In a courtroom in London (UK) a young man accused of robbery changes his plea to guilty.  Another young man asks for undisclosed offences to be taken into account and as a result gets a stiffer sentence.  A drug-trafficker doing time in prison repents and seeks to rebuild his life.  A murderer serving a life-sentence writes a declaration promising ‘to never again create victims by my irresponsible and violent actions’. 

What has brought about these changes? 

These responses are from offenders, amongst 3,500 others, who have taken part in Prison Fellowship’s Sycamore Tree Programme (STP).  These transformational changes are examples of offenders actively participating in taking personal responsibility for the damage and harm that has resulted from the impact of their criminal behaviour. 

Why is STP so successful in moving offenders towards accepting responsibility?  It’s to do with involvement and participation, building a safe environment where offenders and surrogate victims (indirect VOM) can talk about the impact of crime in their lives and learn together about the benefits and application of restorative justice.  Even though this is indirect VOM, it is empowering to victims to relate their stories – what happened, who was hurt, how long the pain and hurt has lasted, some lives being irrevocably changed by the impact of crime.  They have questions for the offenders – Why did this happen to me?  Will it happen again?  What about making amends, apologising, making reparation?  A wave of questions that are rarely asked in criminal justice proceedings and even less likely to be satisfactorily answered.

STP is run at the invitation of Prison Service Chaplaincy by Prison Fellowship in England and Wales.  Typically the programme is six sessions, built on the framework of the story of Zacchaeus (Zac) in Luke 19 in the New Testament.  The programme provides an overview of restorative justice; taking responsibility; saying sorry and acting sorry; reconciliation; making a symbolic act of restitution; and taking the next step in a new direction.  This is systematically achieved by taking the perspective and identifying firstly with Zac the offender, and then taking the perspective of his victims and community.  The most moving part of the programme is when surrogate victims share their personal stories of hurt and pain.  Zac encountered Jesus when he climbed up a sycamore tree, and it is this personal encounter between offenders and victims on STP that is so powerful. 

STP encourages offenders to act sorry and not just say sorry, and for this to become a way of life. 

STP in England and Wales has recently been awarded accredited status by OCN (Open College Network) which validates it as an educational programme with clear aims and objectives, measurable learning outcomes, and professional standards. 

Up to the end of March 2004, more than 3,000 prisoners and many surrogate victims have taken part in STP.  More than 100 STP programmes are run each year. 

There is also an attraction to STP and eagerness from prisoners to be involved resulting in waiting lists in some prisons.  Some prisoners have requested to be transferred to a prison where STP runs.  It is the voluntary and participatory nature of STP that not only attracts offenders but offers them an opportunity to take personal responsibility for their actions.  

Following the success of the STP for adult prisoners, both male and female, we have developed and successfully implemented a version for Young Offenders. 

So what does the future hold for PF and STP?  More enquiries to run the programme are received than we can respond to, so our focus must be on the recruitment and training of volunteer tutors to present the programme. 

We are also responding to an enquiry from a local Youth Offending Team to develop STP for young offenders as an alternative and diversion from court and a criminal record.  

So what of our four offenders at the beginning of this article?   

After participating in STP the young man accused of robbery decided that he didn’t want his victim, an elderly woman, to go through the distressing experience of court so he took responsibility to prevent her from further harm and changed his plea to guilty. 

The other young man felt burdened and shamed by his previous crimes and made the decision to confess - he paid the price with a longer sentence than if he had kept quiet, but he found greater peace in taking responsibility.   

The drug-trafficker had previously seen his victims as faceless and denied the impact of his criminal behaviour but after STP could no longer feel comfortable with this attitude.  His desire after release is not only to live an honest and productive life but for his community to accept him back and realise he has changed.   

The man serving life unfortunately still has many more years to serve and is regretful that it has taken him so many years before coming on STP to find peace and know that God can forgive him even though he can’t make up for the harm he has caused. 

Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus is creating far-reaching ripples within our modern criminal justice system and his positive response to Jesus’ invitation is having a far greater impact than he could ever imagined.

Peter Walker
July 2004