Jailhouse Greenhouse

One of the greatest benefits of the social work profession is the opportunity to practice in such a broad range of settings, those of which include jails and prisons. I have always felt a great level of compassion for those incarcerated. After acknowledging the wrongdoings and crimes committed, it is important to look further and see individuals who made a mistake, or mistakes--often times with factors such as deep-rooted societal oppression and disadvantage at play. Forgiveness means different things for everyone, and it's not even about forgiving or exempting offenders for their crimes, but rehabilitating to prevent future mistakes. There is a long standing (moral and philosophical) debate in our country between punitive and rehabilitative treatment in the penal system. As a social worker and firm believer in individuals capacity for change, I fall on the side that favors rehabilitative approaches. This is encouraged by the enormous financial burden that the overpopulated jails and prisons place on our society. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, as of the year 2009 there were 2,297,400 offenders in U.S. jails and prisons. In 2006, The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reported 93,000 juvenile offenders in corrections facilities. The increasing prevalence of private for-profit adult and juvenile corrections facilities is a key consideration in the debate of punitive vs. rehabilitative approaches. Apparently, there is money to be made in keeping people behind bars and suppressing opportunities for change!!

And what does Horticultural Therapy have to do with this? Jails and prisons are among the many institutions such as sanatoriums, hospitals, and orphanages that implemented "work-farms" to sustain residents. Dating back to the 1800's, it was a common practice for jails and prisons to maintain gardens and farms that fed and occupied inmates. The produce grown was used not only in the institutes kitchen's but sold to generate revenue. This practice dwindled in the mid-1900's at residential treatment facilities for multiple reasons; including ethical concerns, time investment, the influx of pharmaceuticals as treatment, and a widespread shift in societal values and beliefs. Industry continued to replace agriculture and a mentality of competition vs. cooperation prevailed.

Recent literature demonstrates revitalized interest in the use of horticulture in corrections facilities. Rice and Remy (2008) discuss a program in a San Francisco jail in which inmates engage in regular maintenance of a large organic garden. The goals of The Garden Project (established in 1984) are to provide restorative experiences through the use of plants; with the belief that restorative experiences encourage reflection, the ability to direct attention, and the desire for new experiences. Consider the importance of these skills with an inmate population....Reflection of previous behaviors, mindfulness to present actions, and the ability to change negative patterns by creating new experiences.

Rice and Remy discuss the issue of "arrested development" among many inmate populations due to being raised in impoverished and violent environments. There is an identified need for rehabilitation that includes respect, understanding, and support; while fostering the development of social skills and optimism for the future. The Garden Project entailed 30 hours per week of inmate participation in the development and maintenance of the garden. Daily group discussions were facilitated to link garden activities to personal growth, health, as well as interpersonal, family, and community relationships. The produce and flowers grown at the jail were donated to shelters and a meal program for home-bound individuals with AIDS. (What an example of community service, and opportunity for self-forgiveness, and societal acceptance!!)

Research conducted on The Garden Project revealed a decrease in participants' levels of depression, hostility, risk-taking behavior, and increased their desire and ability to ask for help with various challenges. Results varied by personal history, gender, and race but were significant in comparison to the control (non-participant) group. The decrease in substance use was most significant in the study, and was further supported by Carl Jung's evolutionary theory of psychology. He believed that the human psyche had an innate and ancestral need for contact and immersion with the natural environment; and that American's disconnection from the natural world accounted for an inclination towards drug use and abuse. From the philosophy of Jung, "If I don't have what my psyche needs I become dangerous". It makes sense when you consider the disconnect from nature in urban, inner-city settings and the co-existing high rates of (drug-related) crime in those same areas.

Richards (1999) conducted a similar study, implementing an organic gardening program and lecture series in a jail setting. The program included a strong cultural component, focusing on Afro-centric principles such as sharing versus ownership. The use of organic gardening practices served as a tangible analogy for abstinence from drug use, "In the way that fertilizers and pesticides destroy the earth, so do drugs destroy the human body". The idea that, "just like a good landscape, human lives need balance, symmetry, and proportionality" was a big theme in the lecture and discussion piece of the program. The program required commitment from inmates, encouraging them to learn accountability and ownership. The results of the program demonstrated a decrease in participant's vulnerability to addiction, and an increase in their resistance to addiction.  

In summary, I believe that horticulture related activities offer a tangible (and nutritional) opportunity for offenders rehabilitation. Through their experiences caring for plants a sense of self-concept is established, social and life skills improve, and there are countless opportunities for growth.

Rice and Remy explain that 19% of state prisons in the U.S. utilize some type of formal or informal horticulture program. Does anyone know what correctional facilities in Virgina are doing? Please share!!

Horticulture Therapy: “Is there a there there?”

Introducing social working-gardener-extraordinaire, Dr. Judy Thomas for this weeks guest blog....

I am very excited about Eileen’s horticulture therapy project. As a near-lifelong gardener, I know that working with plants, outdoors in a garden setting, is one of the most blissful experiences I have had.  Being in the garden is a Zen experience for me- I experience a clear and intense focus (what Mihaly Csíkszentmihály, the cognitive psychologist, calls “flow”) along with a sense of meaning and purpose, as all my cares fade away.  Gardening has other benefits for me, I believe, including health benefits from stretching, hauling, digging and lifting, not to mention eating home grown organic produce at the peak of perfection.  But a key word in that previous sentence was “believe.”  As a gardener, I believe these things to be true from my own experience (which is, however, only anecdotal).  As a University instructor, I need to find evidence for a practice that goes beyond the state of anecdote or belief.  I need evidence that fits at least some of the rigorous requirements of science, though perhaps true empiric and experimental evidence would be hard to find for this multi-faceted practice, i.e. the one we call horticulture therapy.

I have not been able to do an extensive review of the literature on this subject: that is Eileen’s job (sorry Eileen!).  The literature I have looked at comes more from what I described to Eileen as “the heart” versus “the head.”  The heart is an important component of social work and all social services: without the heart, we cannot have productive relationships with others.  But our hearts need some guidance from our heads.  We all see and filter phenomena through special lenses and we need science to make sure the lenses are the clearest and most objective possible. 

There are some indications that horticulture therapy is a useful adjunct to other treatments and is useful in itself, but the field appears to be in its infancy.  Even developing a definition of HT is difficult.  What is HT?  What are its methods?  Actual gardening, lessons on foods and nutrition, school-garden-to-cafeteria-table initiatives?  Using the plant metaphorically as a symbol of growth and change?  Simply using the garden as a neutral environment to discuss emotionally-charges or difficult problems? What are its goals?  Reduction of psychological distress? Meditation to reduce stress? To improve physical health? Vocational training? Improvement of social skills and socialization? What populations do we use it with? Children, the elderly, prisoners, and those in residential care facilities.  Anyone or everyone else?

The last question is how do we study it?  There seems to be qualitative and exploratory work in the literature, but few reports of specific HT interventions compared to non-HT interventions and controls.  Until we have this kind of evidence, we do not know if it works…and isn’t this the bottom line?  You want your physician to objectively know what works and to use those methods, right? And so it goes with social work. So, to refer back to the title of this blog entry, my clumsy paraphrase of Gertrude Stein when speaking of Cleveland (I actually love Cleveland) “is there a there there?”  Is there really something to the positive, therapeutic effects of horticulture, or is it just a nice thing to do?

Judy M. Thomas

www.cvog.blogspot.com

Change, change, change

True to social work fashion, I often think about change. The word is frequently "tossed around" in our society, daily conversations, and political efforts. But the true depth and breadth of the concept of change, is often overlooked. Social change is I believe, the pinnacle of social work values and purpose. The goal to improve the conditions and functioning of all members of our society is a driving force in the field of social work. Promoting and facilitating change related to the individual, relationships, and behaviors are the core of how social workers help their clients. Change is hard. It can be positive or negative, empowering or destructive, improvement or regression. But above all, it is inevitable. Change in our stages of life, families, personal beliefs and interests, relationships, and our immediate environment is certainly a part of life. Where there is life, there is change. And where there is death there is change.

Social workers frequently interact with individuals who have suffered trauma, grief, or loss. For example, children with a history of abuse, victims of domestic violence or substance abuse, veterans of war, individuals in the hospice setting, and caretakers of ill family members. Everyone directly or indirectly involved in these situations face the challenges of change. Helping professionals have established the "Stages of Change" and "Stages of Grief", which are helpful for many in their efforts to promote, cope, accept, and maintain change. But what do plants do? What can we learn from looking outside?

Advocates of Horticultural Therapy view gardens as a giant metaphor for multiple learning opportunities-- change included. The growth, transformation, and death that occur in plants are also experienced and sometimes understood by people. Planting, touching, nurturing, and watching plants grow is a tangible learning experience where a connection can be made between what is happening internally and externally. Consider the benefits of bringing a group of youth together who have suffered a loss of some kind in a garden setting. The shared experience of group members would provide the support and normalization of their experience, and an opportunity to process and learn from one another. Plant-related activities could be used to enhance their understanding of such difficult concepts related to change. Support groups for those in many types of "change processes" such as bereavement and addiction certainly exist, but none to my knowledge that incorporate the calming, restorative, and enhancing nature of plants. Being surrounded by life can counter the effects of death.

I came across a daily meditation by Franciscan priest, Richard Rohr. He writes for the Center for Action and Contemplation (www.cacradicalgrace.org). There are certainly spiritual implications, but more so those for understanding change within humans and the natural environment.

"Pain, as dramatically presented in the message of the cross, tells us about the high price of change.  Real change never comes easily.  It always feels like dying.  All we can really do is get out of the way by not being so defensive, so overprotective of our opinions, our nation, our religion, our gender.  These are just labels, and they are all passing away.

All we can really do is to stop stopping the natural process of growth, and trust a larger purpose.

In all of the natural world, everything is dying to become something else.  Why would we be any exception?  Just watch the solids, liquids, and vapors.  Just watch the animals giving their lives for another species.  Just watch the trees and plants creating soil itself by losing their leaves and dying for another season.  Just watch the sun that is in the process of dying so all things here can live.  It is the pattern of the universe, and we alone try to sit it out."