NCJ Number
197854
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Education Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: Fall 2002 Pages: 463-478
Date Published
2002
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article recounts a learning experience in which correctional students were asked to simulate imprisonment in order to learn the intrinsically punishing nature of confinement.
Abstract
The author explains that America’s correctional policy paradigm has undergone a radical change as society has become increasingly impatient with the justice system’s ineffectiveness at decreasing crime rates. Public opinion has shifted to a more punitive model, which involves increasing the “distastefulness of imprisonment.” As such, more and more correctional students are entering college classrooms espousing this dominant, punitive ideology. The author thus sets out to develop a sense of empathy within students for the intrinsically punishing nature of confinement itself, even in the best prison environments. Students in an introductory corrections class were required to participate in a home confinement exercise for 48 hours. During this time they followed strict guidelines that mimicked life inside a prison. Such restrictions included no TV, stereo, computer, or CD; only three 20 minute trips to the kitchen per day at specific times; and no closing of the bathroom door at any time. The purpose of the exercise was to teach students through use of the affective domain, rather than the cognitive aspects of learning. The results showed that students exhibited many of the characteristics of people who are imprisoned. Students complained of boredom, anxiety, claustrophobia, and fatigue. Ninety percent of the students claimed that their views on punitive corrections had changed since the beginning of the course. The author suggests that future research should focus on to what extent particular attitudes were changed and how long such ideological shifts may last. References