“Captain once told me, ‘Society may often forget about the gatekeeper known only as a corrections [or] detention officer, but what would society do without him or her at the gate?’”
—Jerome R. Hall, former CO and former Marine
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In Their Own Words
“When I started going through these questions, I thought this should be integrated into mandatory training. It’s honest self-evaluation. I’m actually jealous of the officers getting it now, because I would have loved to have had it when I started my career.”
“First and foremost, “From Guards to Guardians” serves to remind us that no matter our role, we are all human. As such, we need to recognize our limitations and strive to overcome them on a personal level.”
“For me, this program would have been a good resource for me to lean on to help others because in my profession, I have lost good friends. I have seen families be destroyed. This program could have given me a great resource so I can tell somebody ‘Hey, did you read this? Do you know of this program? This can help.’ So this program to me could have maybe saved some lives, before they decided to take their own.”
“I interviewed with the warden and I explained to him what I thought my job was. Prisons carry a negative light, they are a source of pain and shame. So towns are reluctant to have prisons in them. They are filled with heartbroken families of inmates who move there, and the prison itself is this closed off isolated dark energy. My job is to turn the prison in to a source of light, that it become something the town become proud of. If I am successful, cities should want to have a prison in their town, because they know that prisons bring with them resources and community support and love.”
“I think if the Guards to Guardians program was available when I was working the tiers, it would have been absolutely life-changing for me. I’ve been through some traumatic events in my life and I think this would have given me the tools I need to cope with those things.”
“I believe the program falls under that category Chicken Soup for the Soul, the program is exactly that it’s a medication. It’s something we can read and put into our mind and body and spirit and use to turn our lives around, turn our work environment into a positive place. If we had more programs that bridge the gap and educate officers on how to come forward and express their thoughts express their opinions and to express what is going on in their lives. It helps them to get it out of their system. That you can get through these trials and tribulations and never allow yourself to think that you’re alone.”
“I think the shame people feel when they look away [from jails and prisons] is that in their guts they know that there is a process of human rehabilitation that is supposed to be happening in that prison and it is not.”
“An inmate is in prison as punishment; not to be punished.”
Program BenEfits
Set your sights on your own flourishing and renewed sense of purpose, and allow your personal healing to grow in its wake
Become a Guardian. Build your capacity for restoring those in your custody
Be a leader in a new way of corrections where officers thrive and prisons become assets for their communities
Series
Get access to the monthly Rehumanization Magazine featuring contributors from the front lines of this effort—those living on Death Row, residents of the largest women’s prison in the world, renowned ecologists, the food insecure, and veteran correctional officers alike.