Unitive Re-Entry

Emerging Vision for Unitive Re-Entry

Conveners: Paul Taylor and Weldon “Prince” Bunn Paul and Prince grew up in the Tidewater area together, served time in Bon Air Detention Center together, were in jail together, and then served over twenty years in prison at the same time. They also, while incarcerated, transformed their lives and changed the prison culture together and earned parole despite life-plus sentences. While they didn’t know the term Unitive Justice when they were incarcerated, Paul and Prince clearly used Justice as Love (another name for Unitive Justice) to transform the prison culture while they were in it.

The high rate of recidivism in the U.S. indicates a missed opportunity—the opportunity to use incarceration as a time to achieve positive change. By offering more effective programs for inmates during incarceration, their preparation for re-entry, and preventative criminal justice practices we can make recidivism a non-issue. The Unitive Re-Entry Practice Group seeks to seize this opportunity by bringing people with commitment and passion together to apply Unitive Justice Theory and practice to diverse areas of criminal law, justice and re-entry. It provides networking and training opportunities for those who have experienced incarceration and those who support and welcome Returning Citizens.

When Returning Citizens and Unitive Justice Theory are brought together, we sometimes discover an unexpected gift of the punitive justice system. As expected, a long period of incarceration gives a person first-hand knowledge of how the punitive justice system works. What is not expected is that, while incarcerated, many also gain a deeper understanding of Justice as Love! This makes them especially credible messengers for this new understanding of justice. When they discover Unitive Justice, it is a language that they already understand and were striving to live into as they sought to transcend (or survive) the punitive system while they were in it. The knowledge and wisdom that returning citizens gain from their incarceration is a valuable community resource that we build on and utilize in the Unitive Re-Entry Practice Group. By guiding these men and women in becoming agents of social justice change in the communities to which they return, everyone benefits.

In the Unitive Re-Entry Practice Group, Returning Citizens and their supporters and allies consider and discuss the structures that support the punitive justice system and the unitive structures that can be implemented in their place to achieve system change. Together, we learn and experience techniques for personal healing, such as trauma-informed care and mindfulness meditation. We learn and practice conflict resolution methods and practices, such as reflective listening and various circle processes that are used to enhance meaningful communication and to discover the underlying brokenness out of which conflict arises. And, of course, we take on a question that we are often asked: how do we justify radical tenderness and Unitive Justice as a response to the conflict and violence in today’s world—when violence seems out of control and we are a deeply divided nation? We have some experience with this—we transcended the punitive prison culture while we were in it.

Those who support or have an interest in Returning Citizens are welcome to join forces with them to move criminal law and re-entry policy toward Unitive Justice Theory and practice. Together we work to demonstrate the relevance of Returning Citizens as agents of culture change in both the re-entry community and the community at large.

Belief in separation lies at the foundation of our punitive system of justice. The key to system change is found in connection. Returning Citizens provide a unique opportunity to demonstrate the transformation that one experiences in moving from separation to connection. Together, we demonstrate that we are all in this together—we all want prison and re-entry policies that reflect the principles of Unitive Justice. Nothing about us without us!