Steve Goes to Prison for UNITY

U.N.I.-TY

yoU aNd I helping Teen Youth UNITY is a unique and innovative gang prevention and intervention program at the Tucker Maximum Security Unit in Tucker, Arkansas. Founded by Dr. Richard Moore, Captain J. Davis, and Alvin Williams, an inmate, the UNITY program aims at altering negative youth behavior, i.e. gang involvement, which ultimately leads many young people to prison. In prison, the members of UNITY act as role models to younger inmates, encouraging them to become superior inmates while incarcerated so they can be productive citizens upon their release.

Moreover, the program is highly applicable to the gang situation outside the prison, and seeks ways at addressing and combating youth gang involvement. Currently, UNITY is in the form of a five month class, which meets three times weekly. The program consistently hosts community speakers actively involved in gang intervention and prevention, and stresses a curriculum based on the sharing of collective prison experiences along with positive alternatives to unconstructive, gang related behavior. The program is in its third year, and on average enrolls between 25 and 30 participants.

Recently I visited the UNITY program with a young 16-year-old man who is flirting with the gang life and life-style. The members of the team and Captain Davis made it very clear to him that a change in his life was necessary to keep him from repeating the same mistakes each of them made. Their pleas and statements appeared to have made quite an impact on "Bones".

This sort of interaction coupled with a strong network of support will go a long way to diverting mistakes many young people make. Planning is underway to try and determine if some members of the UNITY program might be able to journey beyond the walls of their prison and visit intervention and prevention programs as well as public schools. Since this is the maximum security campus of our prison system, many of the members of UNITY have committed murder and almost all of them were involved in gangs or cliques on the outside.

For more information about the program you can email me at GangWarSteve@Comcast.net and I will be happy to pass along contact information.