Seattle Community Court Misdemeanor Offenders Create Lake City Mural

The Stockdale Paradox

From Niall Doherty.com:

Some of the best lessons I’ve learned about personal development come from a book that isn’t aimed at the personal development market at all. It’s a book about business and leadership, called Good to Great. Author Jim Collins and his research team spent five years trying to identify the common factors that separated good (or briefly great) companies, from companies which were able to achieve and then sustain excellence for fifteen consecutive years or more. While reading, I realized that almost all the findings in the book could be applied on a personal level as well.

While I would highly recommend that you get your hands on this book and read it in its entirety, today I’d like to share a part of it that has stuck with me most: The Stockdale Paradox.

The Stockdale Paradox is named after admiral Jim Stockdale, who was a United States military officer help captive for eight years during the Vietnam War. Stockdale was tortured more than twenty times by his captors, and never had much reason to believe he would survive the prison camp and someday get to see his wife again. And yet, as Stockdale told Collins, he never lost faith during his ordeal: “I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”

Then comes the paradox: While Stockdale had remarkable faith in the unknowable, he noted that it was always the most optimistic of his prisonmates who failed to make it out of there alive. “They were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.”

What the optimists failed to do was confront the reality of their situation. They preferred the ostrich approach, sticking their heads in the sand and hoping for the difficulties to go away. That self-delusion might have made it easier on them in the short-term, but when they were eventually forced to face reality, it had become too much and they couldn’t handle it.

Stockdale approached adversity with a very different mindset. He accepted the reality of his situation. He knew he was in hell, but, rather than bury his head in the sand, he stepped up and did everything he could to lift the morale and prolong the lives of his fellow prisoners. He created a tapping code so they could communicate with each other. He developed a milestone system that helped them deal with torture. And he sent intelligence information to his wife, hidden in the seemingly innocent letters he wrote.

Collins and his team observed a similar mindset in the good-to-great companies. They labeled it the Stockdale Paradox and described it like so:

You must retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties.

AND at the same time…

You must confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

For me, the Stockdale Paradox carries an important lesson in personal development, a lesson in faith and honesty: Never doubt that you can achieve your goals, no matter how lofty they may be and no matter how many critics and naysayers you may have. But at the same time, always take honest stock of your current situation. Don’t lie to yourself for fear of short-term embarrassment or discomfort, because such deception will only come back to defeat you in the end.

Living the first half of this paradox is relatively easy, since optimism really isn’t that hard. You just choose to believe that it will all turn out for the best, and everything that happens to you is a means to that end. Simple as.

But optimism on its own can be a dangerous thing:

There’s no difference between a pessimist who says, “Oh, it’s hopeless, so don’t bother doing anything,” and an optimist who says, “Don’t bother doing anything, it’s going to turn out fine anyway.” Either way, nothing happens. – Yvon Chouinard

So you need to embrace the second half of the Stockdale Paradox to really make strides. You must combine that optimism with brutal honesty and a willingness to take action.

Now of course, nobody likes admitting that they’re fat, that they’re broke, that they’ve chosen the wrong career or that their marriage is falling apart. But admitting such truths is an absolute necessity if you want to grow and improve. It might feel like you’re taking a few steps backward by doing so, but you can view that retreat as the pull-back on a sling shot: you’re just setting yourself up to make significant progress down the road.

Liberation Prison Project

Resource for incarcerated client interested in Buddhism...

Liberation Prison Project offers spiritual advice and teachings, as well as books and materials, to people in prison interested in exploring, studying and practicing Buddhism. Lama

A Tibetan Buddhist organization and social services project affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, since 1996 the project has supported the Buddhist practice of over 20,000 prisoners.

Active mainly in the US and Australia, where we are established as nonprofit organizations in San Francisco and the Australian Blue Mountains, we also have branches in New Zealand, Spain, Mexico, Mongolia and Italy.

Homeboy Industries

The motto of Homeboy Industries is "nothing stops a bullet like a job." Their mission statement: "Jobs not Jails: Homeboy Industries assists at-risk and formerly gang-involved youth to become positive and contributing members of society through job placement, training and education." The organization, run by Father Greg Boyle, S.J., assists former gang members with community reentry from prison, tattoo removal, mental health counseling, drug counseling, employment services, legal assistance, and a number of other services. They run businesses in the Los Angeles area including a screen print shop, a cafe, a bakery and training schools. In these tough economic times, Homeboy Industries is hurting for cash so they are doing a virtual car-wash. Here, you can donate ten dollars to support this most worthy cause. For more information, these documentary clips are a good overview:

"Redefining Public Defense: How Holistic Advocacy Leads to Better Lawyers... and Better Outcomes"

Robin Steinberg, Director of The Bronx Defenders, gave a talk on April 26, 2010 about how we redefine public defense. The audio file is available for download here or you can listen without downloading here.

The focus of the talk is how public defenders traditionally focus on the fight and how we can focus on the bigger picture of how to improve our client's lives. By expanding our focus from the criminal case to the so called "collateral consequences" like immigration, student loans, housing, child welfare, mental health issues, addiction, we can do more to address the broad effects of the criminal justice system. Holistic defense centers around the client and the client's needs using an interdisciplinary approach to address the client's case as well as the client's life goals.

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Great New Resource from Arrest to Reintigration

The Bronx Defenders, an organization that exemplifies all that is good and right in public defense, drew our attention to a wonderful resource: Reentry.Net. The Bronx Defenders is one of the sponsors of reentry.net, the first ever clearinghouse of materials for attorneys, social service providers, and policy reform advocates on reentry and the consequences of criminal proceedings. The National Library contains various research, national policy, and program information. Reentry.net/NY, the New York-specific Resource Center, contains hundreds of resources including training materials, sample letters, and case decisions in addition to a calendar of relevant events. There are over 2000 members comprised of criminal defense and civil legal aid attorneys, service providers and advocates who have found it to be an extremely valuable resource in their efforts to aid clients with reentry concerns. The NY component is more filled out, and both are valuable information resources. As information grows, it becomes more important to get these resources organized so they are more user friendly. Reentry.net connects the various pieces into a more complete map for client reentry resources. It is added as a permalink here.

Defense Initiated Victim's Outreach

A growing trend, especially in death penalty work, is the Defense Initiated Victim's Outreach or DIVO for short. DIVO has been around for quite a while, but the idea translates to more than just capital cases. In a capital case, it is essential for the defense team to understand the victims' concerns and questions. The information can be useful working on settlement as well as working out mitigation evidence. Traditionally, victims end up "belonging" to the prosecutor and the victim-advocate that is an employee of the prosecutor's office. The DIVO can turn that around by providing the defense team with access and information to the victim to provide a more holistic approach to justice. The DIVO creates an organic relationship between the victims/survivors and the defendant. The defense team is then in a position to deal compassionately with the victims and learn from the victims as well. NACDL has a good overview of DIVO, its creation in the McVeigh case with Richard Burr and Tammy Krause, and resources for a defense team regarding DIVO (available here).

The DIVO works with both the defense and the victim-survivors to bridge the parties and seeks to reduce the trauma to victim-survivors that often results from the adversarial and technical nature of the legal process. The DIVO assists the defense team to access the victim and provide a more active role for homicide victim-survivors without compromising the due process rights of capital defendants. Trained victim outreach specialists help defense attorneys understand the needs and experiences of victim-survivors; conversely, the DIVO can help the victim understand the defendant, the legal process and the crime better.

This idea has primarily been used in capital cases, but can be important in any case where the defense finds themselves wanting to understand and communicate with victims. For a good overview of DIVO, see Understanding "Defense-Initiated Victim Outreach and Why It Is Essential In Defending a Capital Client" authored by Mickell Branham and Richard Burr. For training on DIVO work, see Capital Defense Network and their associated trainings.

Problem Solving Courts: Resources and Information

In 2007, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to examine the operations of courts such as drug and mental health courts. NACDL’s Task Force on Problem Solving Court was charged with conducting a thorough analysis of these courts, specifically focusing upon the ethical implications for the defense bar and the constitutional implications for society at large. The Task Force conducted hearings throughout the country in San Francisco, Miami, Tucson, New York, Milwaukee, Austin and the District of Columbia. The project's result was a comprehensive report and recommendations that for the first time provide the perspective of the nation’s criminal defense bar regarding problem courts.

The NACDL website has compiled much information related to Problem Solving Courts including reports, mission statement, hearing schedules, witness list and other information related to the task force hearings. Additional information is available that is useful in evaluating these growing approaches to the criminal justice.

Support Holistic Defense Bronx Style

The Bronx Defenders are a leader in holistic public defense work that are supported by grants and donations. This groundbreaking approach is on the tipping point...it is a sustainable defense model to improve our justice system as blogged about here and here. You can help with the Summer Hundred Campaign by donating $100, or whatever you can, to the cause. If you happen to be in the Bronx in July, you can enjoy the cocktail party: a pledge enters you into a raffle. The Bronx Defenders are redefining criminal defense by starting with the principle that an arrest is not just an arrest, it can create a whole host of legal and social problems:

The Bronx Defenders employs a groundbreaking system of holistic defense to fight both the causes and consequences of involvement in the criminal justice system. Located in the heart of the South Bronx, our office has been engaged in a constant dialogue with the community we serve. What we have learned from that dialogue is that our client population has a host of legal and social support needs. As holistic defenders we are committed to providing our clients with seamless access to services to meet those needs. Our interdisciplinary teams of criminal, civil, and family defense lawyers, social workers, parent advocates, investigators, and community organizers work with clients and their families to identify and overcome the challenges they face. Whether addressing the root causes of their involvement in the criminal justice system such as addiction, mental illness, and joblessness or the collateral consequences of their criminal case, our goal is not just to succeed in court but to make a long-term difference in our clients’ lives.

Because at The Bronx Defenders, we know an arrest is never just an arrest.

The Bronx Defenders

Only in the Bronx