Prisoners graduate from anger management programme

…after completing 3-month course at NA Prison

Twenty-one inmates of the New Amsterdam Prison were on Thursday last recognised after successfully completing a three-month Anger Management and Re-entry programme.
Nine women and 12 men participated in the 12-week programme. Officer in Charge of the New Amsterdam Prison, Superintendent Paul James, told this publication that participants were chosen based on their age and length of their

prison term.
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 convicted and remanded prisoners were also given an opportunity to participate in the programme which focused on imparting skills with the aim of preparing the participants for reintegration into the society, and being able to deal with issues which will confront them so that they would not have to be placed in such a facility again.
Managing Director of Solutions Training Consultancy and Counselling Services, Wil Campbell, said 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 programme.
Anger management programmes have been conducted in the prisons over the years. “But I think that ours is a bit different in that we used a therapy approach rather than a teaching approach, so what we do is help the participants to understand themselves, understand the source of their anger and thereby learn how to deal with it,” Campbell told Guyana Tines.
“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,” he posited
The programme was part of two pilot skills training programmes being undertaken by the Guyana Prisons Service. The other was a similar programme held for inmates of the Timehri Prison.
During the three-month programme, inmates 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, that 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 apologise and how to accept apologies,” Campbell explained.
According to Campbell, who is also a psychologist, it is hoped that the programme will extended to other prisons.
In brief remarks, Senior Prison Officer Paul James encouraged the graduates to see the positives that can result from their incarceration, and use it as a building block for a better future. (Andrew Carmichael)