The Power of 3: Three Think Tanks - One Purpose of Transformation

• In Event: The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program

Abstract

This work is about the development, transformation, and collective efficacy of three think tanks on one Federal Prison Complex. This paper will include a collaboration of the work and words from “The United Circle 4 Hope”: United Sates Men’s’ Penitentiary Think Tank, “The Council”: Men’s Federal Correctional Institute, and the “Voices United”: at the Federal Secure Female Facility. In 2010, Inside Out was developed in Federal United States Penitentiary for the first time. Over the years Inside Out grew through Hazelton Prison Complex and all three correctional facilities. As each Think Tank developed so did their unique missions and growing support and community for each other. This paper will highlight the power of a community that is striving together while each facing unique challenges and missions while still coming together regardless of the bars, walls, and wire that separate them.

Authors

• Circle 4 Hope Circle for Hope, Fairmont State University

• Jeri Kirby, Fairmont State University