pdraper0914

Eight years in solitary, pretty horrendous. I've been involved with Kairos in prisons for quite a long time. I've seen a lot of guys who are very serious about internal change. But I've also seen guys whose biggest fear is getting out, because it's so different to have so many daily choices on the outside and starting from dead scratch. Any thoughts on how hard it is to adjust to being in the free world as a new man?

I can't imagine. In the Kairos program, which runs over four days, lots of real food is brought in, prisoners and volunteers spend long stretches talking with eye contact, joking without fear of it being taken wrong, nonsexual touching, some emotional breakdowns. Guys who have been through it say it felt like they weren't in prison for those few days. It also is unsettling physically (food), mentally, and emotionally. The volunteers either don't grasp it fully, or they do and they do it on purpose. I know it's taken some gladiator units and given them new reps as (relatively) civil places to do time.

I've heard stories from the released that they went off to a field somewhere on their second day, just so they could have quiet. Another told me about standing in the doorway of his new room, just flipping the light switch on and off for about fifteen minutes.