Who We Are

Criminon—meaning without crime—is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to criminal rehabilitation and reform. Criminon accomplishes its work through services that improve self-respect, relationship skills and break destructive habits, and provides basic life skills to people on probation, inmates and ex-offenders, enabling them to become ethical and productive members of their communities and lead better lives.

Through providing education and rehabilitation programs for inmates and ex-offenders, Criminon helps them to restore their own self-respect. Criminon utilizes the highly effective secular works of author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard to help inmates gain a new level of ability to study, to comprehend and to restore their integrity and pride.

The first Criminon program was established in New Zealand in 1972. In 1989, the program was implemented in prisons, juvenile detention centers, court facilities, and community organizations throughout the United States. Today, Criminon is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. In any given week, Criminon provides services to thousands of students internationally. A majority of these students participate in Criminon’s services through self-study programs.

Criminon accomplishes its purpose through the use of L. Ron Hubbard’s booklet, The Way to Happiness. This common-sense moral code is a non-religious guide for sensible behavior, showing an individual how to live happily and in harmony with his family, neighbors and fellow man. Through a program of study and drills centered around this booklet, Criminon rehabilitates the individual’s lost sense of responsibility for himself, his family, society and our environment.

Our societies have deteriorated in the latter half of the twentieth century. The moral standards in the home, schools and even religious institutions have likewise deteriorated. Today many grow to maturity without useful moral guidelines and succumb to the real pressures and temptations of modern society.

Mr. Hubbard wrote The Way to Happiness in 1981 in response to this need to educate people on the basic and simple moral values necessary to live a happy and productive life. Criminon believes that people are not born criminals. Through lack of education and belief, trust and respect in oneself, through lack of standards and guides, man turns to crime. To remedy this Mr. Hubbard set out 21 fundamental precepts or teachings by which one can chart his path.

Criminon students study the booklet as part of a self-study correspondence course or under the supervision of a Criminon staff member in a workshop or classroom, in accordance with the structure of the particular program.

They complete a series of practical exercises covering each precept, working with the Criminon staff as needed to get through the program. In the process of applying the precepts to his or her life, the student comes to understand how it was that his past behavior and that of others led to harm and learns that he is able to act successfully to improve his own life and the lives of those around him. Thus, the Criminon student comes to realize that he is capable of making correct moral choices and regains his own self-respect. The student comes to slough off his criminal outlook and adopt The Way to Happiness precepts as his own.

In this way, Criminon uses The Way to Happiness to re-establish and rehabilitate the individual.

Criminon does not require of its students that they accept or believe what they read – only that they understand and apply the material. It is the student’s own use of the information and seeing the results which brings about his personal realization and rehabilitation.

There are numerous factors which may have contributed to a person’s descent into criminality. Among these are lack of basic literacy skills, lack of skills for communication and relationships, and a lack of an knowing how do deal with those individuals and situations which cause severe stress and anti-survival pressures in one’s life. Oftentimes, such factors must be addressed in order to supply the individual with the tools he or she needs to attain stability in life.

Criminon programs incorporate handlings for these and other elements, using specific methodologies devised by L. Ron Hubbard to address such difficulties. The specific programs will vary according to the needs of the individual or the particular group situation in which the Criminon program is being administered. All Criminon programs use The Way to Happiness as their core element to restore a person’s self-respect.

No. The Way to Happiness is an extremely popular and needed booklet. Over 100 million copies of the booklet have been distributed through community and peace campaigns since the booklet was first published. It is used daily in schools, businesses, governments as well as by parents, children, teachers, former gang members and, in truth, by anyone who is looking for a moral compass as a guide through these troubled times.

Criminon uses The Way to Happiness in the field of criminal rehabilitation as well as crime prevention.

Criminon is an independently incorporated organization and is licensed to use Mr. Hubbard’s social betterment methodologies in the field of criminal rehabilitation and reform. Mr. Hubbard did extensive research in this field and we are privileged to have the license to utilize his findings.

Criminon programs are available to anyone regardless of their religion or belief systems.

Criminon is very happy to have the support of the Church of Scientology because, like many other religions, its members are very involved in community betterment programs and participate as volunteers.

Criminon is licensed by the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE), a non-profit corporation recognized as tax-exempt under the 501(c)(3) status of the Internal Revenue Code. ABLE works to ensure that the social betterment methodologies of Mr. Hubbard are standardly and properly applied in accordance with the licensing agreements for their use. ABLE also acts to ensure that social betterment corporations such as Criminon are provided with the compilations of Mr. Hubbard’s materials necessary for them to accomplish their social mission and to promote the benefits of Mr. Hubbard’s discoveries in these areas.

Criminon is not licensed to use and does not utilize the religious writings and technologies of Mr. Hubbard. It has the secular purpose of eradicating the scourge of crime that plagues and, often, terrorizes our societies.

The international headquarters for Criminon is located in Los Angeles, California. There are Criminon offices around the globe.

Anybody can apply to volunteer for Criminon. Volunteers can work from home, supervising inmates through the Criminon correspondence program through the mail. If you are interested, please contact us.

Contact Criminon International to find out how you can get involved and start a Criminon activity in your area.

To find out more about the Criminon program and what you can do to help handle the problem of crime and to rehabilitate and salvage criminals, please see our programs.

Anyone can apply to work with Criminon. There are opportunities for anyone who wants to bring true rehabilitation to the criminal justice system. In addition to Criminon staff, there are hundreds of volunteers around the world who contribute their time and energies to assist Criminon’s mission.

Activities range from supervising inmate prison correspondence courses to working directly with inmates in prisons, with youth in juvenile detention facilities, in community crime education and prevention programs, and in the administration of the Criminon organization itself.

Criminon provides specialized training for the administration of courses to inmates and other training as needed. Your help is welcome.

Contact us if you would like to get involved!