E116 Riley Thompson Empathy Training at Prisons
Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 116
Date: April 16, 2024
Participants: Elise Seifert, Julie Wilson, John Webster, Cameron Earnshaw, Julie Wilson and Sheila Webster
Guest: Riley Thompson
Start Times and Segments:
[0:00:16] What’s On Your Mind: We share thoughts on a quote from John’s quote list. The Dalai Lama said, “When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.”
[0:11:08] Expanding Minds Interview: [Social Wellness] We interview University of Waterloo Student Riley Thompson. Fyodor Dostoevsky said, “A society should be judged not by how it treats its outstanding citizens but by how it treats its criminals.” Concerns for incarcerated people include overcrowding and access to mental health supports. Riley’s goal is to better the community as a whole. Reducing recidivism and bringing people out of prison into the workforce is beneficial for everyone. She’s researching ways to improve the quality of life for people who are in prison, through empathy training of the correctional officers. Correctional officers often have an underlying assumption when they’re initially brought into prison – that they are different from the people behind the bars. There’s an “us versus them” mentality. Empathy training is designed to encourage that everyone is the same in a way. It helps officers put themselves in the shoes of the inmates and to better understand what prisoners are going through, instead of using punitive measures in response to every incident that happens when they’re in prison.
[0:25:53] Adventures of the Starving Artist: The solution to technical issues led to Cameron rockin’ stacked keyboards. It’s a nifty setup.
[0:30:44] Move That Body: We were thinking about how we never stopped moving as a kid. How can we incorporate a move-like-a-kid mentality in our lives.
[0:36:41] Running Popup: John was back to thinking about themes about luck we’ve talked about. First, does he feel lucky because he looks for lucky outcomes, or does he look for the lucky outcomes because he is lucky? He enjoyed a feeling of being lucky, in the moment, experiencing the world around him.
[0:38:23] Flipside of the Coin: Our experience is that it helps a relationship to give partners space and independence to do the things they enjoy. It’s healthy to take time out of a relationship for yourself.
Quotes and Take-Aways:
Riley – Some of the main concerns for incarcerated people in Ontario include overcrowding and access to mental health supports. When there’s overcrowding it’s difficult to get adequate supports for everyone in the prison. There’s also a backlog in the courts, which is clogging up mental health supports. This overall contributes to integration challenges.
Riley – I believe that preparing prisoners to re-integrate into society should start the day their brought into jail, or even the day they receive their sentence. That could be support for mental health or addiction or concurrent disorders.
Riley – My goal is to better the community as a whole. Reduced recidivism and bringing people out of prison into the workforce is beneficial for everyone, instead of having the toxic cycle of being released only to be caught again and brought back to prison. I don’t see how that helps anything. It costs more money to have people in prison than it does to send people to school. It’s important that people have equal access to success.
Riley – I’m researching ways to improve the quality of life for people who are in prison, through empathy training of the correctional officers. It’s been explored in Ontario a little bit, but mainly in Europe and some more remote areas, like Alaska.
Riley – My goal is to implement an intervention within the 8-week training that Canadian correctional officers receive, to enhance their responses to empathy training, and reduce the use of punitive responses. The goal is to change their perspective to make them realize that punitive measures aren’t necessarily as effective as they are told to believe.
Riley – I believe that correctional officers have an underlying assumption when they’re initially brought into prison – that they are different than the people behind the bars. It’s us versus them. They are not like me. I am not like them. Empathy training is designed to encourage that everyone is the same in a way. Everyone is human. Everyone has concerns and worries. The empathy training is designed to help officers put themselves in the shoes of the inmates they work with, to help them better understand what prisoners are going through, instead of using punitive measures in response to every small convenience that happens when they’re in prison.
Bulletin Board Quote brought to you by John: I need to at least make you feel guilty
Guest Information: Riley Thompson is from a small rural town Dunnville Ontario. She’s a soon-to-be BA graduate from the University of Waterloo honours Psychology program with a double minor in French and Social Development. She’s held several jobs working with special needs children, adults, and seniors. She’s interested in abnormal/criminal psychology and addictions. She’s starting to explore this field professionally. Her ideal career involves providing mental health support to incarcerated individuals suffering from substance abuse or addictions. In spare time, Riley weightlifts at her nearby gym or binging a new true crime podcast (shoutout to True Crime Bulls**). She’s a big advocate of all things wellness including artistic and spiritual wellness, which for me usually comes in the form of getting creative with what she bake or going on extended hikes with her partner.
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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle, Noura and Julie