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Criminal Justice Program Teaches Inmates How to ‘Act’ |
| By
Rebecca Maggard |
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Mar 7, 2003 |
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| Amelia Castelli, a senior majoring in criminal justice, recently taught at the Toledo Correctional Institution. |
Teaching lawbreakers about theater to help them learn how to solve disputes without resorting to violence may sound strange, but a new program in the College of Health and Human Services is doing just that. The criminal justice department’s Prison Restorative Justice Project uses the arts, poetry, African-American history, parenting and conflict resolution tips to teach inmates at the Toledo Correctional Institution how to manage their anger and successfully mediate disputes.
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| Amelia Castelli paused a video about African-American history to talk to the class. |
In a joint effort between the department and the Toledo Correctional Institution, 13 criminal justice majors are teaching the weekly classes to more than 80 inmates. The Prison Restorative Justice Project is a branch of the institution’s department of rehabilitation and correction initiative on restorative justice.
Dr. Morris Jenkins, UT assistant professor of criminal justice, leads the program. Jenkins has spent much of his career working with troubled youths and adults on conflict resolution and mediation tactics. According to Jenkins, the art- and history-based classes are a unique approach to teaching inmates lessons on conflict resolution and anger management.
Jenkins adds the program is a win-win situation for the students as well as the inmates. “The students get significant firsthand experiences of the correctional environment — the population they will deal with in their careers — while enhancing their conflict resolution and mediation skills,” he explained. “The inmates have the opportunity to get programming from a fresh and enthusiastic venue, and possibly learn a little about art and history.”
The Prison Restorative Justice Project also is unique because it’s primarily student developed, initiated and evaluated, with oversight from faculty and prison administrators. The curriculum and training component of the program was created by a group of undergraduate criminal justice majors last summer. To determine the program’s effectiveness, the group has developed evaluation techniques that will be applied upon the program’s completion at the end of the semester.
According to Hugh Daley, deputy warden of special services at the Toledo Correctional Institution and the project’s co-founder, the program gives both student and inmate a new understanding of each other. “I want these men to be able to see people from a different perspective, and I hope the students see the men as human beings that have needs and wants. That is rehabilitation,” Daley said.
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