Confinement and Corrections CJ203

Spring 2006

Extra Credit Opportunities Ardith Montgomery is the Teaching Assistant for Extra Credit Opportunities. Contact her by email for questions on the extra credit. Reaction Brief Based on Selected Books Ethics and Policy Brief on Issues Illustrated in Film Brief on Prison Visit Brief on Correctional Policy Based on Literature Review Community Service Experience Report Reaction Brief Based on Selected Books - 5 points toward final grade Read one of the following books and prepare an ethical and policy analysis report: * Early, P. (1992). The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison. New York: Bantam Books. * Humes, E. (1996). No Matter How Loud I shout: A Year in the Life of Juvenile Court. NY: Touchstone. * Lamb, W. (2003). Couldn’t Keep It To Myself: Testimonies from our Imprisoned Sisters. NY: Reagan Books. The report will be about 5 pages in length with a title page and an abstract. It will represent your interpretation of and response to the book from an ethics and policy perspective. It will not be a book report or a summary of the book. The report must be written in two parts. The first part is entitled "ethical issues". This part presents what you see as the major ethical issues illustrated in the book and your personal feelings about these ethical issues. The second part is entitled "policy issues" and presents what you believe are the most important recommendations for policy initiatives. Pay careful attention to grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Review your paper for editing before submission. All work submitted by you must be the result of your own thinking and composition, without input from others. Plagiarism is a serious offense and will never be tolerated. You must understand and apply the plagiarism policy . Policy Brief on Issues Illustrated in Film - 4 points toward exam grades Several films on controversial correctional topics will be shown in FA 110 during the free period (12:10 - 1:15) throughout the semester. For each film, students have the opportunity to earn 4 points toward exam grades by viewing the film and preparing a policy brief based on the issues presented in the film. The films show Mon and Wed (and some require Friday) and they will begin promptly. Students must be present to receive credit. Film extra credit 1: Prison Life, Prisonization, and Redemption based on The Shawshank Redemption The film is 2 hours and 22 minutes and requires three days to show – Mon, Wed, and Fri. The film depicts life in a 1940s prison set in Maine. Prisonization is the process of forming a life around the label of prisoner and becoming institutionalized. Discuss the personal characters portrayed in the film, the issues of prisonization, and redemption as you see them. Film extra credit 2: Ethics based on Quiz Show This film is 2 hours and 10 minutes in length and will take us beyond the free periods giving you only a few minutes to get to 1:30 classes. Based on the 50s van Doren quiz show scandal. Is it ever justifiable to lie and to cheat? How do different views of ethics compete when it comes to doing the right thing? Is cheating simply immoral or can it be morally justified? Prepare a brief on the ethical issues as you see them in this film. What would you have done? What are your views of the main characters and their choices? Can you label one or more as ethical or unethical? Include your reactions to these questions. Film extra credit 3: Prison Gangs based on Blood In, Blood Out The film is almost three hours in length, but certain scenes will be cut so that it can be shown in three days. The movie is based in part on the prison riots of the 1980s inside California Prisons, particularly San Quentin. It depicts gang wars in California prisons and the paths three cousins (Miklo, Cruz, and Paco) take in their lives. Gangs involved in the film are the Mexican Mafia, the Black Gorilla Family, and the Aryan Brotherhood. Write a reaction to the issues presented in the film, such as gang violence, loyalty, expectations of members, and the issue of blood in, blood out. Find additional information about the gangs. What should correctional systems do about gangs inside prisons? Film extra credit 4: Chain Gangs and Southern Prison Life based on I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang Running time for the film is 1 hour and 32 minutes. It is a classic film and the true story of an innocent man sentenced to a southern chain gang. The film led to important prison reforms. Did the brutal system turn the main character into a criminal? Should chain gangs exist today? How much oversight should prisons have by non prison authorities? Prepare a reaction brief on what you see as the most disturbing nature of the penal system as illustrated in the film. Film extra credit 5: Imprisonment and Prison Conditions based on Cool Hand Luke Running time for the film is 2 hours and 27 minutes and requires 3 sessions to show – Mon, Wed, and Fri. With Paul Newman, the story about a loner who cannot conform to the rules of prison and the chain gang. Discuss any issue that can be related to imprisonment today in a short brief. Film extra credit 6: Violence, Redemption, and Imprisonment based on Birdman of Alcatraz The film is 2 hours 22 minutes in length and requires three sessions for showing – Mon, Wed, and Fri. The true story of Robert Stroud, sentenced to prison for killing a man in 1909 and the sentenced to death for killing a prison guard at Leavenworth. This is the story about his life at Alcatraz and how he became an internationally recognized authority on birds. Should this accomplishment have been taken as reparation for the harms he caused? Should he have been released? Why or why not? Additionally rehabilitative programs did not exist at that time. Can the use of nontraditional programming, such as the use of animals be a productive tool for rehabilitation and prison management today? Brief on Eastern State Penitentiary Visit - 4 points toward exam grade Eastern State Penitentiary is one of the most famous American Prisons. It has great history for you to experience in person. This assignment involves your visit to the penitentiary where you will explore the various exhibits and participate in any tours you select. Prepare a short reaction brief about your experience. What was most interesting to you? Most alarming? What did you learn? Submit the paper and the dated ticket stub or receipt. The prison is closed for the winter and reopens at the start of April. This extra credit opportunity will be completed near the end of the semester. Students may substitute the Eastern State visit with a visit to any other jail or prison. Brief on Correctional Policy - 4 points toward exam grade For this assignment you will prepare a policy brief. This is a short paper (about 3 pages) which provides succinct information about a policy in corrections. The policy can involve sentencing issues or correctional practices. In their longer forms, policy briefs are useful for policy makers, planners, and researchers in the development and evaluation of policies. The briefs you write will prove useful in that they will highlight timely, important, and often controversial issues. The first task is to choose a policy issue for the brief. Go to my homepage under headings Private and Non Profit Research Agencies and Government Agencies and Organizations to search for policy ideas. Then gather at least two resources to use in your analysis. Part I: Describe the policy and place it in context. Provide quick facts (what is the policy, what groups does it involve, what is it designed to accomplish, how does it work). Then describe why this policy issue is important to analyze. Part II: Highlight the potential benefits (the good) of this policy and the potential harms (the bad) of this policy without detailing the merits of each argument. Briefly address ethical considerations, effectiveness of the policy, and unintended consequences of the policy. Community Service Experience Report- 8 points toward exam grade For this assignment you will volunteer in any capacity at a charitable organization, a hospital, nursing home, criminal justice agency, animal shelter, or other agency which I approve. Volunteer for at least 5 hours, provide a brief report of your experience and personal reaction, and agency verification that you performed the community service.

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