Barbers behind bars: Cutting hair prepares inmates for life outside

That was the decision the state granted yesterday after four inmates of Middleton Jail passed their first of three tests to become master barbers.

The shaving and haircutting skills allow inmates to use their shears and combs to make a good living upon their release, jail officials touted.

"This gives guys the opportunity to learn skills that they can translate into money upon their release," said Paul Fleming, spokesman for the Essex County Sheriff's Department, which operates the jail.

But for the inmates themselves, the skills have given them something they had been lacking when they entered the Route 62 correctional facility: confidence and something to be proud of.

"It's something I'm not proud of," Rivera said of the assault-and-battery charges that brought him to the jail.

He enjoyed cutting his friends' hair when he was younger and jumped at the chance offered by the jail.

"I should have done this a long time ago," Rivera said. "When I get out, I want to stay straight. Keep on with the barbering business and see how far I can go. I want to make my family proud. ... I want to prove (to my family) that I did something with myself while I was in here."

Francisco Jimeno, 23, also of Lawrence, is looking to move away from the drug offenses that brought him to the jail.

"I'm trying to better my life and get out of the streets. The institution gave me the opportunity to work here; I want to take advantage," Jimeno said.

Rivera, Jimeno and the two other inmates will also have to pass a written test with a score of at least 70. If they pass, the apprentice barbers will have to work under a master barber for 18 months before they are given another test to become master barbers themselves.

To take the test yesterday, the four inmates reached 1,000 hours of tonsorial lessons by their instructor, retired barber John Jacobson.

"Many of the guys came in without a trade," Jacobson said. "This is a stepping stone to really get out and earn some money in an honest way."

Jacobson, known as "Johnny" by the inmates, spends six hours a day, Monday through Friday, with the inmates. They cut hair and give shaves for other inmates at a bargain price of $3. Correctional officers and jail employees are not allowed to get haircuts from the inmates.

The school is housed on the second floor of one of the jail's buildings in what is known as the "The Voke," the jail's vocational program.

Zane Skerry, who oversees barber testing and licenses for the state Division of Professional Licensure, gave the test yesterday, as she does all the time here and at the four other state-run barber schools. The five schools are all affiliated with jails and prisons. Yesterday, she examined the haircuts and shaves given by the four pupils to other inmates.

Skerry has been a barber since the '70s, taking up the profession at the urging of her husband when her doctor told her she couldn't have any children and should find something else to do.

She wears the love of her trade on her sleeve, or on her arm to be exact. She has a tattoo of a barber's pole on her forearm with the words "True Love," which she showed to the inmates before the test to lighten the mood and ease their nerves. She is also the first woman to be inducted into the National Barbers Hall of Fame.

The haircut the four inmates have to give is a "tapered haircut," which is simple to perform with electric clippers. But electric clippers could only be used briefly for the hairline. Everything else had to be done with shears and a comb.

"If you know how to shear and comb tapering, then you can finish any haircut," Skerry said.

The four inmates begin cutting hair shortly after noon. As the cutting progressed, Skerry walked to each of the inmates and closely examined each head of hair being cut. She notices hair that still needs cutting, something the untrained eye cannot detect.

Skerry is demanding, but not punitive. After pointing out a mistake, she shows a better way to hold the comb and then gives the comb and shears back to the inmate so he can try. She explains she's tough because the master barber test is more strenuous.

After looking at the work of Christian Gonzalez, 30, of Lawrence, Skerry said his work is "close to perfection."

Gonzalez has been housed at the jail for a year and three months and will be released on Christmas Eve.

When he gets out, he hopes to work at a barber shop in Lawrence. His friends and family have been supportive of his career move and are eager to get a haircut from him.

Skerry said her office has given barber licenses to hundreds of former inmates in her almost 20 years with the state, and she has never received a single complaint about any of them.

"That's not to say they haven't done something, we just haven't found out about it," Skerry said.

Joseph DiSaronno, 34, of Lawrence doesn't want to mess up this opportunity he was given. He will be released in 11 days following a 14-month sentence for drunken driving and shoplifting.

"I realized I needed something to be different in my life; I needed a new direction," DiSaronno said. "The last place I thought I'd be was behind a barber's chair."

Photos

Four Middleton Jail inmates, including Francisco Jimeno, left, and Joe DiSaronno, both of Lawrence, spent 1,000 hours training to become barbers. The models are fellow inmates Richard Woodward of Lawrence, left, and Anthony Sideri of North Andover. Staff Photographer

Middleton Jail inmate Joe DiSaronno of Lawrence is tested on his shaving skills by Zane Skerry, the head of the State Division of Professional Licensure, and class teacher John Jacobson. DiSaronno�s model is fellow inmate Anthony Sideri of North Andover. Staff Photographer

Francisco Jimeno of Lawrence works on the hair of fellow inmate Richard Woodward of Lawrence. Staff Photographer