Recently in one of my classes, my professor discussed a documentary she had seen that was about the reform of a grotesque, overcrowded, and semi-torturous Indian prison; Tihar Jail, the largest prison complex in South Asia. In 1993 Kiran Bedi swooped in and completely transformed the horrific prison, and the general outlook on what the penitentiary system should look like (She was also the first female prison warden in India).

The name of the movie is "Doing Time Doing Vipassana". Vipassana is an ancient meditation technique that shows people how to take control of their lives and channel them toward their own good.

So how, in just two years, did she manage to make such a dramatic change? Simply put, she used love. I know most people's response to that would be that it's some "hippie liberal approach" that most likely would fail in real life. Or that it wouldn't work here in America because of "cultural differences". Or that saying she literally used love is an exaggeration, but I'm not kidding.

Officers were completely re-trained to approach prisoners as human beings, rather than prisoners. To treat them with compassion and empathy and to, literally, hug them and comfort them when needed.

The response was overwhelmingly positive. Prisoners were searching forgiveness and coming to terms with their guilt. They were no longer preaching how they were innocent and that it was "society who had done them wrong". They acknowledged their wrongdoing, and expressed a sincere hope to be better people going forward in life.

When watching the movie I thought of the situation in the U.S. regarding police violence, overcrowding in prisons, long sentences for small offenses (and vice versa), sexual and physical abuse of inmates in American prisons, and the inhumane use of solitary confinement.

In a time of so many different issues being brought to light, I think it's important to not forget about prison reform. People are being offered little to no courses on real life skills that will help them succeed in life post-incarceration. Inmates are also often denied psychological help or counseling.

This is why 77% of prisoners return back to jail within five years of being released. They are thrown back into the world as exactly the same person, or even worse than they were going in. We can't expect people to change their ways if they are not given the chance to do so.

Meditation, empathy and forgiveness are simple and effective ways to go about showing people who have done wrong by others or by society how to change their mindsets and spiritual/mental health.

"Doing Time Doing Vipassana" can be found in full on YouTube: