Back to Basics
P.O. Box 91648
Tucson, AZ 85752-1648
(520) 297-9348 (Office)
(520) 297-7230 
(FAX)
Email: admin@aabacktobasics.org


Home  ·  Book Stores  ·  Book/Guide Descriptions  ·  Program Info  ·  Workshops  ·  B2B Meeting List  ·  Assistance  ·  James H
Site last updated 07/12/2022

aabacktobasics is a site secured for browsing by APlus.net and shopping through Volusion. All transactions secured through Authorize.net

Aplus.net is a Deluxe company for Web solutions Affordable small business payment solutions

"Back to Basics" Behind Bars


Richmond, VA Newspaper Article

On May 20,2002, the Richmond Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA) ran a very complimentary article on the Back to Basics program at the Henrico County Jail.  The piece is titled, "Rehab thrives behind bars--Drug program borrows from AA."  John M., a Back to Basics pioneer in the Richmond, VA area is responsible for the implementation of the program in this institutional environment.

County Sheriff Mike Wade is one of the champions of the Back to Basics program.  What follows are some of his comments on the implementation of this "original" AA format in a prison environment.

Frustrated with what he saw (inmates spending most of their time watching TV), Wade went to his staff at the (Henrico) Jail East facility in New Kent with the idea of turning certain jail blocks, called pods, into total immersion substance abuse rehabilitation programs.

"Call it a therapeutic community," he said.  Wade also calls it Back to Basics, as does Alcoholics Anonymous, from which he has borrowed much of his program's structure.

That structure goes back to the beginnings of the AA movement and its 12-step, peer support concept.

The jail now has three men's pods using Back to Basics, with a similar program planned for a women's pod.

Initially, Wade met heavy resistance from his staff.  Faced with buzzwords and mumbo jumbo, "the security staff was totally against it," he said.  But he and the 70 to 100 men who are enrolled (in Back to Basics) at any one time are life-or-death serious about what this program means to them.

Few prisoners consider their incarceration a stroke of good fortune, but since Back to Basics was introduced, grateful has become a legitimate description for many in the three pods being used in the pilot phase of the sheriff's plan.

"A lower recidivism rate is characteristic of inmates enrolled in the program," Wade said.

Overall, the jail holds 400 inmates.  Up to a quarter of them are in the Back to Basics pods. 

John (M.) has been sober for nearly 20 years.  He volunteers at the jail and helps facilitate many area AA programs.  He has been involved in Wade's "therapeutic community" since December.

"It's a crash course taking people through the steps of AA so they find recovery from a spiritual rather than a psychological basis," John said.  "It's one of those things where they pick up on it or they bail out.  "And very few bail out."

John called the program unique.  "I think what really is interesting is the fact that this is the first systematic approach to apply the principles of AA in a setting like this," he said.

John has been actively involved in Back to Basics since the book was first published in 1997.  He is one of the many who are using this "original" AA meeting format to "Change the World--One Life at a Time."  

 

 
Home
Online Shopping Carts -
Please Note: We have added additional Priority shopping carts to separate the different programs offered!
.
DVD's (Back to Basics 101, The James H DVD's), CD Workshops (Back to Basics, Back to the Basics of Recovery, Sponsorship, 4 Spiritual Activities, Nutrition) and others have been moved to the "DVD's, CD's, and Other Digital Media" Bookstore.
.
Seminars 
·  Back to Basics Bookstore (U.S. Only)  ·  Back to Basics Priority Mail (U.S. Only)  ·  Back to the Basics of Recovery Bookstore (U.S. Only)  ·  Back to the Basics of Recovery Priority Mail (U.S. Only)  ·  How to Listen to God Bookstore (U.S. Only)  ·  How to Listen to God Priority Mail (U.S. Only)  ·  DVD's, CD's, and Other Digital Media  ·  Quantity Discounts (Media Mail-US Only)  ·  Canada Bookstore  ·  Overseas Bookstore  ·  Donations
Materials
B2B Book  ·  B2B Program  ·  B2B Recovery Model  ·  HTLTG Book  ·  HTLTG Program  ·  Printable Mail/FAX Order Form
Assistance
Back to Basics Seminar Information
  ·  Upcoming Seminars  ·  Back to Basics Meetings  ·  Treatment Centers  ·  Sharing Partners  ·  Contact Info
Information
Testimonials  ·  Articles  ·  History  ·  Links  ·  James H  ·  Wally P  ·  Dr Bob Archives  ·  Southwest Archives  ·  Feedback  ·  B2B Foundation

The following are keywords we use to help people find us:
Wally P, back to basics, oxford group, alcoholism, addiction, twelve steps, 12 steps, bill w, dr bob, james h, how to listen to god, back to the basics of recovery, back to the basics of nutrition, the greatest spiritual movement, four spiritual activities, 4 spiritual activities, oxford group, recovery, recovery dvds, recovery books, recovery cds, back to the basics of sponsorship, basic sponsorship, basic recovery

Copyright © 1997-2022 Back to Basics Foundation - 25 years of service since April 1997

This page last updated 4/28/2022

This page last updated 7/12/2022