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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: February 3, 2006
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

CRMJ 363: Corrections

You will be held accountable for purposes of grading for the readings and exercises listed here. There will be no "testing." That means that you will not have to live in anxious anticipation of what we will ask and how much you will have to know. Instead, we will provide weekly discussion questions, lectures, essays, and concepts we feel that you should know as a result of having taken this course. You will assure us of that learning and receive your grade for the questions and concepts about which you choose to write and talk with us. In addition you will find detailed explanations and examples on our grading policies in the first week's reading.

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Week 4: Week of February 5, 2006

Newsflash!!! -- Friday, February 10th - Corrections Related Valentines due

JOIN the Yahoo Discussion Group with CSUDH students.

Topics: Realities of Prison Life


Preparatory Readings:

• Hassine. Life Without Parole. Chapters ---.
  
• Haas and Alpert. Dilemmas of Corrections. Chapter 11-15.
  
  

Lecture related links:

• Atrocious Advice from "Supernanny" by Alfie Kohn.
  
• Wisconsin Department of Corrections
• W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
  




Concepts to be covered:



• building tender (BT)
• target violence
• physical victimization, psychological victimization, economic victimization, economic victimization
• the Zimbardo Prison experiment
• role playing
• self-fulfilling prophecy
• W.I. Thomas' definition of the situation



Discussion Questions:



1. In Part 2, Interviews in the Hassine book, what is the most pressing problem in today's prison? Why.
2. If the prison experiment has failed miserably, then why do we keep building more prisons? Relate this to the readings as well as to "theory, policy, practice"?
3. Some believe that the history of corrections shows a continuous movement toward more humane treatment in prisons as society, in general, has progressed. What would Hassine say? Why. What is your view? Why.
4. Compare and contrast Hassine's book with the Haas and Alpert readings on "the realities of prison life."
5. Which came first -- the violent person creating the violent prison or prisons as violent environments creating the violent person (or creating a more violent person)? Why.



Suggested Creative Measures:




Note: All creative measures must be approved by the instructor before you begin. Email the instructor with your idea. Creative measures cannot be something that you are doing or have done for another course. No term papers. Start thinking about ideas for your creative measures. Must relate to "corrections." Research cannot be 100% online (i.e., google, askjeeves). Must conduct library research using scholarly works, (not the popular press -- Time Magazine, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated). Email me your ideas. Allow time to dialogue and present your creative measures.



• new Compare and contrast a series of prison movies (both old and new) with Hassine's Life Without Parole.
• If you enjoyed reading Hassine's Life Without Parole , you might be interested in other prison autobiographies/biographies: a) Jack Henry Abbott. In the Belly of the Beast. b) Leonard Peltier. Prison Writings. c) Eldridge Cleaver. Soul on Ice. d) Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Thirteenth Round. e) Jarvis Jay Masters. Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row, e) Mumia Abu-Jamal. Live from Death Row., f) The Autobiography of Malcolm X.



Recommended Readings:



• John Irwin. The Warehouse Prison.
• James Austin and John Irwin. It's About Time: America's Imprisonment Binge.
• Georg Rusche and Otto Kirchheimer. Punishment and Social Structure.
• David Rothman. Discovery of Asylum.
• Michel Foucault. Discipline and Punish
  
  
• Alfie Kohn. Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community.
• Alfie Kohn. Unconditional Parenting.
  
  

Course Syllabus for CRMJ/SOCA 363 (Corrections)

takata@uwp.edu