Students from San Francisco State University are changing their own perceptions about incarceration through a program that teaches conflict resolution skills to inmates at the Maple Street Correctional Center in Redwood City.

The Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center partners with the jail to offer its 10-week Conflict Transformation & Anger Management Program three times per year. The program’s volunteers teach skills including anger management, conflict styles, de-escalation techniques and apologizing, through interactive dialogues rather than lectures.

“This is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to conflict work,” said Ashmi Desai, a communication studies professor who has been volunteering with the program since 2022.

In 2024, Desai started to visit the jail in person after the program transitioned from online to in person.

“I didn’t have any expectations,” Desai said. “It felt like a corporate office, but as soon as you enter, the big slam of the door just reminds you that this is a different context. This is a place where there’s people in captivity for a reason, and it just lands differently for someone doing conflict work.”

Eliziana Calles, a fourth-year communications studies and criminal justice student, will be joining the program in the fall. She wants to help inmates reintegrate into society.

“Their behavior is just modified to only that specific environment,” Calles said. “So they’re constantly on edge, and oftentimes, they don’t know how to handle conflict.”

The program allows students to apply theories from classes while developing their skills.

“I am majoring in criminal justice and communications, and I think this is a great way that blends them both,”  said SFSU student Charlotte Thelen. “I get to use my communication skills to help lead dialogues and teach better ways for other people to communicate. But it’s also like making active change in our justice system and the people that are currently being affected by it.”

Right now, Calles said she feels excited about the program, but also nervous.

“But I’m just gonna overcome that feeling, knowing that I’ll be able to help people,” Calles said.

The program also provides practical skills and certificates for inmates completing the 10-week program, which can be beneficial during court proceedings.

“I’ve been told time and again from them [inmates] that it’s very useful for them and their court dates, and they’re proving good behavior,” Desai said.

For students who participated in the program, television played a role in their expectations. 

“The media played a huge role as far as how it felt rough, and it would be like this scary, dark situation where everyone is just always angry and fighting,” said Julie Soeganda, a fourth-year communication studies student.

Thelen had similar concerns but was glad to discover engaged participants who were eager to learn and contribute to discussions.

“From what I’ve seen, the inmates are not violent or aggressive in any way, they’re very respectful,” Thelen said. “They contribute to the conversations and dialogues in such a meaningful way. They are genuinely there to learn and better themselves, and it makes the class just so much more productive.”

Desai wanted to participate in the program after hearing about a similar program at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. She studied conflict to earn her doctorate and realized that incarceration is an indicator of conflicts in society.

“There’s all kinds of different people in prison who are subject to what’s legal at that point in time,” Desai said. “While there’s this notion that diversity is a fun and enjoyable thing, diversity can be very, very painful… difference can lead to conflict, but being able to have conversations and communication across differences can be very satisfying.”

Desai said being able to work with people very different from her makes her feel fulfilled. She also said the program caused volunteers to be more aware of their emotions and how easily differences in opinions can escalate to violence. 

“It’s not about the big social change, but it’s about those moments in the classroom at the moments where we reflect and realize,” Desai said.

For Soeganda, the experience reinforced her idea of human connection.

“It reaffirmed to me that everyone is equally as important and to let the other person be heard, because that’s rare,” Soeganda said. “That’s my takeaway and I would love to continue this.”

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Thelen’s last name.