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Living a life of crime, indulging in drugs, overusing alcohol, and finding joy in the use of illicit activity, what is the source of such a lifestyle? Rick Pendery, the national executive director of the Second Chance Centers, purports that one of the causes of criminal behavior is a lack of self respect.

“Once you addresses the offender’s ability to understand, evaluate and apply the subjects of ethics, morals, integrity and apply these concepts to his life, you see a change in their viewpoint and the way that they make the decisions that affect their day to day life. They find self respect.”, Pendery explains.

One of the inmates from their pilot program in Ensenada, TGG, had this to say, “Little by little I realized how terrible my childhood was as I was surrounded by drugs and violence. I know today about ethics and morals and what rehabilitation is. Although a person may spend 20 years or more being a criminal, with the steps of this program I have learned what I could not assimilate in school.”

There are four modules given to the inmates at this unique prison rehabilitation model inside the criminal justice system that offers drug rehabilitation as well as education to help reduce criminal behavior. These are the Study Skills Module, the Self Respect Module, the Drug Rehabilitation Module and the Reintegration Module, reintegrating the individual back into the society. The six to eight-month program is delivered to offenders in a secure setting.

“We are providing the judiciary an alternative to prison with a program that helps restore personal integrity and self-esteem.”, Pendery explains. “With this objective we are touching on the very basics of why a person does not change their criminal ways in a customary jail program.”

In the first part of the Self Respect Module, the subjects of ethics and morals are examined in relationship to the choices one makes in life and the consequences of these choices. The second part consists of the Way to Happiness, a secular moral code written by L. Ron Hubbard, which presents moral choices in light of their effect on their own happiness, intended to lead the participant into a new way of thinking about themselves, their relationships with other people and how they conduct their lives. In step three, the participant looks at his personal honor and integrity and how his actions directly affect his own self esteem and consequently his own happiness and success in life on his own terms.

T.G.G. continued, “Now I see a promising life. I no longer think about my past. I now want to help other people to overcome the addiction to drugs leaving them free. If this program were in other prisons, we could achieve these wins for everyone."

“The expected outcome of this step is a resurgence in their overall outlook on life and a true recognition of their own responsibility for both the positive and negative experiences in their lives and a recognition of how they can in fact create the life they want.” Pendery says. “Once the Self-Respect Module is complete they are routed out of the facility into the Transition Module.”