Perhaps nothing is more important to the reform of a prisoner than to reform his family life. If we are to have real prison reform -- if the reform is really going to work -- often it will be necessary to reform the prisoner's family life.
I say this, because I realize the frustrations the prisoners have often contribute to their turning to a life of crime. If you don't help solve the problems that put them in prison, you won't solve the whole of the problem and the prisoner will be coming back. We call it recidivism, and it is recidivism that we seek to diminish.
If you can teach the prisoner how to treat family members, and teach the family members how to treat the prisoner, you can reduce the discontent that he is living under. You can ease his life. You can make the environment he will be returning to a more suitable one. You can teach him skills that will not only help him in dealing with family members, but will help him in getting along with everyone in his life.
The family is the basic unit of society. If it is broken, there is damage to the members thereof. If you would repair one of its members, often you must fix the broken unit, itself.
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