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Abstract: 

At a maximum-security state prison in Graterford, Pennsylvania, a group of long-term prisoners initiated a movement to end the culture of crime and violence that they viewed as wreaking havoc on urban communities. Acting out of the belief that they had been instrumental in creating and sustaining the same types of public safety problems they saw their families, neighbors, and an endless stream of youth falling subject to, members of the Public Safety Initiative (PSI) of LIFERS, Inc. concluded that they needed to become a meaningful part of the solution. They crafted a model for achieving that goal by working for transformation at the individual, institutional, and community levels. M. Kay Harris explains the program and the transformation that it is creating.

Keywords: peer intervention; PSI; LIFERS

Affiliations:  1: Temple University.