Inmates from the Cheshire County Department of Corrections facility are finding serenity with help of a Keene State College faculty member and his meditation program.
Thomas Bassarear, an education professor at KSC since 1986, volunteers his time at the Cheshire County jail to instruct a meditation class with interested inmates.
Bassarear got involved with the jail after receiving a letter from an inmate three years ago.
“He [the inmate] asked a guard to Google ‘meditation in Keene’ and my name came up.”
Bassarear added, “At the same time a former student who had been incarcerated when he was in his teens had decided to volunteer at the jail. He was teaching the prisoners skills that they needed once the got out. He also encouraged me to go to the jail,” Bassarear explained.
Bassarear said he offers a “drop-in meditation.”
“I walk in and the guard yells, ‘meditation’ and whoever is interested comes and we meditate,” Bassarear added.
After the half-hour group meditation concludes, Bassarear said he holds a discussion with those who participated to answer any questions and discuss anything associated with the session.
Bassarear said he sees a small response for his program, but some of its participants take full advantage of it.
Some participants also continue to use meditation after they are released.
“Over the years I have had quite a few people who have really got into it. They use the mediation to start to take responsibility for their actions and started to develop tools to deal with emotions that are not helpful such as guilt or anger.”
Bassarear, who also is co-founder of the Monadnock Mindfulness Practice Center in Keene, N.H., said several of his inmate students come to the practice center after release, but that is not the average response.
“Some of them don’t live in this area … but of the one’s that are from this area, not too many continue to come to the center. I think some of them might feel a little bit self conscious. I make it clear that I won’t divulge they were in jail,” Bassarear explained.
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As an extension of his classes Bassarear was able to connect with a formerly-incarcerated individual, who asked to only be called by his first name Caleb.
Bassarear said he met Caleb when he “just showed up” at the Mindfulness Center.
Bassarear explained, “He told me one night at the Meditation Center, he just came out and said ‘I spent a couple years in prison when I was younger and then I got into meditation and it’s really transformed my life.’ He was so articulate that I went up to him after the meditation was over and I said ‘Would you be willing to come to the jail, because what you have to say would be very well-received by people in jail.’”
Caleb agreed and the pair spoke on Tuesday, Sept. 30 to a group of roughly ten inmates.
Caleb said he used meditation to, “Help get [me] sober and stay out of the correctional system.”
Caleb explained to his audience that meditation allowed him to see how he found himself in undesirable situations.
Caleb stated, “I was able to see how my anger was manufactured by me.”
Caleb said that his meditation helped him to fight substance abuse and addiction to keep him out of incarceration.
“If I’m not doing drugs, I’m not going to jail,” Caleb said.
Caleb explained that he had to use support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous [AA] and Narcotics Anonymous [NA] to get sober and practicing meditation helped him cope with his new lifestyle. When asked by an audience member if practicing meditation reinforced AA Caleb stated, “AA got me sober. AA got me free from addiction. Meditation has helped me deal with life on life’s terms.”
The Cheshire County Department of Corrections’ Director of Inmate Programs, Major Hank Colby, stated that the jail sees only a fraction of inmates returning to the jail once released, compared to the national average.
“We see about thirty-percent recidivism [re-offending],” Colby stated.
The National Institute of Justice supports these claims, stating on their website that nationally, “Within three years of release, about two-thirds [67.8 percent] of released prisoners were re-arrested.”
Colby attributed these results to the way the jail is managed. Colby said the jail offers inmate programs, such as Bassarear’s meditation class, in an effort to create a rehabilitative environment for the inmates.
Colby said, “We believe in rehabilitation as long as rehabilitation can take place. It falls on them [the inmates].” He also added, “We have over one-hundred volunteers.”
According to Colby, volunteers offer programs such as yoga, chess clubs and working with service animals among others.
According to Colby, inmates are given the opportunity to sign up for programs as they please. Sign-up sheets are posted in the cell blocks as programs become available.
David Walsh can be contacted at dwalsh@keene-equinox.com
