Unlocking Minds in Lockup: Prison Education Opens Doors - Softcover

Walker, Jan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0990310256 ISBN 13: 9780990310259

Publisher: Plicata Press, 2015

Synopsis

Reads Like a Memoir ... Works Like a Training Manual.In Unlocking Minds in Lockup Jan Walker candidly describes her reactions to prison realities, belief in education as a door-opener for offenders and their responses to the programs she developed and taught. She gives readers an honest look at the rhythms of working inside, seeing inmates as students, and helping them prepare for reentry to society. Through the years she confronted negative attitudes and behaviors with honesty and options for even those who committed the most serious crimes to change their lives through critical thinking, open discussion in class and reaching out to their families and communities. Unlocking Minds in Lockup answers the nationwide call for criminal justice reform with an inside view of prison education making a difference. Mass incarceration led to over 2 million adults inside prison. Current cost to taxpayers is estimated at over $70 Billion dollars per year. The reader is invited to step inside adult men's and women's prison classrooms to see and hear incarcerated students work to change their attitudes, behaviors and choices. There are 2.7 million children in the US with a parent in prison and millions more with a parent under court supervision. The best way to stop the incarceration cycle in families is through educating adults inside prison now and preparing them to return to their families and communities as productive citizens.

About this title

From the Author:

When I first stepped inside a prison to teach adult offenders I'd never met anyone who worked inside, never known anyone sentenced to do time and never given prison inmates much thought. That made me a rather typical American. The success of criminal justice reform in this country will be dependent on the availability of prison education programs and preparation for reentering society. The stated purpose of prison is to punish offenders for crimes committed, deter them from further criminal activity and rehabilitate or reform them through education, skill development, counseling and time.Mandatory minimum sentencing laws increased the time spent inside and reduced education and job training programs, and reentry preparation.  Taxpayers are spending almost $80 Billion dollars per year to keep 2.2 million men and women in prison. How much time is enough?I taught inside adult women's and prisons for 18 years and volunteered inside a women's reentry prison for several years after retiring. Let me tell you about time. I spent several hours a day in classrooms filled with students who also happened to be convicted felons. Because I chose to see them as students, I saw their humanity, their willingness to accept responsibility for the choices they had made, and their determination to change. They worked to make that change by increasing their education levels, working jobs available, and following rules.Some begged to repeat some classes because the lecture/discussion format gave them an opportunity to practice the critical thinking skills they'd gained in earlier renditions of the class. The topics of discussion covered vast landscapes and mattered less than the work of listening to several opinions,thinking through their individual beliefs, examining their personal experiences and positing new theories.Of course there were challenges. Some students clearly suffered personality disorders.Many had been victims of abuse or neglect long before they became incarcerated felons. As the shift lieutenant with whom I often sparred said, "They're not here for singing too loud in the church choir." Why they were there was their concern, and the concern of corrections personnel. I provided access to information,tools for change and encouragement to use all that education offered them. I confronted when necessary, cajoled when it seemed worthwhile and wrote incident reports when classroom behavior made it necessary.Most of my former students have returned to productive lives. They are among the 650,000 who release every year. Fortunately for them and for society, they were able to choose education programs while they were inside.

From the Back Cover:

Step Inside Prison Classrooms Where Convicted Felons Work to Change Their Lives.Unlocking Minds in Lockup answers the nationwide call for criminal justice reform with an inside view of prison education making a difference. Mass incarceration led to over 2 million adults inside prison.Jan Walker candidly describes her belief in education as a door opener for offenders. She gives readers an honest look at the rhythms of working inside, seeing inmates as students, and helping them prepare for reentry to society. Through the years she confronted negative attitudes and behaviors with honesty and options for even those who committed the most serious crimes to change their lives through critical thinking, open discussion in class and reaching out to their families and communities.

About this edition

• Publisher: Plicata Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0990310256
• ISBN 13: 9780990310259
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272