GRIP Graduates Three Tribes at San Quentin

Tribes 599, 753, and 833 completed the anger-management program at San Quentin State Prison, where graduates pledged to abstain from violence.

Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Secondary Education

GRIP Graduates Three Tribes at San Quentin

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The Guiding Rage into Power (GRIP) program graduated tribes 599, 753, and 833 at a ceremony held at San Quentin State Prison. Graduates received certificates and signed a contract pledging to abstain from violence.

Why it matters

GRIP has graduated 948 participants with a reported 12% recidivism rate, a figure that bears on how rehabilitation programs inside California prisons are evaluated. The program's origins in more than 25 years of prison-based rehabilitation education place it within the state's longer effort to reduce violence among incarcerated people.

GRIP has graduated 948 participants to date across 13 cycles, with a reported 12% recidivism rate. The program's estimated taxpayer savings total approximately $664 million, though the basis for that estimate is not detailed in the source material.

The players

Jacques Verduin

Verduin established GRIP after more than 25 years of learning from educators who taught rehabilitation programs inside California prisons.

Chance Andes

Andes is the warden of San Quentin State Prison, where the GRIP graduation ceremony was held.

The details

Each graduating tribe name reflects the combined years served by its members, and participants learn to manage anger through emotional intelligence components and acronyms that help them recognize when they are triggered. Ty Warren, a graduate of tribe 753, spoke as a student speaker, and San Quentin Warden Chance Andes addressed family members of the incarcerated attending the ceremony.

2011: GRIP began as an in-person group for violent offenders at San Quentin State Prison.
52 weeks before graduation: Graduates set the goal they accomplished at the ceremony.

Culture Shift

GRIP grew out of more than 25 years of California prison rehabilitation education, reflecting a longer shift toward treating violence as a learned behavior that can be addressed inside correctional facilities. The program's emphasis on emotional intelligence builds on that tradition.

Families of incarcerated people in California can attend graduation ceremonies like this one at San Quentin to see participants complete the program. The program's reported 12% recidivism rate is relevant to communities that receive people returning from state prisons.

The takeaway

Programs that teach emotional regulation and a written commitment to nonviolence offer one structured approach to reducing violence among incarcerated people. Readers interested in similar rehabilitation models can compare program outcomes such as recidivism rates before drawing conclusions.