Deep inside an overcrowded prison with a reputation for mayhem, former killers and robbers gather regularly in a small room. Eyes closed, they sit silently with their thoughts and consciences.

The prison outside Birmingham has become the model for a meditation program that officials say helps inmates learn the self control and social skills they never got in the outside world.

"It works. We see a difference in the men and in the prison. It's calmer," he said of the course that about 10 percent of the prison's inmates have completed.

(READ the AP story in the Washington Post)