Charles W. "Chuck" Colson probably has been in as many prisons as anyone, including serving a term in one. His latest incursion - into the lockups of the Soviet Union - turned up an approach he considers lacking in this country.
They have "better organized work programs," said the veteran traveler of the behind-bars circuit and fervent advocate of bracing up prisoners, body and soul."It's an area where we can learn something from the Russians," he said in an interview. "One of the troubles with American prisons is that we
on't give inmates meaningful work. That can drive a person crazy."
Colson is head of Prison Fellowship, a group based in Reston, Va., that has grown into a worldwide organization to bolster religious faith among prisoners and seek reforms in the system.
Talking about the work programs in the two countries' prisons, he said, "The Russians are doing a better job of it."
That was his conclusion after a rare visit inside five Soviet prisons with a U.S. Department of Justice delegation at the invitation of the Soviet Bureau of Internal Affairs.
"All of them had work programs, including for juveniles," he said. "It was especially good in a women's prison. Everybody had a job. There was plenty of work to do. They got two-thirds of the going wage for their work.
"They were paid bonuses if they produced more. They were charged for room and board. Morale was excellent. I told them they were more capitalistic than on the outside.
Colson, who became a staunch Christian after serving seven months in prison as a Watergate conspiracy offender, started his prison organization in 1976. He has since visited prisons in 28 countries, including about 300 in the United States.
He said most of the Soviet prisons he visited, one the remote Perm 35 where several notable political prisoners once were held, remained repressive, restricting mail and family visits, but all had work programs.
Developing such productive programs would improve American prisons, he said. It's a reform also advocated by retired Chief Justice Warren Burger, but opposed by labor and businesses as unfairly competitive.