Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) — Handcuffs and a rubber baton used to be the standard equipment for Beijing Kenhua Prison warden Zheng Tianxiao. Now, a needle and a set of multi-colored threads have been added to his mandatory equipment.
The prison, located about 150 km from central Beijing, houses male inmates serving long sentences for violent crimes, drug trafficking, fraud and other serious crimes.
“Long-term prisoners easily lose their purpose in life and passively resist re-education. Handicrafts like embroidery help them tame their temper, restore self-discipline and regain their ability to concentrate,” Zheng Tianxiao said.
In recent years, many prisons in the metropolis of Shanghai, Jiangxi, Fujian and other regions of China have incorporated embroidery into prisoner rehabilitation programs, helping them stitch by stitch to “embroider the pattern” of a new life.
This year, Kenhua took a new approach: conducting mindfulness training before the embroidery session to enhance the positive outcome of the remedial program.
“Acts of violence are often committed in fits of sudden emotional imbalance, and mindfulness practice helps criminals break out of the vicious cycle of negative thoughts,” said Cao Guangjian, a leading correctional psychologist at the Beijing Prison Management Bureau. According to him, positive psychotherapy in the form of mindfulness practice involves training session participants to purposefully focus on the present moment, to recognize and accept their own emotional states.
For more than a decade, such training and practice have become a key part of the education and rehabilitation programs of Beijing prisons. More than 30,000 inmates have participated in such training, and statistics show an improvement in the ability to manage emotions and a significant decrease in aggression among those trained.
Zheng Tianxiao, who is also a mindfulness instructor, was inspired by a visit to an embroidery exhibition earlier this year and discovered the unique connection that can be formed between ordered stitches and mindfulness practice.
“Both activities require complete focus on the present moment,” he explained.
After studying various traditional Chinese embroidery styles, Zheng Tianxiao eventually chose tiaohua cross stitch, a national-level intangible cultural heritage (ICH). This embroidery technique is relatively simple and easy to master.
For safety reasons – to exclude the use of needles as weapons – after weeks of research, Zheng Tianxiao and his colleagues chose special atraumatic plastic needles for children. The diameter of the needle is about one millimeter, and the material resembles rubber. “When pressed on the skin, such a needle springs back, which completely eliminates the risk of injury,” he explained.
Embroidery classes are offered as hobby groups in addition to the main correctional program. So far, 84 of the more than 100 prisoners under Zheng Tianxiao’s supervision have attended such classes.
Yan Qing /pseudonym/, serving a 16-year sentence for inciting unrest, was one of the first to join the program. At first, he was nervous and made mistakes, even openly declaring, “Holding a needle is worse than carrying bricks!”
Under the patient guidance of Zheng Tianxiao and his colleagues, Yan Qing completed his first embroidery piece, a colorful parrot on a soft keychain, within a week. He said the joy of a well-finished piece gave him a sense of fulfillment.
Once known for his explosive temper, Yan Qing would often lash out at guards and fellow inmates. “I thought fists could solve everything, but now I have learned to breathe deeply to control my emotions,” he said.
Fang Wen (pseudonym), Yan Qing’s cellmate, was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was the first of the embroidery program participants to complete his work – a white rabbit hugging a large bouquet of sunflowers.
In May, he presented the work to his mother as his first Mother’s Day gift.
Soon after, Fang Wen took the initiative to work on the embroidery, “Phoenix Rising from the Ashes,” which required 170,000 stitches and eight months of labor. “Serving time is a process of rebirth,” he said.
According to Zheng Tianxiao, at the initial stage of the program, the prison provided prisoners with sketches with creative meanings for training. Now they are encouraged to develop artistic compositions on their own.
Compared with traditional lecture methods, the “mindfulness practice” format of the NCH is more effective in stimulating the enthusiasm for positive activities among prisoners, and the correctional intervention of prison staff is more effective, said Chao Kai, a working deputy warden of Kenhua Prison.
Currently, the prison also runs clay modeling, knotwork, dragon dance and grain mosaic clubs, which have also demonstrated significant achievements in the aspect of reforming and rehabilitating offenders.
Interestingly, psychological examinations have confirmed a significant reduction in anxiety and depression among prisoners who participate in activities based on the “mindfulness practice” method of the NCH, Chao Kai added.
Advances in psychological research in China have strengthened evidence-based approaches to rehabilitating offenders, says Liu Xinghua, a psychology professor at Peking University and a longtime consultant to mindfulness programs in Beijing’s correctional system.
According to him, in recent years, the development of psychology in China has provided resocialization practices with key applied support.
“The increased attention of the penitentiary system to scientifically based and humane correction of prisoners, as well as to the problems of their post-penitentiary adaptation, has an exclusively positive meaning,” stated Professor Liu Xinghua.
Next month, Kenhua plans to involve the custodians of the IPC in conducting training courses to further enhance their skills, thereby equipping prisoners with in-demand skills they can use after their release.
“Our vision is to turn prisoners’ terms into ‘semesters,’” said Le Chengzhang, head of the public relations department of the Beijing Prisons Management Bureau. “Through remedial education, we encourage repentance and enable people to become useful members of society.”
When Yan Qing was asked what he would say to the version of himself before the crime, the man leaned back for a moment, lowered his head, and blinked rapidly, collecting his thoughts.
After a long silence he said, “Life is so short. Try to be the one who brings something good into this world.” -0-