UWF bringing students to prison to study social justice issues
A new course at University of West Florida will introduce students to contemporary social justice issues by looking at policies with their new classmates, men from the Santa Rosa Correctional Institution.
The course, Contemporary Social Justice Issues, is part of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, which brings 15 UWF students and 13 incarcerated men to foster discussions on issues that not only affect students but those behind bars.
The class, held during the spring semester, meets every Friday and is led by Jennifer Brinkley, assistant professor of legal studies, and Nicole Niebuhr, assistant professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
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"I think sometimes they're easy to forget because they're locked away," Brinkley said. "But seeing these individuals, hearing from them and their own perspectives and their own experiences, I think shines a light on the importance of programming in prisons and helping with re-entry services or incarcerated individuals who are being released because they are part of our community while incarcerated. And certainly they will be a more present part of our community, a more visual part of our community, once they're released."
The original program started in 1995 when Lori Pompa, a professor in the Criminal Justice Department at Temple University, brought 15 students to a local correctional facility and engaged in a panel that discussed current social and political issues. When they were finished, it was suggested she turn the discussion into a semester-long class. So in 1997 she created the course, "The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program: Exploring Issues of Crime and Justice behind the Walls.”
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Brinkley and Niebuhr were able to teach their course after enduring an intense 40-hour course through the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, which is now an international educational program. The program is run by an advisory board that includes formerly incarcerated people who took the course during their time in prison who are now released and helping instruct.
Once at the facility the students have discussions on topics such as mass incarceration, reproductive justice, criminology, victimology and equal protection. At the end of the semester the students are broken into five different groups to look a ways to improve an area of the law such as juvenile justice or mental health through policy and legislation.
The entire experience is beneficial to the students and those incarcerated as it opens up discussions and helps the other keep informed on what is happening inside and out of prison. Brinkley brings up the quote from Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, which states "Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done."
"These are community members, even though they're somewhere behind a prison wall, they're still valuable members of our community," Brinkley said. "And to ignore that, I just think it really does a disservice. And so I'm really excited that UWF, the prison and the FDOC (the Florida Department of Corrections) were willing and able to give this program a shot because it's really a great educational opportunity for both inside and outside students."
For more information about the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, visit insideoutcenter.org
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: UWF, Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program teach students social justice
