correctional Education Division
State Department of Correction
Bureau of Prisons
245 McKee Road
Dover, DE 19904
Phone: (302) 857-5276
Fax: (302) 739-7215
E-mail: johnj.ryan@state.de.us
Website: doc.delaware.gov
FLORIDA
Office of Education and Initiatives
State Department of Corrections
Building B, Room 300
2601 Blair Stone Road
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2500
Phone: (850) 922-3621
Fax: (850) 922-2121
E-mail: overstreet.allen@mail.dc.state.fl.us or crockett.mckinley@mail.dc.state.fl.us
Website: www.dc.state.fl.us
HAWAII
Correctional Education Division
State Department of Public Safety
Room 405
919 Ala Moana Boulevard
Honolulu, HI 96814
Phone: (808) 587-1279
Fax: (808) 587-1280
E-mail: maureen.l.tito@hawaii.gov or mtito14@gmail.com
Website: hawaii.gov/psd/corrections
IDAHO
Correctional Education Division
State Department of Correction
Suite 110
1299 North Orchard Street
Boise, ID 83706
Phone: (208) 658-2066
Fax: (208) 327-7458
E-mail: gcushman@idoc.idaho.gov or mperien@idoc.idaho.gov
Website: www.idoc.idaho.gov
ILLINOIS
Office of Adult and Vocational Education
State Department of Corrections
1301 Concordia Court
Springfield, IL 62794
Phone: (217) 558-2200 extension 3601
Fax: (217) 522-9518
E-mail: info@idoc.state.il.us
Website: www.idoc.state.il.us
INDIANA
Correctional Education Division
State Department of Correction
E334 Indiana Government Center South
302 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: (317) 233-3111
Fax: (317) 234-0956
E-mail: jnally@idoc.in.gov
Website: www.in.gov/idoc
IOWA
Correctional Education Division
State Department of Corrections
Suite Four
510 East 12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319
Phone: (515) 725-5728
Fax: (515) 725-5798
E-mail: info@doc.state.ia.us or laura.farris@iowa.gov
Website: www.doc.state.ia.us
KANSAS
Correctional Education Division
State Department of Corrections
Landon State Office Building, Fourth Floor
900 SW Jackson Street
Topeka, KS 66612-1284
Phone: (785) 296-3317