Spiritual support for residents and staff in transition centers
by Erik Hulse
In 2022, I spent several months volunteering at the Transition Center of Kansas City as part of my final project for the two-year Buddhist chaplaincy training program at Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, NM. Below are excerpts from my thesis ‘Continuous Becoming: Spiritual support for residents and staff in transition centers’. You may request a copy of the entire thesis by contacting me at Erik.Hulse@Mindfulness-Alliance.org.
Buddhist philosophy and the principles of Restorative Justice have at their respective cores a deep understanding of human suffering and the habits of mind one can cultivate to uproot the causes of their own suffering and to flourish as a productive member of their community. These principles include an appreciation of interconnectedness, which tethers us to all beings through our intentional actions. Another principle has to do with the role of compassion in recognizing the dignity inherent in all beings, coupled with a wish to alleviate that suffering whenever possible. Compassion is not weak though - deep, abiding care for self and others demands that appropriate boundaries be a part of any compact that exists between members of a community. Fierce compassion requires the assumption of accountability for one’s harmful acts and a willingness to ‘make things right’.
The prison environment in the United States is known to be largely antithetical to the principles described above and as a result, innumerable human beings have suffered incalculable harm in prison. The condition now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) once reserved to describe the experience of the combat soldier is now recognized as a nearly universal condition of the American inmate.
Efforts are being made in some states to improve the living standards and by extension, the future prospects of inmates after they’re no longer incarcerated. In the state of Missouri, these efforts are being made in ways that are fairly novel in comparison to other progressive reforms in the United States, and even radical when contrasted with the overall status quo. In April 2022, the Missouri Department of Corrections opened a ‘transition center’ in Kansas City (TCKC) where men on probation or parole may voluntarily spend 4-6 months learning skills intended to prepare them for success in their respective communities.
TCKC’s programming draws extensively from the principles of restorative justice. The inspiration for my involvement at TCKC comes from the intuition that an interfaith chaplain can contribute to the primary objectives of the transition center, which are to reduce recidivism by helping residents rediscover their inherent dignity, repair broken relationships and rejoin their community with hope and confidence.
I also think the core tenets of Buddhist philosophy and the principles of restorative justice animate each other in a way that might lend a unique set of credentials to the Buddhist chaplain to serve all of the human beings in this fraught environment.
Restorative Justice and Buddhist Philosophy
Buddhist teachings emphasize non-violence, compassion, loving kindness and spiritual friendship. These teachings have as their foundation a belief in the interrelated and interconnected nature of existence and reflect a sensibility that values wholeness over individuality. Restorative Justice principles share the emphasis on the interdependent nature of humanity, recognizing that our actions affect others, and focuses on what can be done to help make things right when harm is done.
As an aspiring chaplain working in a transition center, one of the themes that I have tried to articulate in my encounters with residents and staff is that when it comes to navigating painful experiences and reducing suffering in our lives, recognizing the universality of our wish not to suffer can actually serve their individual needs. My understanding of compassion and loving kindness in particular convinces me that to the extent residents and staff cultivate a genuine wish for others not to suffer, born of an innate understanding that in reality, very little separates us from each other, I think harmful behavior can lessen in frequency and severity.
Another Buddhist principle that seems to map onto the restorative justice model has to do with offering practices with which people may discover for themselves what will serve. While the criminal justice system is characterized by highly choreographed processes that allow practically no agency for the non-professionals (victims, accused, witnesses) to play meaningful roles, restorative justice invites anyone affected by specific harmful acts in any way to have their voices heard and to contribute to concrete steps by which the harm may be repaired. Similarly, there are myriad practices in the Buddhist tradition that are explicitly intended to help the practitioner navigate suffering by developing their ethical conduct, mental discipline and wisdom.
One may undertake a study of the Buddha’s diagnosis and prescription to alleviate suffering described in the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, and decide to meet the teachings through formal meditation instruction. In both cases, one may develop the means to exert tremendous influence over their own happiness rather than to succumb to the capriciousness of a system in which happiness isn’t a factor.
The formal practice of Loving Kindness can imbue one’s heart and mind with something beyond mere forbearance when they are wronged, it can help them to recognize conditioned reactions that perpetuate harm and choose to bring compassionate and discerning action to their circumstances.
Nowhere is the tendency of human beings to discard fellow human beings more obvious and damaging than the criminal justice system. The practice and state of mass incarceration in the United States is untenable, unconscionable, and based on a zero sum fallacy: the notion that somehow the values of civil society are eroded to the same extent that compassion is extended to those who cause harm. Also to be considered is the damage done when punishment is conflated with accountability or worse yet, confused with compassion. Without undermining the deepest values of society, restorative justice seeks to bring accountability back to the fore concretely rather than performatively in criminal justice proceedings, and to genuinely reduce suffering rather than deepen it.
Erik Hulse is a Mid America Dharma Board member, retired police officer, certified mindfulness teacher, trained MBSR teacher, & PauseFirst: Mindfulness for First Responders teacher. He recently graduated from the Upaya Zen Center’s Buddhist Chaplaincy Training Program.