Criminal justice: fact and fiction

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Criminal justice fact and fiction

• 13th Biennial Colloquium of Dominican Colleges
  and Universities
• 14 June 2014
• James Geistman, Patricia Schnapp, and Danielle
  Teunion-Smith

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Origins

• Gus Harrison Correctional Facility (Adrian, MI)
• Criminal justice presentation accompanied by
  short story
• 10 Siena Heights students (commuters) and 10
  inmates (residents)
• To date, it has been offered 6 times

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Sample Topics

• What is the criminal justice system?
• Rehabilitation vs. punishment
• Marital (or similar) relationships
• Religion behind bars
• Specialty courts
• Stalking
• Mental illness, criminality, and the brain
• Domestic violence
• Restorative justice
• Philosophy and criminal justice
• Juvenile justice

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residents

• Positive results
• High levels of engagement
• Critical thinking skills developed through
  reading and discussion of stories

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Marc

• Reading fiction is important, particularly for a
  criminal justice course because it enables
  discussions to be initiated and joined by the
  participants in the class on subjects that may be
  embarrassing, painful, or just uncomfortable
  because of the language. It could be due to past
  personal experience, or a lack of knowledge or
  experience, but some individuals find it too
  difficult to discuss painful, past experiences.
  Once a subject has been opened up as a fictional
  occurrence, then more personal beliefs,
  understandings or recollection of a painful
  situation can be brought up during the
  discussions.

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Choosing stories

• Considerations
• Fit the week's topic
• Criminogenic situation(s)
• Accessible
• Examine criminal thinking errors

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Criteria for successful programs

1. Challenge but not overwhelm students
2. Establish student-like atmosphere
3. Focus on humanities and social sciences

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Some Final comments

• The lessons and the people involved with this
  class were very helpful with their honesty,
  optimism, and sacrifice. Society is a team
  concept, and you win or lose with the team you
  play with.
• "I recognize certain traits and characters from
  the stories in the guys around me, and I begin to
  self examine to make sure I grow productively
  towards becoming a responsible, compassionate,
  successful adult male."

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Some Final comments

• The characters had to make decisions about what
  they should do and what to say next.
  Unfortunately, in these examples, they were
  usually not the right ones, and they suffered the
  consequences. Hopefully, by reading them one can
  recognize the thinking patterns before they too
  make similar mistakes.

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Some Final comments

• "My view on crime has changed. I want to be more
  of a positive factor in my community than a
  destroyer of my community."
• "I am in prison but prison is not in me."