Adverse Childhood Experiences... The Trauma Underlying Mass Incarceration

I went down the list, carefully reading each line out loud. Each time the men answered yes, they were to discreetly make a mark.

#1. Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you? Did they act in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt?

#2. Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often push, grab, slap, or throw something at you? Did they ever hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured?

#3. Did an adult or person at least 5 years older than you ever touch or fondle you or have you touch their body in a sexual way?

#4. Did you often or very often feel that no one in your family loved you or thought you were important or special? Did you feel like your family didn’t look out for each other, feel close to each other, or support each other?

#5. Did you often or very often feel that you didn’t have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, and had no one to protect you? Were your parents too drunk or high to take care of you or take you to the doctor if you needed it?

#6. Were your parents ever separated or divorced?

#7. Was your parent/caregiver: often or very often pushed, grabbed, slapped or had something thrown at him/her? Were they sometimes, often, or very often kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, or hit with something hard? Were they ever repeatedly hit for at least a few minutes or threatened with a gun or knife?

#8. Did you live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic, or who used street drugs?

#9. Was a household member depressed or mentally ill, or did a household member attempt suicide?

#10. Did a household member go to prison?

This exam is known as the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) survey.

Nearly two-thirds of adults in the U.S. report experiencing at least one ACE.

However, 98% of men in prison have at least one ACE and research suggests that 46% of men in prison have at least four. In the general population only 16% of us score four or higher.

Amongst incarcerated women, 57% score four or more, compared to 15% of women in the general population.

Why is this important? Because science suggests that childhood trauma rewires the brain. And research shows that adverse childhood experiences are one of the strongest predictors of future incarceration.

People with four or more ACEs are:

·      4 to 12 times more likely to suffer from depression, drug addiction, or attempt suicide.

·      2 to 4 times more likely to smoke, become sexually promiscuous, or contract an STD or unplanned pregnancy.

·      Almost twice likely to suffer from obesity and chronic inactivity.

Trauma, especially in children, can mimic mental illness. Children growing up in chaos may act like problem children, but they’re not. They’re scared. They’re hurting. They were never taught another way.

I looked around the room. As I explained this science, I noticed that every man wore a long face. I prayed that I had not triggered anyone. I knew that the message I had shared so far was depressing.

I asked the men, “So, what can we do?” I was met with silence.

I continued.

“We can’t undo our trauma. We can’t go back and give ourselves a loving home.

But we can give one to someone else.

Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, once said: ‘It’s better to build boys than to mend men.’ That’s why we’re here today.

You don’t want your children, your nephews, your little cousins to end up here. So, protect them. Guide them. Love them.

One of my favorite writers, David Brooks, says this:

‘The quality of your ambition will be shaped by the goal you're ambitious for. If you hunger for power, you will feel powerless. If you hunger for money, you will never have enough. But if you hunger for understanding, your world will be filled with wonders. If you hunger for God, you will hunger for perfect love, and your hunger will be purified by it.’

What does that mean? It means: Be careful what you chase. If you chase money, it will never be enough. If you chase popularity, you’ll always feel fake. But if you chase God, if you chase this perfect love, the love exemplified by our Heavenly Father, a love that is best described in 1 Corinthians 13, you will become the kind of man your children need.

So, get your loves in order. Put God and family above self. We should love others the way that God loves us.

You can’t fix everything in a day. But that’s okay. You don’t have to. We overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in ten. So, start now.

Write your kids. Call them. Encourage them to schedule a visit. Even if they don’t answer right now, keep trying.

Theodore Roosevelt once said: ‘Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.’ That’s your mission.

You are not done. You are not forgotten. You are here for a reason; you have a purpose. Your life has meaning. So be a good father, uncle, brother, mentor. Be someone who breaks the cycle.

Do what you can. Where you are. With what you have.”

I finished the message with Isaiah 55:12.

“So you’ll go out in joy, you’ll be led into a whole and complete life. The mountains and hills will lead the parade, bursting with song. All the trees of the forest will join the procession, exuberant with applause. No more thistles, but giant sequoias, no more thornbushes, but stately pines—Monuments to me, to God, living and lasting evidence of God.”

I looked around the room. I didn’t see a group of inmates. I saw a room of giant sequoias. I told them so.

Afterwards, an elderly gentleman approached me. Tears were in his eyes.

He shook my hand and leaned close, his face inches away from mine. His lips fumbled for the words. I knew what he was saying without him having to say it.

Finally, he managed a single syllable. “Nine.”

I nodded. He leaned closer and drew a deep breath. His hand trembled in mine.

“Nine out of ten.”

My heart ached. What do you say to someone who’s been through something like that? I prayed for the words.

“You’re a survivor. I am proud of you.”

He nodded solemnly and sniffled. I continued to hold his trembling hand in mine.

I wanted to hug him. Prison rules forbade it. I held his hand clasped in mine.

I stared at him intently.

I wasn’t looking at a hardened criminal. I was looking into the eyes of a broken child, a scared little boy.

Driving home, I thanked God for my childhood. For my parents. My ACE score – zero.

I tried to imagine what life would have been like if I had to say yes to four of those things. I couldn’t even imagine what nine would look like. I felt so grateful for the loving home I’d been provided.

You see, doing this work, day after day, month after month, year after year, I’ve learned that the men and women we work with are just like you and me. Full of the same hopes and dreams and fears and doubts.

Sometimes the rhetoric is wrong. It’s not about second chances. It’s about fair chances.

But we can’t go back and give fair chances.

The only thing we can do is try to give a fair chance to the next generation.

We invite you to come alongside us as we work to give fair chances to the next generation.

Every day at 1:33 PM, we stop whatever it is we’re doing and we pray. For those in prison. Guards and inmates alike. We pray for our state, our country, our world. We pray that God works miracles inside and outside prison.

We pray for freedom for the captive.

Would you please join us?