Prison Mathematician Christopher Havens' Redemption Through Maths

Christopher Havens was a smart kid. While it mightn’t have been the best move for his social status in the fourth grade, he was so keen on maths that he even tutored his classmates. Nerd alert! Maybe that’s why he eventually got caught up in the wrong crowd. He just wanted to fit in and be cool like everyone else.

And of course, being cool meant smoking weed and drinking alcohol, which led to mushrooms and LSD. And then things eventually spiralled into pain pills and crystal meth, which spiralled even more out of control, resulting in him murdering someone. Sigh.

Before going to prison, Haven’s dad gave him some helpful advice to survive incarceration - be the shark, not the clownfish. So, of course, Haven interpreted that advice as beating up another prisoner so he could join a gang. While that act might have confirmed his loyalty to the gang, it also opened the door to his new accommodation in solitary confinement. AKA Hell on earth. 

Nothing but blank concrete walls, the smell of your own shit, and a bright fluorescent light to keep you company all day and all night. It was enough to drive a person mad, and by the sounds of the constant kicking and screaming next door, his neighbours were already there. Thankfully Havens was thrown a lifeline…in the form of a maths puzzle.

 

CHAPTERS:

• 00:00 The Horrors of Solitary Confinement
• 02:42 Christopher Havens' downward spiral
• 03:30 Algebra: A Solitary Confinement Lifeline
• 10:06 Flow State in the Midst of Hell
• 14:31 Solving the Unsolvable for Umberto Cerruti
• 21:36 Giving Back with the Prison Math Project
• 23:17 The Journal of Prisoners on Prisons
• 26:31 Recidivism and Rehabilitation
• 28:50 The Power of Education in Reducing Recidivism
• 32:40 Spoiler Altert: Solitary Confinement Doesn’t Work
• 34:04 What’s Next on The Wholesome Show?

 

SOURCES:

• A conversation with Christopher Havens, Prison Mathematics Project
• A systematic review of criminal recidivism rates worldwide: 3-year update
• An inmate’s love for math leads to new discoveries
• How a maximum security prison offers a pathway to academic excellence and a PhD
• Moving from prison to a PhD
• Pioneering Advanced Math from Behind Bars
• Recidivism Rates by Country 2024
• This Inmate Used Solitary Confinement to Learn Math. Now He's Solving the World's Hardest Equations
• Why Prison Education?

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