EARLY A.A. PRISON GROUP (1944), Part 3 of 6, INDIANA STATE PRISON AT MICHIGAN CITY

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ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS AS A

CORRECTIONAL TECHNIQUE

by Warden Al Dowd

Indiana State Prison at Michigan City

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Editor’s introduction:  The following is an article by Alfred F. Dowd, "Alcoholics Anonymous as a Correctional Technique," The Prison World, Official Publication American Prison Association and National Jail Association, Vol. 14, No. 4 (July-August 1952), pp. 12-14 and 31.

Warden Dowd was the one who ran the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City when the A.A. group was started there — it had now become one of the two most famous A.A. prison groups in the United States. He wrote this article in 1952; eight years had passed since the A.A. group had been started at his prison, and he had now been converted to a complete believer in the program — a highly vocal friend of A.A.’s whose enthusiasm was only surpassed by his occasional ignorance of what the principles and traditions actually meant.

One of the more outrageous suggestions he made in this article was for parole officers to attend A.A. meetings regularly, both within prison and outside. If anybody ever dreamed up a better way of totally stultifying the open and honest exchange of thoughts and feelings at an A.A. meeting it would be hard to imagine!!!

The issue of the Prison World containing his article was included in a scrapbook belonging to C. W. Mackelfresh, Secretary of the Fellowship Group, Indiana State Prison, Post Office Box 41, Michigan City, Indiana. The inch-thick scrapbook contains a number of valuable archival documents dealing with the prison A.A. program in 1952. This book was donated to our archival project by Ed C. — Ed and his wife Carla are A.A. members from the Elkhart, Indiana, area. Ed believes the scrapbook had been saved by his grandfather, Willard C., who had been one of the founders of A.A. in Elkhart during the 1940’s.

Prison World editor’s note at beginning of article:  Upon request of the editors, Warden Alfred F. Dowd of the Indiana State Prison, Michigan City, prepared the following comment based on the recent First Regional Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous Prison Groups held at the Indiana State Prison. In attendance were many outstanding wardens and correctional personnel, and the group was honored by the presence of Governor Henry F. Schricker of Indiana.

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All over the country, in both federal and state fields of penal jurisdiction, there is a great and gratifying growth of interest in the rehabilitation of alcoholic inmates. This broadening hope for alcoholics has also reached out to the city and county jails, road camps and other levels of penal institutions to which alcoholics are sentenced. As a direct result of proved successes, the Alcoholics Anonymous program has been inaugurated in 134 prisons and penal institutions, an increase of 63 during the last 12-month period.

The founding of the Michigan City AA group in 1944

In April, 1944, a short time after Warden Clinton T. Duffy offered the AA program to the alcoholic inmates of San Quentin, the AA group was formed at the Indiana State Prison. For most the intervening eight years, I have watched with considerable interest the influence of the AA precepts and philosophy on inmate life. At first, we, the institution, could not fully understand what Alcoholics Anonymous was all about, so we went content to simply sit and watch. That point of view could be expected when we consider how few outside the top medical profession and AA members themselves possessed an understanding of the alcoholic malady and its effective treatment.

Indiana State Prison AA group at Michigan City

held back by overly restrictive prison rules

Shortly after my return from Japan in 1949, I found that our ISP-AA group had made little progress, despite the fact that, through widened education, a vigorous assault was being made in combating alcoholism, our fourth major public health problem.

AA making enormous advances worldwide

AA was not only sweeping the United States, but was encircling the world. The World Health Organization, a United Nations agency, created a sub-committee on alcoholism; 39 states and the District of Columbia passed alcoholic legislation offering medical care, research and rehabilitation. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. recognized alcoholism and gave Alcoholics Anonymous wholesale approval in its advertising. The American Medical Association issued a general statement to physicians accepting responsibility of the problems of alcoholism. Industry became seriously concerned with alcoholism and many plants set up special programs to reclaim alcoholic workers and aid the manpower shortage by cutting down absenteeism and accidents. Society became awakened to the growing destruction of family and community life caused by the alcoholic. It was then that many theologians, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, employers and political scientists approached AA to see how its principles and structure might fit into their fields of work and meditation.

Indiana State Prison study begun: positive

practical effects of AA programs

In finally acknowledging the reality that alcoholism was a disease as a result of this universal, broadened education, we penologists also resolved to cope with it to the best of our abilities, the same as we do with other disorders coming within our sphere of jurisdiction. Our interest at the Indiana State Prison intensified and we began a comprehensive study of the AA program and its relative merit in prison environment. As a result we found, in almost every instance, that AA is the greatest rehabilitation program ever inaugurated behind the walls.

We learned that many of our so-called incorrigibles and troublemakers, who sincerely and honestly embraced the AA program, became quiet, orderly inmates. The self-discipline of the AA group was by far more effective than other forms of corrective treatment we had used in these cases.

Varying results from AA programs at different prisons,

and (afterwards) with different parole officers

In the breakdown of all available information from other prison groups, we found that some boasted larger membership than other prisons of equal inmate population. We also learned that the ratio of men who entered inside groups and continued with the AA program while incarcerated varied, in most cases, as did the percentage of AA parolees who continued with the AA program when released. We became aware that some parole officers were more fortunate than others in their work with the alcoholic parolee.

These and other variations came to light during our research, and thus it became imperative that all prison groups should pool their common experiences with the AA program and share them with one another for the common good.

Midwest prison administrator conference on AA groups

On this premise, the First Regional Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous Prison Groups of Midwest States was formulated, and to everyone participating it proved a highly enlightening and educational experience. We discovered that prison administrators had barely tapped the great AA reservoir of dynamic power and help available to aid in work with the alcoholic prisoner. We visioned for the first time the many overall benefits to be derived by putting the program on a practical basis. We, as well as the other prisons which participated, profited by this mutual exchange of experience and found ways to improve the AA structure at ISP. These changes will gradually be made until the program is permanently set up as a substantial part of our inmate welfare work.

Rules which conflicted with AA traditions

kept groups from being effective

A great many of the differences in our findings were attributable to the restrictions and rules of each prison and their accompanying influence upon the manner in which the program functioned. Our experience at ISP is that the AA program is a self-contained program, and unlike other rehabilitation programs which can be processed by varying supervisory opinions and dogma, the only way for AA to flourish and properly function in any prison environment is within the framework of the AA 12 Steps and 12 Traditions. During the past 15 months we have proceeded, hesitatingly at first, to relax a few prison rules which were as old as the prison itself. To our deep gratification, nothing unusual happened, except the inmate AA cherished and zealously guarded these small privileges. We have continued to further grant more privileges to the AA group as they earn and deserve them, and the spirit of honest cooperation on the part of the inmate holds deep significance for us.

We learned, too, that the other maximum security prisons which participated in the conference had like experiences and not one reported a violation of any privilege accorded their respected AA group. The State Prison of Southern Michigan, Jackson, Mich., which could not actively participate because of recent disturbances, reported, however, that not one single member of their AA group was involved in the recent rioting.