Books/ Self Directed Workbooks
All book sales go to support the Prison Professors Charitable Corporation.
Preparing for Success after Prison (BOP version-30-hour Course)
The Bureau of Prisons uses this self-directed workbook as a “Productive Activity.” All prisons in the North Central Region of the federal prison system use this First Step Act course. Administrators use the SENTRY Code PSAP to award Earned Time Credits for qualified people. All people going into the prison system should begin preparing for success after prison.
Preparing for Success after Prison (Five-Hour) Introductory Course
We produced this ten-module workbook to help people in jail and prison build intrinsic motivation. Course participants will discover strategies to overcome adversity. From Frederick Douglass, Nelson Mandela, Viktor Frankl, and Malcolm X, participants can learn self-directed lessons that lead to success upon release.
Preparing for Success after Prison (Ten-Hour) Intermediate Course
Our intermediate workbook offers more self-directed lessons to help people in jails and prisons position themselves for success, depending on how they define success. Regardless of challenges or external circumstances, this course shows that it’s never too early—and never too late—for a person to begin working toward a more successful outcome.
Earning Freedom / Paperback
Readers see 9,500-day journey through federal prisons of every security level. From arrest, on August 11, 1987, through release, on August 12, 2013, we see a continuous focus on earning higher levels of liberty at the soonest possible time. Readers see and understand the challenges that surface while serving a lengthy prison term. They also learn how a deliberate adjustment strategy can lead to earning freedom.
Prison: My 8,344th Day / Workbook
Ten module course begins by building trust with participants, showing how a values-based, goal-oriented adjustment prepared the author for success. While serving 26 years in federal prisons of every security level, the author adhered to lessons he learned from leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Viktor Frankl, and Malcolm X to use his time inside to prepare for a life of meaning, relevance, and dignity after his release.
Success after Prison / Workbook
This self-directed workbook helps participants understand the relationship between adjustment decisions and prospects for success upon release. While crossing through 9,500 days in prison, the author developed credentials and a release plan. He leveraged that plan to launch a life of meaning, relevance, and dignity upon release. Each chapter concludes with open-ended questions, challenging participants to prepare for success.
Perseverance, 2023 / Workbook
The Perseverance self-directed workbook offers daily lessons for people to memorialize their preparations for success. Daily lessons challenge participants to make intentional decisions. By documenting their pathway to success, participants can influence case managers, wardens, probation officers, and others who have discretion over their lives. Use this workbook to document preparations for success.
Release Plan, 2024 / Guidebook
After a judge sentences a person to the custody of the attorney general, the person must learn how to self-advocate. Sometimes that requires a person to learn how the system operates, including the Prison Litigation Reform Act, Administrative Remedies, and other types of motions. This guidebook offers insight and examples.
Engineering Mitigation Strategies / Workbook
Our self-directed workbook on engineering mitigation strategies helps people understand stakeholders who have discretion over levels of liberty. Those people may include probation officers, judges, or prison administrators. Although you know you don’t belong in prison, your thoughts are less relevant than those who make decisions. Use this course to build your pathway to a better outcome at sentencing.
Ten Steps to Prepare for Success / Workbook
This self-directed workbook counterbalances negative messages people in custody receive daily. They hear: “the best way to serve time is to forget about the world outside and to focus on the reputation inside.” This workbook shows people how to think differently, using self-directed pathways to prepare to emerge successfully. Use this workbook to become more valuable in the marketplace after release.
Lessons from Leaders 2: Jeff Gallups / Workbook
Dr. Jeffrey Gallups is an ear-nose-and-throat doctor and plastic surgeon. He is also an entrepreneur and community activist. When I reached out to Jeff to explain the need for people in prison to learn, he volunteered to share the strategies he used to grow his business. As the founder of a successful medical clinic and surgery center, he teaches excellent lessons on preparing for success.
Lessons from Leaders 1: Bill McGlashan / Workbook
Bill McGlashan is a legendary “impact” investor who strives to open opportunities for people worldwide. As the founder of TPG’s Growth Fund and the Rise Fund, along with Bono and Jeff Skoll, Bill has a lot to offer our community. Besides a career that deployed more than $15 billion in assets, he volunteered to help us develop a personal-development course. Use this course to prepare for success.