WEB engleska verzija end.indd - UNDP Croatia

THE SOCIALLY EXCLUDEDCHAPTER 3Box 14: Prison SMART programme of the association Art of LivingThe Art of Living Foundation is a non-profit educational organisation established in the USA, withbranches in 154 countries that became active in Croatia in 1995 under the name “Umijeće življenja” (“Artof Living”). The main activities of the Foundation are stress management workshops where participantsare instructed on how to cope with stress through breathing techniques, physical exercise, and cognitiveand group processes.The Prison SMART Programme is a Foundation project for inmates, launched world-wide in 1992. Ithelps inmates further their personal rehabilitation, working on issues they may have with violenceor dependency, and it teaches them to accept responsibility for their past and future behaviour. Theprogramme deals with all segments of personal life, and it teaches participants to find solutions fromwithin.The programme in Croatia began in 2002 with the approval from the Ministry of Justice. A total of 52inmates and 60 detention centre employees took part in the initial workshops. The current goal is toinclude as many inmates and employees in the programme as possible in order to prevent and disruptany feelings of social isolation. It is possible during the period of imprisonment to provoke deep-rootedchanges in the value systems of most inmates. Staff members should understand and support inmatesin these efforts. Participating in this programme will ease the reintegration of inmates back into societyonce they have completed their sentence. After the workshop, participants express their experiences:“I am 30 years old, and I have been everywhere, but for the first time I am calm and full of positive energy,despite the fact that I am here, in prison. Until now, I would always feel uncomfortable in front of otherpeople, I was afraid lest I should say something stupid, so that other people would laugh at me, but now I donot care. I do not care anymore if people will accept me for what I am or not, because I have accepted myself.”(Mihovil)“Today I can say that I am ready to accept things for what they are. Before I would always try to speed thingsup and that was my problem.” (Anto)“I have changed, everybody has noticed. There is much more love in me now than before and I no longer payattention to things that used to irritate me. If I had only known all this before, I would definitely not be heretoday. I have to point out something very important. I used to stutter all my life, but after the workshop Istopped. Today, two years after the course, I still do not stutter as much as I used to. Several times I was on thebrink of a physical conflict with other inmates, but thanks to my focus, I managed to reduce the argument tothe verbal level, and even to smooth things out.” (Dalibor)Observation by the director of the Penitentiary: “If there are ten people who are willing to attend theworkshop, we allow it, because after the workshop they are full of positive energy. If they manage to transmitthe energy to at least one of their cell-mates, that is twenty inmates who think positively. That makes thingseasier for us, and that is why we shall do our best to encourage people to join in. I am glad that the inmateshave also recognised the benefits and that they also encourage other inmates to attend the workshop”.(Stjepan Loparić)sub-groups – the mentally unstable, those who arephysically weaker, those lacking in mental fortitude,alcoholics, substance abusers, perpetrators of criminalacts against sexual freedom and morality, etc. Specialattention should also be paid to minors, and femaleinmates. In the case of minors - who find themselvesin the unfavourable conditions imposed by prisonduring a crucial time in their emotional and physical89