JUST COMMUNITY APPROACH TO CORRECTIONAL REHABILITATION A BREAKTHROUGH PROGRAM IN PENOLOGY (FROM OFFENDERS AND CORRECTIONS, 1978, BY DENIS SZABO AND SUSAN KATZENELSON - SEE NCJ-51581)

• NCJ Number: 51590
• Author(s): P SCHARF
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 18 pages
• Corporate Author: Praeger Publishers; American Soc of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A LONG TERM INTERVENTION EXPERIMENT WHICH USES COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT THEORY TO DEMOCRATICALLY REFORM A PRISON IS DESCRIBED. REVIEWS OF SIMILAR PROGRAMS ARE GIVEN AND A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION IS SUMMARIZED.

Abstract

THE FIRST PORTION OF THIS PAPER GIVES AN OVERVIEW OF KOHLBERG'S STAGES OF LEGAL PERSPECTIVE AND DISCUSSES THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ADVANCED STAGE OF LEGAL PERSPECTIVE FOR PERSONS IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY. A STUDY IS REVIEWED WHICH SHOWED THAT JUVENILE DELINQUENTS GENERALLY FUNCTION AT A LOWER STAGE OF MORAL REASONING THAN NONDELINQUENTS OF THE SAME AGE. IT IS HYPOTHESIZED THAT THE USUAL AUTHORITARIAN PRISON ENVIRONMENT ACTUALLY HINDERS ADVANCEMENT OF MORAL REASONING, RETARDING, RATHER THAN ADVANCING THE PERSON'S REHABILITATION. OSBORNE'S 1913-1916 EXPERIMENT, WHICH RESULTED IN THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF AUBURN AND SING SING PRISONS, IS DESCRIBED. A SIMILAR EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT WAS UNDERTAKEN IN A SINGLE COTTAGE AT THE NIANTIC, CONN., STATE FARM FOR WOMEN. THERE WAS A NEAR RIOT SITUATION AT THE INSTITUTION AND IT WAS FELT A CHANGE WAS NECESSARY. THIS EXPERIMENT SET UP INMATE COMMITTEES TO DRAW UP COTTAGE RULES AND INVOLVED INMATE COMMITTEES IN THE DISCIPLINE. THE COMMITTEE DECISION WAS REVIEWED BY THE CORRECTIONAL STAFF, BUT GENERALLY IT WAS NOT OVERTURNED. A TRANSCRIPT FROM A COTTAGE MEETING IS GIVEN TO ILLUSTRATE THE FUNCTIONING OF THE SYSTEM. A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION, CONSISTING OF 2-HOUR OPEN-ENDED INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED BY TRAINER INTERVIEWERS, SHOWED THAT INMATE ATTITUDES CONSIDERABLY IMPROVED IN THE EXPERIMENTAL COTTAGE. IN THE MODEL COTTAGE 75 PERCENT FELT THE RULES WERE JUST, COMPARED TO 33 PERCENT IN A CONTROL COTTAGE. MODEL COTTAGE RESIDENTS ALSO SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN MORAL REASONING LEVEL WHILE THE INMATES OF THE CONTROL COTTAGE REGRESSED TWO POINTS. AN EPILOGUE MOURNS THE FACT THAT SUCH EXPERIMENTS ARE SHORT-LIVED. MOST EXIST FOR 3-6 YEARS, THEN ARE REABSORBED INTO THE TRADITIONAL PRISON SYSTEM. TABLES PRESENT EVALUATION DATA. REFERENCES ARE APPENDED. (GLR)