Grip Training Institute

The mission of the GRIP Training Institute is to create personal and systemic change to turn violence and suffering into opportunities for healing and learning. Through an in-depth, trauma-informed year-long program offered in state prisons to those serving life sentences for violent crimes, participants gain the ability to understand and transform violent behavior and replace it with an attitude of emotional intelligence. We train graduates to become facilitators of the program inside prisons. Many have been hired onto staff after their release, to go back inside to offer the program to those still living behind bars. In addition, GRIP's Survivor Network is a space where those who have experienced significant harm can be in community for their own healing and participate in GRIP's restorative dialogues. Our view of systemic change in the field of criminal justice begins with people who are incarcerated. We believe our justice system can be transformed from the inside out when incarcerated people are supported to heal from the pain they themselves experienced, take full responsibility for the harm they caused to others, and make living amends to honor their victims/survivors. This is a vision of accountability, rehabilitation, and redemption, as opposed to punishment and retribution. We know from experience that when individuals are transformed, it ripples out to transform the prison yards, families, and communities as well. This intentional strategy will help bring about the lasting healing and community well-being that our society so desperately needs.