Chapter Activities

Activity 1:

Correctional Management Scenario

In this activity, students will apply one of the three management techniques described in the text to an ongoing inmate situation that shows all signs of precipitating a riot.

Setting:

The prison is a medium-security facility housing inmates with an average sentence of 10–15 years. Approximately 35% have a history of violent crimes. The facility is patrolled externally by armed perimeter guards who walk along the razor wired fence or sit in the towers overlooking the yard, while others drive armored vehicles around the exterior to deter escape. Inside the prison, correctional officers use a mix of intimidation and inmate-balance techniques to manage the inmate population. Recently, the inmates have had their recreational privileges limited because of recurrent fighting between A block and C block inmates.

Scenario:

On a Tuesday afternoon, several inmates in A block began acting suspiciously and tensions between correctional officers and inmates were high. Also, many asked for additional rolls of toilet paper and complained that their commissary orders were incorrect, seven filed requests to see the medical personnel, and correctional officers found contraband (including two shanks) in the random search performed the day before. Further, 2 months ago, two correctional officers were placed on administrative leave for bringing in contraband food and drugs.

Reaction:

Working independently or in groups, instruct students to devise a plan for correctional management to address the current situation in the prison. Drawing on the material presented in the text, which management strategy (or strategies) should be the basis for the plan: authoritarian, bureaucratic, or participative? Provide a 5-point response plan for addressing the scenario described above to reduce tensions and ameliorate risk. Offer support for each choice in management strategy by referencing material presented in the text. Students will share their plans with the class to facilitate discussion.

Activity 2:

Diversity in the Correctional Workforce

This in-class writing activity serves to prompt discussion on the topic of diversity among the correctional workforce. Have students review the following statistics from the Bureau of Prisons (BOP):

Staff Statistics:

https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_staff_ethnicity_race.jsp

https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_staff_gender.jsp

Inmate Statistics:

https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_ethnicity.jsp

https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_race.jsp

https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_gender.jsp

Take 2 min for students to write responses to the following prompts:

  • What questions do you have about the statistics?
  • What about these data are challenging, frustrating, or intriguing?
  • What are three challenges you could imagine the demographic distribution of inmates and correctional staff could pose to successful inmate management?
  • How could the BOP and other corrections agencies improve diversity in their workforce?

Activity 3:

Access to Dental Care

Provide students with the Estelle v. Gamble case (https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/429/97/) and the Huffington Post article on dental care in the Bureau of Prisons (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/christopher-zoukis/dental-care-in-the-federa_b_7805102.html).

In this activity, students will write a 1-min paper to address the following:

  1. What is the main point of these resources?
  2. What is one thing that is not clear given the Estelle v. Gamble ruling and how the BOP handles dental care?
  3. How could correctional agencies meet the standard set in Estelle v. Gamble?

Activity 4:

Designing Prison Programming

In this activity, students will design a schedule for prison programming. The plan should include comprehensive access to a variety of programs to address diverse inmate needs. Additional considerations to be included are frequency, time of day, complimentary programming, and skills necessary for successful reentry. Programs could address education, vocational training, substance abuse treatment, sex offender treatment, cognitive behavioral therapy, violence prevention, and parenting.

Program

Class Schedule/Time

Need Met

Ex. GED

8 a.m.–10 a.m.; MWF

High school diploma equivalency

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As an added activity, have students discuss their programming schedules with one or two other students to assess coverage for diverse inmate needs. Allow students to make changes to their schedules and ask students to describe how their program schedule addresses elements essential to reentry.