NA prisoners graduate from anger management course

Thirty-three inmates of the New Amsterdam Prison were on Thursday recognised after successfully completing a three-month anger management and re-entry programme.
Among those who completed the course is a woman who was recently sentenced to a 98-year-jail term for poisoning her two children.
Participants were chosen based on their age and length of their prison term, and the programme was conducted by Solutions Training Consultancy and Counselling Services.
Among those who graced the stage all decked out in their gowns were high profile and special watch inmates. Both remand and convicted prisoners, including the recently sentenced mother who poisoned her children, were given opportunity to participate in the programme, which focused on imparting skills to prepare inmates to reintegrate into society capable of dealing with issues which would confront them, so that they would not have to be placed in such a facility again.
Officer-in-charge of the New Amsterdam Prisons, Superintendent Deoraj Gyandat, explained that the programme included such areas as self-worth, how to deal with emotions, and conflict resolution. He noted that although this is only the second batch graduating from the course, he has seen a change in the prison population.
“I can see the impact it is having on the location. I can say (that), for this year, we have not had any major incidents at the New Amsterdam Prisons.”
Managing Director of Solutions Training Consultancy and Counselling Services, Wil Campbell, said there were noticeable changes in the attitudes of those who participated in the twelve-week programme. He noted that males and females were accommodated in separate sessions because some of the issues relating to male anger are different from those relating to female anger.
In reflecting on the anger management programme, one inmate, Randy Mars, urged parents to spend more time with their male children.
Meanwhile, Valentine’s Day murder accused Mandy Sukhdeo said the programme allowed her to identify and be in touch with her emotions. According to the dentist, after completing the programme, she no longer considers herself an outcast.
“A lot of people see us as outcasts, lawbreakers, and say we have no future and are no-good elements in society. I have learnt a lot being in prison. I am from Parika, and many nights I would sit at my bed and I would cry and I will ask, ‘Lord, why me?’ But today I no longer have to ask ‘Lord, why me?’, rather I have the answer to my question.
“From being in this programme, it has given me the power and the analytical skills to focus on what it is that I want, and not what persons might think of me. Ladies and gentlemen, I tell you it is time to stand up for yourself,” she told the graduation class, while urging all to be ambassadors of peace.
“If there is peace, then we can conquer any situation. I stand as an inmate of this institution, and now I am not ashamed to say that I am an inmate of this institution…”
Managing Director of Solutions Training Consultancy and Counselling Services, Wil Campbell, said the programme which he taught would have posed many challenges did not seek any difficulties. He noted that the inmates were all happy and willing to participate in the anger management programme.
According to him, there were noticeable changes in the attitudes of those who participated in the twelve-week programme.
In the past, anger management programmes have been conducted in the prisons over the years. However, Campbell feels this one is different. “I think that ours is a bit different, in that we used a therapy approach rather that  teaching approach; so what we help the participations do is to understand themselves, understand the source of their anger, and thereby learn how to deal with it,” Campbell told <<Guyana Times>>.
“Because it is not just about giving information about anger and how to deal with it, but helping them understand their own unique situation, their own circumstances, and to learn techniques that they can use that are specifically adapted to the individual.”
The programme was part of two pilot skills training programmes being undertaken by the Guyana Prison Service. The other was a similar program held for inmates of the Timehri Prison.
Meanwhile, a similar graduation took place at the Timehri Prison on Wednesday.
During the three-month programme, participants were helped to understand the nature of anger, and to appreciate that it is something normal and okay to be angry. “We looked at some of the causes of anger, things like communication blocks, irrational thinking, the feeling that you must get respect from everyone, and this whole idea that respect must be earned or demanded. We also looked at the importance of forgiveness,” Campbell said.
He noted that many persons are angry because they are holding on to past hurts, and as a result their anger is misdirected to random people, or others who are not the real source of the anger.
“So we taught them how to let go of past hurts, how to forgive, and also how to apologize and how to accept apologies,” Campbell explained.
According to Campbell, who is also a Psychologist and University of Guyana lecturer in Psychology, next year, it is being hoped that the programme will be run again and be extended to other facilities.