ACT in the Communities

From the Winter 2007 issue of Forward Progress¸ A Bristol County Sherriff’s Office Quarterly Newsletter:

Inmates learn to RAPPP and ACT their way to better parenting

For the past 4 years, registered nurse and parenting instructor Sharon Souza has been teaching inmates how to become better parents to their children. Ms. Souza is affiliated with the South Coast’s Hospitals Group RAPPP (Responsible Attitudes Towards Pregnancy, Parenting, and Prevention) Program. The RAPPP Program conducts community outreach in schools, jails, group homes for troubled adolescents, offers workshop presentations at conferences, and also has a local lending library in the Pequot building at Dartmouth Place in Dartmouth, MA with information on many health related topics.

RAPPP sponsors ACT (Adults and Children Together Against Violence), a national initiative developed by the American Psychological Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to educate adults and communities on how to better protect children from violence.

Using the ACT model, Ms. Souza teaches inmates that they will be less frustrated with their children and hopefully less aggressive toward them when they use nonviolent methods of discipline, control their anger and teach children how to solve problems and conflict through non-violent means. The ACT Program also teaches incarcerated parents to monitor and recognize various media influences to youth violence (i.e. television, internet, videos, video games) and encourages parents to get involved in the schools and communities to create violence-free environments for their children.

Souza explains that the first years of life are critically important for children because it can set the stage for a lifetime. Her eight week workshop “Parents Raising Safe Kids”, teaches adults basic elements of child development and the roots and consequences of violence in children’s lives. Inmates also learn early, valuable violence prevention skills including anger management skills, social problem solving skills, positive discipline, and media literacy. Incarcerated parents learn that since violence is a mostly learned behavior, what they say and do in front of their children can have serious, long-lasting implications.

Aside from using a nationally acclaimed program to teach inmates how to become better parents, Ms. Souza brings with her something else that can’t be taught; a real passion towards her field. She is a dedicated, hard working and diligent woman who shares her knowledge at every opportunity. From working with our inmate population, to teaching our staff and the public about child seat safety, Ms. Souza actively and willingly shares valuable information with others in an effort to improve the safety of our community. Sherriff Thomas Hodgson, the staff, and incarcerated population of the B.C.S.O. commend Ms. Souza for her exceptional work.

For more information about the ACT Program, please visit their website at www.actagainstviolence.org.