Imagine learning about the Canadian criminal justice system from inside a prison. Next fall, Inside-Out, a new program offered at UTM, would allow students to do just that.
Inside-Out was founded at 1997 by Lori Pompa, a criminal justice professor at Temple University, and a select group of incarcerated individuals and students from Pennsylvania who had the common goal of studying crime, justice, and social issues that affect society at large. The program quickly spread to other Pennsylvania and out-of-state universities. Recently, it has started taking root in Canada.
According to its website, Inside-Out is built around the idea that “incarcerated men and women and college students might mutually benefit from studying crime, justice, and related social issues together as peers.”
Professor Simone Davis, development coordinator for Inside-Out and visiting English professor at U of T, has been involved in bringing the program to Canada. She has held information sessions about the program for faculty from universities in Ontario and Quebec, including U of T.
“One thing about Inside-Out in Canada is that it’s clear we want to move toward the collaborative design of a customized Canadian training — not only is the Canadian criminal justice system different from the U.S.’s, but both the challenges and the possibilities are distinct,” she said.
Davis added that the “think-tank” — comprised of Inside-Out alumni — that was just formed at the Grand Valley Institution, a federal prison for women in Kitchener, will ultimately be trained as trainers to help co-facilitate Canada-specific instructor trainings.
The Inside-Out program aims to help students in getting information about issues surrounding the criminal justice system. By interacting with real inmates, students are believed to gain a deeper understanding of the system and social issues surrounding crime, as well as the psyche of the inmates themselves.
The program also promises to benefit the “inside” students, as post-secondary education for those who are incarcerated. It contributes to helping those leaving prison to stay out of prison.
“Inside students and outside students both report experiencing these courses as transformative experiences — they really involve a kind of collective, student-owned learning process that revitalizes the educational experience, helps people see themselves as problem solvers and strategists, and gives people a new sense of community connection and accountability,” said Davis.
The program initiative also seems to be well received by other U of T faculty members.
“It’s a really exciting initiative, and the kind of thing that many of us should take as an inspiration in terms of really shifting our pedagogy and connecting with community in very substantive ways,” said professor Judith Taylor of the women and gender studies program.
An Inside-Out course that would be taught by professor Philip Goodman has been included in UTM’s fall 2012 calendar under the sociology department, but the course is still contingent on finding a partner institution.
