NCJ Number
175340
Journal
Journal of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Research Consortium Volume: 3 (August 1996) Issue: Dated: Pages: 123-133
Date Published
1996
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article describes the Oklahoma Department of Corrections' speak out programs as they evolved from and represented differences from the "Scared Straight" program.
Abstract
"Speak outs" are formally organized and planned encounters between prisoners and members of the public, either at a correctional institution associated with a tour or in settings where inmates travel outside the prison, wherein prisoners speak about their criminal past, life choices, and related topics with a primary motivation being to prevent the listeners from going to prison. The article describes the number of session participants, their demographic characteristics, physical locations of the speak outs, duration of the program, program format and structure, presentation themes and topics, styles of presentation, and types of recipient groups. There was strong support for the speak out programs within the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and at the institutional level. Benefits of the program--for the Department, inmates, institutional staff, recipient groups and the state--far outweighed program disadvantages or problems. Tables, references