Cycle Breakers: How People, Not Systems, Are Ending the Cycle of Violence in Prison and Society

• Author: Matthew Moeller
• Published date: 01 May 2022
• Date: 01 May 2022
• DOI: 10.1177/10439862221096727

https://doi.org/10.1177/10439862221096727

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2022, Vol. 38(2) 197 –199

© The Author(s) 2022

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/10439862221096727

journals.sagepub.com/home/ccj

Essay

Cycle Breakers: How People,

Not Systems, Are Ending the

Cycle of Violence in Prison

and Society

Matthew Moeller

Minnesota

I have spent my entire adult life in the American prison system and violence fails to

shock me. The blood-stained floors and pepper spray-tinged air tell the story of a daily

struggle. A struggle of prisoners enacting violence upon other prisoners and tragically

upon themselves. These are the everyday ebbs and flows of incarcerated life.

So we are told.

The media and popular culture do such a good job - if not an overly dramatic job -

of telling these sensationalized stories. They tell you prison is a place where rape is

normalized and vicious assaults are common incidents. Often left untold are the stories

of those living their lives as the antithesis of violence, bettering their own lives along

with those intertwined with them. You will hear the story of the man who murdered his

entire family but nothing of how that same man has done work helping his fellow

prisoners find freedom through forgiveness. You will hear of prison riots and killings,

but little of prisoners pooling money together to help victims of domestic abuse or

collecting socks to donate to the homeless. You will hear of the murders of prison

guards, but little of the warrior mentality among officers, the psychological warfare

they engage in and the assaults they commit.

I have seen a person thrown from two stories high and another hit so hard his eye

came out. However, I have also seen a man sit side by side with countless others help-

ing them write letters of apology to their victims. I have seen a man adopted by the

mother of the person he killed, and survivors of domestic abuse share their stories.

These people are the violence interrupters. Violence is a cycle and will continue to

grow until it is broken. Ironically it is the broken who often break it.

Much is said in our society of the violent offender. I myself have been branded as

such. In prison for 2nd degree intentional murder at the age of 17, I received a 30-year

sentence with the ability to be released after 20 years. As I complete my 18th year in

prison, I can see how far I have come, and know I would not have made it this far

without the guidance and wisdom of healed men and women who have been branded

as violent, along with the victims of violent crimes telling their stories.

1096727CCJXXX10.1177/10439862221096727Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeMoeller

research-article2022