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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: March 30, 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.

* * * * *

Week 12: Week of April 2, 2006

Special Note: Friday, April 21st, beginning of class -- Absolute Final Deadline!!.

Topics: Special Populations


Preparatory Readings:



• Haas and Alpert. Dilemmas of Corrections. Chapters 13, 29-30.
• Documentaries: Voices from Inside and The Farm: Life Inside Angola Prison.
• Sachar. Holes. Chapters 27-36.
  
  -----If you have read Holes already, read one of the following:
  ----------Louis Sachar. Small Steps (the sequel to Holes.)
  ----------Will Hobbs. Downriver. and the sequel, River Thunder.
  ----------Walter Myers. Monster.
  ----------Walter Myers. Shooter.
  ----------Walter Myers. Dream Bearer.
  ----------Carl Hiaasen. Hoot.
  ----------Christopher Curtis. Bud, Not Buddy.
  ----------or another book focusing on juvenile corrections with the instructor's approval.
  
  
• Hassine. Life Without Parole. entirety.
  
  
  

Deadlines/Dates:



• Friday, April 21st, beginning of class (central time) -- The Final Absolute Deadline (completion of all creative measures)
• Friday, May 5th - Last Day of Class




Lecture related links:



• Incarceration and H.I.V.
  
• The Problem with Incarcerating Mothers
  
  

• Make a Globe (Origami Balloon). Decorate and share your decorated globe/balloon in class.

• National Institute of Corrections A resource on jails and local detention.
  
• Convicts and Cops A resource on prison tatoos, prison slang terminology, and more!
  
• National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Administered by the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
  
• Maricopa County Sheriff's Office - Jail Link. Link found by Mary Frances Chachula.
  
• Wisconsin Department of Corrections




Concepts to be covered:



• the female prisoner
• the mentally ill prisoner
• the elderly prisoner
• the HIV-positive prisoner



Discussion Questions:



Be sure incorporate the documentaries, "Voice from Inside" and "The Farm" into your answers.



1. What are some unique problems and challenges when dealing with the HIV-positive prisoner? Why. As a follow-up, what might be some solutions to this particular challenge? Why.
2. With more and more inmates imprisoned for life, what are the major problems of the elderly prisoner? Why. And, how would such problems be addressed? Why.
3. Based on "Voices from Inside" and other related materials, what is the most pressing problem for female prisoners? Why. What are some possible solutions? Why.
4. The mentally ill prisoners presents prison administrators and staff some of the most challenging issues in today's prison. What are these challenges and their solutions? Why.
5. Imagine a combinations of the above characteristics. If you were a prison warden, what would you do to address this combination? 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.



• Research "what works?" for one of the special populations discussed in class (i.e., the HIV-positive prisoner, the elderly prisoner, the female prisoner, the mentally ill prisoner). In other words, what are today's most successful programs for this special population? Why.
• Research the latest developments in today's geriatric prisons.
• Research the unique problems of the incarcerated mother or the incarcerated father.
• Recommended readings on female prisoners:
  -- Wally Lamb. Couldn't Keep it to Myself: Wally Lamb and the Women of York Correctional Institution.
  -- Jennifer Gonnerman. Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett.
  -- Sandra Enos. Mothering from Inside.
  -- Bell Gale Chevigny (ed.) . Harsh Punishment: International Experiences of Women's Imprisonment.
  -- Lori Girshick. No Safe Haven: Stories of Women in Prison.
  -- Kathleen O'Shea. Women on the Row: Revelations from Both Sides of the Bars.
  
  
• If you liked Sachar's Holes, you might want to read:
  --- Carl Hiaasen. Flush.
  --- Margaret Peterson Haddix. Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey!
  --- Eoin Colfer. Artemis Fowl .
  --- Kimberly Holt. When Zachary Beaver Came to Town.
  
  

• Make A Box a Week reflecting on the week's correctional issues.
  
• 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:



• Ronald Aday. Aging Prisoners: Crisis in American Corrections.
• Harris/Miller. Impact of Incarceration on African American Families.
• Seymour/Hairston. Children with Parents in Prison.
  
  
• John Irwin. The Warehouse Prison.
  
• John Irwin. The Imprisonment Binge.
  
  
• Alfie Kohn. Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community.
• Alfie Kohn. Unconditional Parenting.
  
  

Course Syllabus for CRMJ/SOCA 363 (Corrections)

takata@uwp.edu