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This SIG discusses the issues and concerns of correctional educators working in short-term detention facilities.
Effective Parenting Program Shows It Is Never Too Late
Posted by:
Jerry Bednarowski
()
Date: March 16, 2011 11:40PM
Effective Parenting Program Shows It Is Never Too Late
“It has been my experience that when you lecture inmates on the importance of being a responsible person, the best you get is a bored look. But when you talk about what it takes to be a responsible parent, they sit up and listen.”
These are the words of E. Kent Hayes, an internationally recognized authority on the care of pre-delinquent, neglected and other troubled children. His award winning books, Why Good Parents Have Bad Kids, Broken Promise and Find a Safe Place have been translated into many languages. Two novels he wrote about at-risk kids were made into TV movies for CBS. He’s traveled the world telling audiences about what he has come to know about the principles of good parenting.
Kent’s 1995 video “Effective Parenting: It’s Never Too Late” has been shown in prison parenting and life skills classes across America. Despite having no particular focus on offenders or their unusually complex parenting issues, Kent kept hearing positive feedback from inmates. One of the most beneficial consequences of viewing the video, many reported, was how much it helped them recognize, often for the first time, some of the most important skills they had never learned while growing up. Many seemed to “get it” that until they can put into practice in their own lives those things that were missed, they can’t reasonably hope to become an effective parent.
According to Shannon Murphy, Reentry Director at the Douglas County (Kansas) Correctional Facility, since Kent Hayes came out of retirement and began conducting Parenting Groups for their inmates, “I wish to emphasize the importance of this program in our facility and the vital role it plays in our overall inmate reentry process.”
Shannon goes on to say, “We knew that his original parenting tape was being used in other correctional facilities and we received input from those programs emphatically stating that the inmates not only learned parenting skills, but also real insights into their own behavior. As our parenting groups progressed, we saw this process evolve. Inmates began to realize that they grew up without the skills necessary to function appropriately in society, including being a good parent. They started to ask how they could gain these skills. They began to realize that they could not be a good parent if they didn’t fix what’s broke.”
“When we decided to create a parenting group tape specifically designed for inmates, we had two objectives: to keep it simple and to design a program that could be led by any senior officer or program specialist within any facility. The study guide for the group leader and the study guide for the participants are easy to follow, but more importantly, you will discover that each group will take on a life of its own.”
“I have discovered that this program allows inmates to let down their guard and gain new insights into their own behavior. Without that insight, inmate reentry programs have little value.”
What would motivate inmates in correctional facilities to spend four to six hours discussing ways to improve their capacity to function in this complicated world? Kent reports, “We have learned from experience that inmates want, above all else, to do whatever possible to make sure their children become productive, happy, successful citizens, and are willing to spend the time, energy and concentration to achieve this goal. This training speaks to the fact that you can’t teach what you don’t live. You cannot create healthy families if the parent does not understand and live by some basic principles that will foster a productive and responsible citizen.”
When inmates at correctional facilities viewed the initial Effective Parenting: The Art of Teaching Life Skills video, responses began to sound universal:
• They began to realize why they were the way they were, gaining insight into their inability to function appropriately in society.
• They wanted to know how old you can be to learn these life skills and how to begin that process.
• They understood they could not contribute to or lead the development of a healthy family without making these all important changes.
The Effective Parenting: The Art of Teaching Life Skills parenting curriculum was designed to answer each of these all important questions. It is designed specifically for incarcerated parents.
The curriculum is a dynamic tool for use as fits best for each individual facility. Some may incorporate an inmate group discussion into their structure; some may focus on the 13 principles only. The 80-minute videos may be presented once weekly for 13 weeks, or 2 principles may be presented at a time, twice weekly – however it fits the institution’s needs.
A 29-minute inmate group discussion segment from the Douglas County (Kansas) Correctional Facility may be utilized at your discretion. A Group Leader Guide has been developed to help users modify the curriculum to meet the needs of their facility and participant population.
Kent Hayes summarizes why the Effective Parenting: The Art of Teaching Life Skills program is effective. “When you relate how their thinking affects their children—how this thinking helps or hinders what the child will need to learn if they are going to survive in this complicated world—inmates begin to ask questions about the skills they never learned, but more importantly they ask how they can learn these life skills now."
To find out more about the Effective Parenting: The Art of Teaching Life Skills curriculum, contact E. Kent Hayes at kginhayes@sbcglobal.net. For information on how the program is used at the Douglas County Correctional Facility contact Reentry Director Shannon Murphy at smurphy@douglas-county.com.
“It has been my experience that when you lecture inmates on the importance of being a responsible person, the best you get is a bored look. But when you talk about what it takes to be a responsible parent, they sit up and listen.”
These are the words of E. Kent Hayes, an internationally recognized authority on the care of pre-delinquent, neglected and other troubled children. His award winning books, Why Good Parents Have Bad Kids, Broken Promise and Find a Safe Place have been translated into many languages. Two novels he wrote about at-risk kids were made into TV movies for CBS. He’s traveled the world telling audiences about what he has come to know about the principles of good parenting.
Kent’s 1995 video “Effective Parenting: It’s Never Too Late” has been shown in prison parenting and life skills classes across America. Despite having no particular focus on offenders or their unusually complex parenting issues, Kent kept hearing positive feedback from inmates. One of the most beneficial consequences of viewing the video, many reported, was how much it helped them recognize, often for the first time, some of the most important skills they had never learned while growing up. Many seemed to “get it” that until they can put into practice in their own lives those things that were missed, they can’t reasonably hope to become an effective parent.
According to Shannon Murphy, Reentry Director at the Douglas County (Kansas) Correctional Facility, since Kent Hayes came out of retirement and began conducting Parenting Groups for their inmates, “I wish to emphasize the importance of this program in our facility and the vital role it plays in our overall inmate reentry process.”
Shannon goes on to say, “We knew that his original parenting tape was being used in other correctional facilities and we received input from those programs emphatically stating that the inmates not only learned parenting skills, but also real insights into their own behavior. As our parenting groups progressed, we saw this process evolve. Inmates began to realize that they grew up without the skills necessary to function appropriately in society, including being a good parent. They started to ask how they could gain these skills. They began to realize that they could not be a good parent if they didn’t fix what’s broke.”
“When we decided to create a parenting group tape specifically designed for inmates, we had two objectives: to keep it simple and to design a program that could be led by any senior officer or program specialist within any facility. The study guide for the group leader and the study guide for the participants are easy to follow, but more importantly, you will discover that each group will take on a life of its own.”
“I have discovered that this program allows inmates to let down their guard and gain new insights into their own behavior. Without that insight, inmate reentry programs have little value.”
What would motivate inmates in correctional facilities to spend four to six hours discussing ways to improve their capacity to function in this complicated world? Kent reports, “We have learned from experience that inmates want, above all else, to do whatever possible to make sure their children become productive, happy, successful citizens, and are willing to spend the time, energy and concentration to achieve this goal. This training speaks to the fact that you can’t teach what you don’t live. You cannot create healthy families if the parent does not understand and live by some basic principles that will foster a productive and responsible citizen.”
When inmates at correctional facilities viewed the initial Effective Parenting: The Art of Teaching Life Skills video, responses began to sound universal:
• They began to realize why they were the way they were, gaining insight into their inability to function appropriately in society.
• They wanted to know how old you can be to learn these life skills and how to begin that process.
• They understood they could not contribute to or lead the development of a healthy family without making these all important changes.
The Effective Parenting: The Art of Teaching Life Skills parenting curriculum was designed to answer each of these all important questions. It is designed specifically for incarcerated parents.
The curriculum is a dynamic tool for use as fits best for each individual facility. Some may incorporate an inmate group discussion into their structure; some may focus on the 13 principles only. The 80-minute videos may be presented once weekly for 13 weeks, or 2 principles may be presented at a time, twice weekly – however it fits the institution’s needs.
A 29-minute inmate group discussion segment from the Douglas County (Kansas) Correctional Facility may be utilized at your discretion. A Group Leader Guide has been developed to help users modify the curriculum to meet the needs of their facility and participant population.
Kent Hayes summarizes why the Effective Parenting: The Art of Teaching Life Skills program is effective. “When you relate how their thinking affects their children—how this thinking helps or hinders what the child will need to learn if they are going to survive in this complicated world—inmates begin to ask questions about the skills they never learned, but more importantly they ask how they can learn these life skills now."
To find out more about the Effective Parenting: The Art of Teaching Life Skills curriculum, contact E. Kent Hayes at kginhayes@sbcglobal.net. For information on how the program is used at the Douglas County Correctional Facility contact Reentry Director Shannon Murphy at smurphy@douglas-county.com.
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