When people commit low-level crimes related to drug or alcohol addiction, it’s generally considered best for everybody if we send them to rehab instead of to jail. There’s good science supporting the use of a treatment model called “Therapeutic Communities” (TC) which is thoroughly explored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA – a division of the National Institute of Health) on their website at drugabuse.gov.
Multiple, independent studies show somewhat better outcomes for inmates who participate in TC programs than those who serve their sentences without therapy.
Of course, these positive outcomes depend on implementing the best practices of Therapeutic Communities in each prison system that offers a TC program.
In Arkansas, our Modified Therapeutic Communities (MTCs) operate in a cruel, twisted parody of the NIDA recommendations. Arkansas Community Corrections (ACC) claims to be operating “…evidence-based programs that hold offenders accountable while engaging them in opportunities to become law-abiding, productive citizens,” but a quick look at their “client handbook” tells a much darker story.
Upon assignment to an Arkansas MTC, each inmate is automatically assigned a “disease” called “Criminal Personality Disorder.” There is no such thing as Criminal Personality Disorder in the DSM-5 — and there are no psychiatrists evaluating these inmates as they enter the MTC programs — but each inmate is forced to accept this phoney diagnosis in order to participate in the MTC.
Once inmates are processed into an MTC, their time is strictly regimented. Heidi Widder, a current inmate at the West Memphis MTC, describes her day in a letter to her mother:
We wake at 4 am & can’t lie down until 7:45 pm. (It’s 4 am now & I’m up sitting on a plastic chair, as I do for over 16 hours a day. We can’t cross our legs or shift from one position – it’s great on the back & legs!) We are hollered at to wake at 4, when we immediately snap up & make our bunks (racks) into “mandate,” do our morning “GI,” (general inspection or chore) and sit in a chair. We do everything in absolute silence or as called here C.O.S. (Code of silence) and any time we go from one place to the next, must walk with arms behind our backs (“sergeant at arms.”)
Heidi Widder, 9/19/19
The only way to earn privileges (or release from incarceration) is to gain “status” within the MTC. In order to gain “status,” inmates are required to reprimand and “write tickets” on each other for rule violations. Apparently no one in the ACC has realized that this requirement directly contradicts Rule #43, “No gossiping and/or slandering other clients or staff.”
Inmates may not respond to a “verbal pull-up” with anything except the phrase, “Thank you, I’ll get right on top of that behavior.” For example, if one inmate incorrectly reprimands another for being out of alphabetical order — based on an inaccurate assumption of how another inmate spells their name — the reprimanded inmate MAY NOT correct the person who reprimanded them.
Once an MTC inmate is accused of violating community rules, the other inmates may assign “sanctions.” The Client Handbook’s “Sanction Grid” shows that most of these sanctions have no therapeutic value whatsoever. Instead, they are strictly punishments. It’s the same program that triggered “torture” accusations and investigations in Texas, more than ten years ago.
For clarity’s sake — and because she believes the West Memphis MTC is harming her incarcerated daughter worse than prison would — mother Carol Widder has developed this side-by-side comparison of NIDA’s recommendations for Therapeutic Communities versus Arkansas’ implementation of Modified Therapeutic Communities:
 |  |
| Democratic & Self-Supporting | Authoritarian Regimentation |
| Mutual Self-Help (as opposed to medical model) | Total Control by Guards (no self-help) |
| Comprehensive Approach | Narrow, Exclusive Approach: Cure your “Criminal Personality Disorder” |
| Treats Co-Occurring Psychiatric Disorders | No Treatment for Co-Occurring Conditions |
| Recovery Orientation: Focusing on the whole person | Absolute Focus on Abstinence & “Fixing” Your Attitude & Character Flaws |
| Acknowledgement: Relapses can occur. Realization: Healing is a gradual process. | Zero Tolerance: Lapses or mistakes = “sanctions” for every minor offense |
| Active Participation in Group Living: Socializing & mutual self-help | Scripted Lessons & Required Chants – Communication prohibited. Inmates must spy on peers and report any infraction of the 51 rules. Inmates must parrot the program. |
| Relearning healthy, functional skills & values; Regaining physical & emotional health | No physical activity. No “yard” time. Sleep deprivation. Exercise/stretching prohibited in inmates’ rooms. Deprived of healthy emotional & mental activities. |
| Scheduled Personal & Recreational Time | Zero scheduled recreational time. No exercise allowed. No music. |
| Gain status by working hard and meeting expectations. | Earn “status” by writing citations against fellow inmates. There is a quota. |
| Work = a distinct component of Therapeutic Communities | Inmates may be “granted” jobs after several weeks. |
| Vocational & Educational group activities;Positive communication and interpersonal skills training. | No vocational training. Classwork is based on the Christian religion, straight lecture, note-taking, and rote repetition. |
| All activities & interpersonal/social interactions are considered important opportunities to facilitate healthy lifestyles & relationships. | No discussion allowed. If one inmate corrects another inmate, the only allowable responses are “Thank you, I will get on that,” or “Thank you, I will look into that.” |
| There must be 4 positive “push ups” for every negative “pull up.” Emphasis should be on the positive skill you are developing, instead of the negative behavior you are trying to change. | Total attention on negative behaviors in order to gain “status” by writing each other up. |
What do these Arkansas MTCs remind you of? If you said “a cult,” I agree.
Of course, if you are an Arkansas MTC inmate, you must never use the word “cult” where anybody can hear you. You’ll get denied release — weeks or even MONTHS beyond your original jail sentence — if you are perceived as unenthusiastic. And no, you can’t opt to return to a regular jail (where you would have daily “yard” time and the chance to occasionally talk with other people) until the MTC releases you.
This is a strict authoritarian program. None of us would want to live in an Arkansas MTC. But maybe that’s the point? Proponents of Arkansas’ MTC program probably think it’s fine — dealing with addicts and criminals in a tough (but effective) way that lowers their chance of relapse and improves their chance of getting a job once they’re released.
However, there is currently no proof that the Arkansas MTC program is actually having these desired effects on future outcomes for inmates. Nobody is collecting data on inmates’ drug/alcohol use, physical health, mental health, recurring criminal activity, or employment rates after they leave the Arkansas MTC program. Indeed, Arkansas Community Corrections hasn’t bothered to fill the two vacant administrative positions that are supposed to do this part of the work.
The ACC Chief Deputy Director (currently a vacant position) is responsible for “evaluation and research of agency programs through studies of program outcomes and performance indicators.” However, there is literally NOBODY doing this job.
Similarly, the ACC Program Management Administrator (currently a vacant position) “conducts research and evaluation of programs operated by the agency including recidivism studies, performance measures and other studies on special programs, and internal management reviews regarding agency operations.” There’s nobody doing this job, either.
Where is all our tax money going, then, if we’re not paying anybody to do the jobs required to run our Modified Treatment Communities effectively?
Stick around. We’ll follow the money.
We have a theraputic community corrections facility in Fayetteville, where I live, and where Carol lives. I’ve know people who emerged from it and regarded it as pretty decent (for a prison facility). But I have no way to assess this situation. Who should be approached to ask questions about this?
Thanks so much for posting this Elizabeth.
Gladys: Your comment makes me wonder — if there is an MTC program in Fayetteville, where Carol and her daughter live, why is Carol’s daughter incarcerated in West Memphis? Is there a deliberate effort to separate inmates from the family members who would otherwise be able to visit them?
The Fayetteville Facility uses the same handbook, (see the link). I will provide you with the entire comparative analysis with primary sources. When you look at Arkansas’ Modified Therapeutic Communities handbook side by side “best practices” it is very clear. All you have to do is read the introduction that says, “You have a criminal personality disorder” and “You have learned how to lie your way through life”. All you have to do is look at the 51 arbitrary rules. All you have to do is present the facts from Elizabeth’s article. You and others can ask for evidence concerning Modified Therapeutic Communities in Arkansas. They have none. All you have to do is show them the “best practices” and ask them why they are not following N.I.H. guidelines. You have to present with the factual information, not the anectdotal stuff and the cheerleaders absent of context or facts.
What kind of “psychologist” would participate in this sadistic program?
No psychologist would. There are no certified mental health professionals involved at all, but I don’t think the judges are aware of this. I hope there will be a follow up about the money.
Carol, here I am. Still not logged in, I guess.
Wow! How inaccurate this is. First off ur comment that not certified professionals are involved is inaccurate. Second we do not and have never “diagnosed” anyone outside of the DSM. There is no such diagnosis of criminal personality disorder and we do not and have never used such false diagnosis. Third. Ur right we do need to make changes. Our sentencing standards are too slack. We had much more success when we had longer sentences. And MTC prison is just that… a prison. One that a person who has commuted a felonious crime goes to serve their time along with treatment. Yes they do have structure. We do not allow them to just sit around doing nothing and causing trouble. Idle hands is the devil’s playground. Yes they have classes, in a classroom, yes, they have breaks. When not in class they work. They get 12-16 hrs of structure. They get rec, they are not locked behind bars, yes they do hold each other accountable. They are encouraged to exhibit positive behavior. If not then the family will hold them accountable and trust me, it’s better they work their issues out than get staff involved. When staff gets involved then they get sanctioned and could lose good time. I am a licensed counselor and yes I would send my own daughter to west Memphis. I love my daughter and care more about her life than I do her comfort or her feelings. In fact I have tried sending her there, unfortunately, yes I said unfortunately she was given probation instead. I work hard for my caseload as does my coworkers. We are strict because we care about their lives. It’s upsetting for us to lose one when they go back to the dope life and overdose, get shot, raped, or life sentence in max prison. U have never been behind these walls to see what we do, u get a second hand account. Of course no one wants to have all this structure. But that’s their problem in the first place. They need it. I will say nothing is perfect u will not get a perfect system. But what u can do is help her not to return if it’s that bad. We do have success stories. And when they do succeed, they go beyond expectations. They call us back and tell us the program saved their life. We can’t reach them all but we put our heart into each and every single inmate. It’s. Tough job working with rude, hateful and disrespectful drug addicts but we manage. So before u go being judgmental based on information from one side, get the whole story
Here is the heading and thesis statement regarding “Criminal Personality Disorder,” taken from page 2 of the MTC Client Handbook:
“The Diseases of Chemical Dependence and
Criminal Personality Disorders
The Therapeutic Community understands the problems of chemical dependence and criminal personality disorder to be a dual one, and thus discusses the two-fold nature of the problem. In this context, the Therapeutic Community looks at chemical dependence as being a symptom of the criminal personality disorder. “
Would you please clarify what your profession is, when you say you’re a “licensed counselor?” If you work at an MTC, do you participate in “client” intake and diagnosis? How often do you see each of the MTC residents to provide counseling services?
I would like you to read the introduction in the official client handbook for MTC’s where it explicitly says, “You have a criminal personality disorder”. I would like you to clarify exactly what sanctioned therapeutic activities (as in sanctioned by the American Psychological Association) actually happen in these places. I can guarantee you that the women in the West Memphis facility absolutely do not get rec. time. There is no evidence of a mental health professional and there has been no standardized testing to evaluate the mental status of any of the detainees. ACC are under Community Corrections and judges are told that this is an ALTERNATIVE to prison not A PRISON. They say it is “therapeutic”. Please review the chart in the blog. See what the National Institutes of Health say are best practices and what it says authentic Therapeutic Communities are supposed to look like. That was the whole point of the chart.
Oh by the way, u know why they don’t get alcohol based hand sanitizer!?, because they make hooch, drink it and get drunk from it. And, yes they get soap to wash their hands. Why is it not allowed to sit on the sink? Because it’s unsanitary for others to just walk in and do whatever they want to ur soap. All soap is kept in their personal boxes. Safe from being stolen or contaminated by someone else. Rules are in place for a reason. U have to keep in mind that this is prison, a much safer place than let’s say.. McPhearson. Try that place.
Are you saying that there is not enough staff inside the MTC’s to monitor the hand sanitizer if there were hand sanitizer in common areas?
So by that argument you shouldn’t have soap laying around public bathrooms in gas stations, movie theaters, restaurants. It just blows me away when people talk about “making hooch” with hand sanitizer or making weapons with toilet paper. We are talking about a minimum security community corrections facility. There is no way they could possibly do any of that under the restrictions they live in. It is pure fantasy. Just because it happened somewhere, does not mean it is a common thing.
i was recently in acc for 10 months in west memphis arkansas and that place saved me life. i didn’t want to go to prison and wont go back because Acc staff most of them including the wardens are amazing carrying individuals. not to mention the chaplain , advisors and most the officers were truly amazing. Acc program teaches you many thing and gives us so many opportunities and programs and classes while we are there. i got my Ged and multiple other certificates during my incarceration. Acc was a gift of u ask me. It changed me in every positive way. and i’m thankful to The Warden Mrs silas Mr Glover.,Chaplain Evens ,Ms Venzant ,Mrs smith ,Mrs Brady Mrs Fitts Ms cummins Corp Bufford who literally saved my life without hesitation after a very huge mistake i made Officer johnson officer buchanan Lt Jackson Lt warren Lt Brown Sgt somas and several more.
more all the Volunteers that teach us about communication and finances class mrs lisa wealths building class ,yoga class ,embracing purpose class the Exodus program Welding program , Safe server , Bolier program. , women’s world view and many more classes. and several more they saved my life in many ways. so i don’t really appreciate the rude comments. everything we are taught there is to get us prepared for a new sober life. i’m so thankful to everyone at Acc. i love you guys and i’ll be back to give me testimony in september if any of you haters wound like to come hear it.
People wouldn’t be tempted to steal soap unless it is made so scarce they have no choice. Unless you are indigent, your family has to buy you soap at inflated prices. If you had this system in schools, kids would be stealing soap all over the place. You make it scarce and create a need, then you are creating a need to steal. Good grief.