Corrections_Today_May_June_2023_Vol.85_No.3

Correctional Chaplain Perspectives

Guided lessons for TOPUCU TOPUCU guides the participant through two distinct and easy to understand program sections, The Starter and The Finisher . The Starter portion of the curric ulum guides the participant through seven lessons. Lesson one explores how habits are formed by discussing triggers, routines and rewards. Les son two discusses the importance of understanding the difference between internal and external mo tivation. Lesson three introduces Pain Association Transfer where the student is encouraged to assess the value of going through the “pain” of changing now, as opposed to the “pain” they will suffer later if they don’t change. Lesson four outlines the process by which people allow thoughts to become actions, even when those actions are not desirable outcomes. Lesson five implements the proven method of visualization to stay on track in accomplishing a goal. Lesson six teaches how to control and plan the 168 hours each week that everyone is given. Lesson seven is about making a commit ment to never return to old ways that were not resulting in “right living”. The Finisher portion of the cur riculum engages the student in a ten-part assessment of key areas of their life, resulting in a personal ized, and well thought out mission statement, and guides the student in setting short-term, mid-term, long term and what TOPUCU calls the “big hairy audacious goal” in impor tant life focus areas. TOPUCU is available in both print and digital versions. The digital version is already on most of the

management company, TOPUCU teaches the skills that Norm learned along the way to become success ful. TOPUCU’s Mission Statement is: “To equip people with principles to identify and change habits, make better decisions, manage their time, and develop a clear mission and goals to ultimately transform their lives”. A 2019 study conducted by Robert Hanser and colleagues was published in the April 2020 edition of The Journal of Correctional Edu cation which drew several interesting conclusions. 1 The overall goal of the study was to determine whether criminal thinking possessed by incarcerated individuals would be significantly reduced through psychoeducation using the TOPUCU curriculum. This study utilized the Criminal Thinking Scale (CTS) as a pre-test and post test measure of criminal thinking among participants in the TOPUCU program. 2 Results between both mea sures of the CTS showed significant reductions in criminal thinking. In its conclusion, the report states, “This study has found support for the idea that TOPUCU can be effective in reducing criminal thinking, instill ing changes in thinking and changes in subsequent behavior; this is the intended purpose of the TOPUCU model. Findings from this study also point toward the strength of a blended or hybrid model of delivery, one that requires both a peer instruc tor from the facility population and a professional staff person, to optimize the impact on criminal thinking across subscales”. This blended approach affords the chaplain the

opportunity to team with other department staff to offer TOPUCU, thereby contributing to the Active Relevancy strategy. Dr. Hanser and his team also con cluded that: “The observed support for this model’s efficacy in changing thinking and behavior means that it is likely to be a very good addition to any treatment program, as an adjunct or even a stand-alone curriculum. Treatment administrators should con sider the use of TOPUCU as a means of instilling a method of generating genuine self-change in individu als who wish to do so”. Again, this is another great opportunity for the correctional chaplain to establish rel evancy by being supportive of other departments in the facility. TOPUCU’s Mission Statement is: “To equip people with principles to identify and change habits, make better decisions, manage their time, and develop a clear mission and goals to ultimately transform their lives”.

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