Monday, September 28, 2009

Educational Perspective

First, I want to begin by saying I had an amazing time tutoring at the prison, I am so encouraged and enthused from just one tutoring session that I’m positive this internship is going to be an amazing experience. I think more than anything there were several things that I learned from the prisoners I tutored that really sparked and interest for me to research, and talk about.
I’ve only been to one other prison in my life, a much smaller prison in my home state. Walking into a prison is an extremely unique experience, and being immersed into prison life is extraordinary. Walking into a prison is like walking into a time warp, everything stops, the world around you seems to come to a complete halt, the walls seems to fade, and you almost put yourself in trance. Walking from room to cage to room to cage, lock, lock, lock. There is no movement that is not monitored, it seems like every step I take is recorded and logged deep within the tiles that I step on. As I began to think about the immensity of the footsteps, how many steps forward actually were steps backward, because each step forward was a loss of time. How many lives were halted, family connections lost, and lives forgotten behind the medal bars of Auburn?
The Auburn state prison has a very interesting history, and has been one of the leading prison institutions for change in the prison system throughout history. The Auburn Correctional Facility was the United States first prison ever built, in 1817. As the prison system has changed over time, Auburn has been a leading agent in change and reform within the prison system. In the State of New York, Auburn prison was the first prison to use capital punishment for harsher crimes. The Auburn Prison continued this reputation of change; with being one of the first prisons in the United States and New York State to make an active effort in changing to prison for rehabilitation.
In fact, when tutoring the prisoners the immensity of Auburn prisons reform system, and the effects is has had in the inmates life is extraordinary. For example, there were two inmates that I tutoring last session. There was an older inmate in his mid 40s, and a younger inmate he was 19 (the youngest in the prison). They had formed this bond, like a father and son in a sense. As we were reviewing countless algebraic equations, math word problems, I began to get to know the inmates a little better. The elder prisoner began to tell me about the prison educational system. He stated that every prisoner under the age of 65 is required by the State of New York to take educational classes. There are three levels of classes for prisoners to take. Every prisoner willing takes a placement test that places them in one of the three levels. The first level is for inmates who score lower then a high school level overall, and they take classes, and have independent study within their cells, etc. Then there is the intermediate level, where inmates are studying for their GEDs (which is where my tutoring sessions fit in), and then if inmates achieve their GEDs and they have the option of getting a college degree, in the third level.
He also talked about the “Box Prisons.” If at any time while in prison a prisoner gets in trouble they can be sent to solitary confinement prison. In this prison inmates are allowed to test for their levels. While in box prison inmates are confided to their cell for 23 hours a day and are let out one hour a day. Even though these conditions may seem extreme, these prisoners are being punished for committing crimes while in prison. But even while being punished prisoners are offered the opportunity to better themselves and grow. While in solitary confinement they have cell-to-cell teaching, where a tutor where a tutor will bring a study book to each cell, and if the prisoners have questions they can write the tutor and the tutor will write back to the prisoner. This may not seem like the best learning atmosphere, but for inmates the opportunity is immense. The older inmate told me “your locked up for23 hours a day what else is there to do but study your book?” He said from being in solitary confinement he studied enough to be able to pass the GED placement test and be placed in the GED course. What was so astonishing to me was the number of inmates who don’t take advantage of these opportunities. The elder inmates states that out of all of the prisoners in the Auburn prison system only six opted to take the GED placement test when he took it, and out of those six only three passed the test; even though every prisoner was offered the opportunity. This brings me back to my question of rehabilitation… the prison offers rehabilitation; but just like in the public school systems and in universities; everyone is offered an opportunity but not everyone grasps the importance of that opportunity. Just sitting and listening to these two inmates talk about life and their perspectives. This elder inmate in his 40s has been in prison for 12 years already and in year twelve after being placed in solitary confinement he is taking the steps to make a change in his life. As the 19 year old sat and listened he tuned out half way through the tutoring session, and didn’t care anymore. Here his is sitting with help in front of him, but he isn’t listening, he doesn’t care….

What does that mean?

Sites to look at:
· http://www.insideprison.com/auburn-correctional-facility.asp
· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auburn_Correctional_Facility
· http://www.co.cayuga.ny.us/history/cayugahistory/prison.html -history
· http://media.www.dailyorange.com/media/storage/paper522/news/2007/03/02/Feature/Perp-School.Su.Students.Give.Inmates.At.Auburn.Correctional.Facility.Second.Chan-2753467.shtml

Monday, September 21, 2009

What is Justice?
I am currently an undergraduate at Syracuse University, and this semester I will be doing an internship with the Writing Program, at Auburn State Prison. In this internship I will be tutoring inmates to get their GEDs. I am extremely excited about this opportunity and hope to learn and grow immensely through this experience. I am truly interested and intrigued by the prison system, and having a better understanding on how prison, and the rehabilitation process works. Rehabilitation is the reason for the prison system; a crime is committed, a person is convicted, and then punished, and during punishment rehabilitation should occur to ensure a successful re-entry into society. So why not become an active ingredient in the actual rehabilitation process? I figured the best way to learn about rehabilitation is being a part of rehabilitation. Programs such as these foster a foundation for successful re-entry back into society for the prisoners, and serve as a means of monitoring growth and a strive to be better on the prisoners part. That is what reform is all about.

The idea of reform within the prison system has been a rollercoaster of punishment versus supervision versus rehabilitation; the debate is ongoing, and there has yet to be definitive evidence to support either technique and or its positive and negative effects of society. In the beginning of the prison system in the US, prisons and punishment mirrored English punishment. In England, prisons were used as a place to house and monitor prisoners until there sentence was served. There were no efforts to reform or provide opportunity to encourage a positive change in prisoners; this continued until the fifteenth century. During the next four centuries the prison system began to take a major turn, and prison became a form of punishment, and not a place to house criminals. Different forms of punishment began to be instated; ideas such as capital punishment for harsher crimes such as murder became more effective within the prison systems during this time. Even though the prison system began to have a more directed form of punishment the new issue was can or does prison serve as an institution to deter criminals? It was during these centuries of reform that the criminal justice system was confronted with the question of being proactive or reactive? Going into the 18th and 19th centuries prisons really took a turn for reform; the idea of rehabilitation first sprang up and making proactive approaches to deterring prisoners from going into prison began. This is an amazing concept, and the reason why I am itching to join the legal system. (Barrows)

Rehabilitation began in the 18th and 19th century but it hasn’t continued to evolve into a positive rehabilitation program today. If the goal the prison system is to rehabilitate encourages a successful re-entry into society why has the re-incarceration/ recidivism rates continued to sky rocket?

In fact the Bureau of Justice states that:

Recidivism
  • Of the 272,111 persons released from prisons in 15 States in 1994, an estimated 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years, 46.9% were reconvicted, and 25.4% resentenced to prison for a new crime.
  • The 272,111 offenders discharged in 1994 accounted for nearly 4,877,000 arrest charges over their recorded careers.
  • Within 3 years of release, 2.5% of released rapists were rearrested for another rape, and 1.2% of those who had served time for homicide were arrested for a new homicide.
  • Sex offenders were less likely than non-sex offenders to be rearrested for any offense –– 43 percent of sex offenders versus 68 percent of non-sex offenders.
  • Sex offenders were about four times more likely than non-sex offenders to be arrested for another sex crime after their discharge from prison –– 5.3 percent of sex offenders versus 1.3 percent of non-sex offenders.
    (Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics)


Why two centuries after a reform to rehabilitate are 67.5% or inmates being re-incarcerated? There is a need to discover the reasons why re-incarceration rates are so vast. Are programs such as the one I’m participating in deterring inmates from becoming re0incarcerated when they go back into society? Does a GED or a college education for an inmate truly make a difference when they re-enter society? I think that rehabilitation is needed in all prisons, and every person should have a second chance. But if the legal system gives inmates a second chance… will society ever? These are questions I hope to answer through my experience in the prison this semester and through personal research. I believe reform is needed within the legal system, the prison system, and society. The question is how and when are we going to make that change?


Other articles to consider:
1. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/200808/when-crime-rates-go-down-recidivism-rates-go
2. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/200808/when-crime-rates-go-down-recidivism-rates-go
3. http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc09/htm/iv.v.xviii.htm
4. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/soc/prison.html

Work Cited:

Barrows, Samuel. "Prison Reform". Christian Classics Ethereal Library . September 20, 2009 http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc09/htm/iv.v.xviii.htm.

Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, "Criminal Offenders Statistics". Bureau of Justice Statistics. September 21, 2009 http://www.ojp.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm.