Talking Circle in Prison

Wed Nov 9 14:39:48 PST 2005

Lisa:

Of course there is a long tradition of circle gatherings in prisons with
Native Brotherhoods, for all the reasons you cite...they are powerful,
healing, non-outwardly chaotic processes.

Certainly, PeerSpirit Ciricling as a formal process would be well suited for
prison work.

But I also wanted to remind you of the circle you held for us at OSonOS this
year where participants were you kicked off the conversation by turning to
the person on your left and asked a question. THe're job was to answer the
question and then turn to THEIR left and ask the next person a question, and
so on.

It was one of the most powerful, and elegantly simple, processes for
balancing advocacy and inquiry, and it just got deeper and deeper as we went
along.

Thanks for your reflections here. They are really useful.

Chris

On 11/9/05, Lisa Heft <lisaheft at openingspace.net> wrote:
>
>  Hi, all –
>
>  I just wanted to share that last week I was working inside two women's
> prisons in Central California.
>
>  One of the things I was doing was training inmates who are peer health
> educators – on a new curriculum I developed that teaches other inmates who
> are about to be released about HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, sexually transmitted
> diseases, how substance use affects disease transmission and progression,
> self-esteem, and communication in relationships.
>
>  The other thing I did was the reason I was thinking of you all – I also
> attend the annual prison health fair at several prisons, where I set up a
> circle of chairs so people can just talk and converse and ask questions
> about absolutely anything that is important to them. Because that is
> health, too.
>
>  So this last time I had the pleasure of hosting an all-day talking
> circle. Or maybe I should call it a listening circle?
>
>  It's the closest thing to Open Space I can get – in prison you cannot do
> anything that an onlooker (say a guard looking down from a tower or across a
> prison yard) might interpret as chaos. Therefore, so far I cannot set up a
> delightful-chaos-of-Open Space situation. But I can do one circle, that
> lasts for a day, that goes wherever anyone wants it to go.
>
>  As this was during the health fair (imagine a big gymnasium – along the
> walls are tables with community agency representatives offering brochures
> and information - Planned Parenthood, transitional houses, family support
> agencies); and in the center, a circle of chairs. With a sign that says
> "Join the conversation". In other prisons I have done this outside on the
> exercise yard.
>
>  Yes, it's a health fair. And yes, I am there to answer any questions
> anyone has about health issues. I am also a health educator so I can share
> general health education about a cross-section of concerns.
>
>  But it's mostly about listening. And inviting others to share their
> thoughts. And about affirmation, and about belief, and about support for
> people to take good care of themselves and each other. To treasure
> themselves. It's really a participant-led conversation, with me doing some
> deep listening and holding space for participants in the circle to share,
> support each other, listen, and just be in a safe space.
>
>  Here are some of the topics that came up. The participants shifted and
> changed throughout the day. There had been some sort of fight the day
> before, so the institution was on a modified 'lock down' (lock down is when
> you must stay in your cell with the door locked and cannot leave for days –
> usually inmates can leave to go to their meals and prison jobs, as long as
> they have 'ducats' – papers that give them permission to move about the
> prison for a specific reason or appointment). So on this day, only one
> 'yard' at a time (one section of the prison) was allowed to come to the
> health fair, so the overall population did not mix. So we sort of had 3
> sessions (though the law of 2 feet and butterflies and bumblebees were
> definitely in effect throughout the duration).
>
>  Topics included:
>
>  § Methamphetamines (serious drugs – this topic came up several times
> during the Talking Circle, as some are in prison because of it and some have
> seen their loved ones affected by it)
>
>  § Fibroids (non-cancerous tumors in the uterus)
>
>  § Cysts in breasts (they feel like lumps)
>
>  § Inner peace (how to achieve peace amidst the chaos and constriction of
> being in prison – these are women who are housed 8 or 9 in a cell that was
> originally designed for 2 people)
>
>  § Access to proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment (inside prison,
> doctors are often unable to access and prescribe certain medications, and
> may not have access to diverse tests and laboratory analysis; there may also
> be some communication issues with some inmates feeling listened to or not by
> some clinicians)
>
>  § Drug use and self-esteem (how when you use drugs it erases your
> outline, in a way – the boundary between your self and the world / others,
> so that you may not care for or protect yourself during those times; but you
> may use drugs because you need to erase bad feelings or because you do not
> love yourself)
>
>  § Relationships (speaking up for your needs, getting away from abuse,
> finding another someone who treats you as a treasure)
>
>  § The oppression (my word) of the system (the experience of being in
> prison)
>
>  § Menopause and hysterectomies
>
>  § Meditation (how to start, how to practice, in a place where there is no
> quiet time or private space)
>
>  Most of these women come from communities, families and lives where
> nobody ever told them anything about health, and they may not access
> healthcare due to lack of resources or mobility. They mostly come from
> lower income communities. Then they come into prison and sometimes they stay
> for decades, so health issues around aging and depression are added to their
> worries. There are also myths about health being shared as truths, because
> in most institutions there is no education regarding health.
>
>  I thought you might like a little look into this rich setting for
> dialogue, conversation and holding space,
>
>  Lisa
>
>    ___________________________
>
> *L i s a H e f t*
>
> Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
>
> O p e n i n g S p a c e
>
> 2325 Oregon
>
> Berkeley, California
>
> 94705-1106 USA
>
> +01 510 548-8449
>
> lisaheft at openingspace.net
>
> www.openingspace.net <http://www.openingspace.net>
>
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--

CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com
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