Starke County Community Corrections Offers Special Program for Offenders

John Littman

One of the programs offered by the Starke County Community Corrections is presented by John Littman, of John Littman and Associates of Portage.  Littman talked about the program yesterday to employees of Community Corrections, the Starke County Prosecutor, and part of the probation staff.

“The participants, as a result of a criminal offense, are assigned as part of their sentencing or a plea agreement they may be assigned the ‘Thinking for a Change’ program,” said Littman. “One of the guiding principles in ‘Thinking for a Change’ is that thinking, our thinking, controls our behavior. There’s a quote in the program literature that says that we are the authority of our behavior. What we do is we emphasize those principles in terms of the teaching and the practice of the cognitive restructuring which is about taking control, taking charge, being the authority of yourself and your thinking, your behavior and the consequences that come along as the result of the thinking and behavior.”

The program is presented on Saturdays. Littman said most offenders land in the criminal justice system because of distorted thinking styles. He stresses paying attention to our thinking, knowing our feelings, responding to feelings of others, responding to anger, and preparing for stressful conversations. The program is presented in 22 lessons.