Lessons learned about working with men: a prison memoir

From the very beginning of my career as a social worker, I have believed that the fullest and most effective use of self requires an integration of personal, professional, and spiritual-political values and beliefs into a framework that respects their dialectical tensions while striving for wholeness. In this very personal memoir, I tell of such a period in my life. The setting is a maximum-security prison. I learned about mutuality, transparence, risk taking, openness, and vulnerability from men in the prison: inmates, the warden, and other prison staff. The lessons I learned have served as ground and guide for my subsequent psychotherapy practice with men, my own relational growth, and my commitment to the struggle for gender equality and social justice.