The Phoenix Association Inc

“Expenses travel 62 conferences/meetings 1,500 insurance refund -910 website hosting 297 total 949”

“Our vision: is a criminal justice system that is committed to and capable of helping convicted people achieve their best potential. Our mission: the mission of the phoenix association is to help change the organizational cultures of correctional systems and police departments, so that they are safer, less stressful, and more humane for people who work there and those who become involved with them. The phoenix association also aims to help bring rehabilitation of inmates to the forefront of what prisons do. The stress, danger, and diminished humaneness currently found in some prison systems and police departmenst stem partly from the organizational culture there. This culture, often characterized by an "us versus them" attitude, can lead to aggression and to the diminishment of trust, cooperation and concern among the people who work there and those who become involved with them. These attitudes, beliefs and practices can be changed when participants in the culture undergo salient and surprising experiences that contradict their current attitudes and beliefs. The phoenix association's program aims to help produce a constructive cultural shift within correctional staffs and police departments by providing them with moving and eye-opening experiences that change some of their basic beliefs and assumptions with respect to the incarcerated people in their care. The phoenix approach: the phoenix association's approach uses personal stories to explore experiences of formerly incarcerated people and correctional or police staff in order to broaden understanding and empathy between members of these groups. The phoenix association's approach creates close and respectful interaction between its formerly incarcerated members and the correctional and police staff who are the recipients of phoenix programs. This interaction is important for two reasons: the close and respectful interaction among the members of the two groups, and the understanding that develops among them,breaches the stigmatized boundary between the groups and creates the experience of relating to equals.this experience is typically surprising and salient to staff, and as such, helps to produce a cultural shift. Because the phoenix association's members have spent time in police custody and in prison, they have some understanding of the organizational cultures of prisons. This helps them understand the views and feeling of the criminal justice professionals, and lends them some legitimacy regarding matters in prisons and with police.”