Ohio Prison Practitioners Propose Root-Cause Rehabilitation

Two Ohio prison practitioners, Willie Davis and Jeff Hunsaker, are proposing a new approach called Root-Cause Rehabilitation that asks whether prisons can improve public safety and rehabilitation by examining the realities that shaped inmates' lives before incarceration, rather than focusing solely on the behavior that brought them to prison. With decades of experience working inside correctional institutions, Davis and Hunsaker are not researchers or academics but practitioners who have developed two hypotheses: that lasting internal change begins when inmates willingly face the realities that brought them to prison, and that inmates who experience such change can become positive influences within the prison's informal culture.

Davis and Hunsaker are inviting correctional leaders and independent researchers to formally investigate these hypotheses. They argue that instead of waiting until shortly before release to help prepare someone for life outside, a meaningful opportunity could begin years earlier to address childhood trauma, rejection, abandonment, fear, shame, distorted beliefs, or other realities that shaped the choices leading to incarceration. To support this, they have developed reading content specifically for inmates—novels and short stories intended to invite self-examination. Their initiative, The Kronos Project, encompasses books, workshops, and other content designed to encourage personal reflection and lasting internal change. They are seeking independent researchers and correctional leaders interested in examining their hypotheses. More information is available at www.kronosproject.net.