Beyond Preventing Harm: What Conditions Help People Become Well?

Over the past year, I have found myself returning to a simple question: What conditions help people become well?

It sounds straightforward, but the more I sit with it, the more I realize how differently various fields answer that question.

In criminal justice, we often focus on preventing harm. How do we reduce risk? How do we reduce recidivism? How do we address criminogenic needs? How do we increase accountability?

These are important questions. Public safety matters. Accountability matters. Effective interventions matter.

Yet I find myself wondering whether there is another question that deserves equal attention:

What conditions support human well-being?

For much of my career, I worked in systems focused on behavior change. We assessed risk factors, identified needs, developed case plans, and implemented interventions designed to support positive outcomes. At the same time, I have also spent years studying wellness, behavior, stress, Ayurveda, yoga, and human development. These experiences have led me to notice something interesting.

Many conversations in criminal justice focus on whether basic needs are met.

Does someone have housing?

Do they have employment?

Do they have food?

Do they have access to treatment?

But increasingly I find myself wondering whether access alone tells the full story.

A person can have housing and still live in an environment that feels unsafe, chaotic, or isolating (like a prison, a homeless shelter or living in an area with much instability). A person can have employment and still experience chronic stress, instability, and burnout (much like I had while working for the Department of Corrections). A person can have food and still not feel nourished (I used to think salads were so healthy and had one a day and yet, I never quite felt nourished and full when having this). Similarly, staff can have a paycheck, benefits, and paid time off while still feeling depleted, disconnected, and overwhelmed.

Having needs technically met and experiencing wellbeing are not necessarily the same thing. This distinction becomes especially important when we consider behavior change.

Much of the criminal justice field focuses on criminogenic needs and individual risk factors. Yet research from public health, social determinants of health, trauma studies, and organizational psychology consistently reminds us that human behavior does not occur in a vacuum.

Environment matters.

Relationships matter.

Stress matters.

Sleep matters.

Safety matters.

Belonging matters.

The conditions surrounding a person influence their capacity to think clearly, regulate emotions, build relationships, solve problems, and engage in change. This has led me to wonder whether we sometimes create false dualities in our conversations, especially around behavior change in the criminal justice system.

Wellness or accountability.

Support or responsibility.

Basic needs or criminogenic needs.

These types of questions often give rise to divisiveness. And that is never productive.

What if the question is not either/or? What if wellness is a foundation that supports accountability? What if supportive conditions increase a person's capacity to engage in the very interventions designed to help them change? What if promoting wellbeing and reducing harm are not competing goals, but complementary ones?

I have also found myself reflecting on this question beyond individuals.

What conditions help staff become well?

What conditions help organizations become well?

What conditions support sustainable change efforts?

In implementation science, we often distinguish between technical and adaptive challenges. Increasingly, I wonder whether many of the struggles we see in both individuals and organizations are adaptive responses to environments characterized by chronic stress, instability, and survival. Perhaps the question is not simply how we change people.

Perhaps the question is how we create conditions that make change more possible. How do we create environments for all people- those in prisons, staff working in the criminal legal system and those of us in our every day, day to day lives?

Whether we are discussing individuals under supervision, correctional staff, organizations, or entire systems, the same inquiry seems to emerge:

What conditions support human wellness? I think we all know prison environments are not conducive to wellness. And it is time for that to shift.