Education in Prison

This week I met Dr.and Mrs. David Osterlund from Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Osterlund is employed by Columbia International University and has developed a program called the CIU Prison Initiative. Fifty-four inmates, felons, from twenty-six prisons applied to study for an Associate of Arts degree. Out of the fifty-four, thirty-two were selected to interview and from those, fifteen were chosen for the program. Part of the application process was for each inmate to write a 500 word statement of faith. You are probably thinking the same thing I was thinking when I heard this requirement; most everyone in prison gets religion when it suits them, but it turns out these men were for real. All fifteen inmates were transported from their incarceration sites to Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia where the two year program is being taught. They receive 70 credits over a 2 year period and the first group will graduate this December 12th.
The obvious question here was does this help with the recidivism rate? Do these men go on to lead productive lives once released; is this the goal? Funny thing is most of them are never getting out. One of them is serving three consecutive life sentences. All of them tested well over 100 on the I.Q. test which leads to another question; were they bored and turned to a life of crime or what could they have done if they had not?
When this group graduates they will move to other prisons to assist as men of peace, as chaplain assistants, evangelists or simply as providing a listening ear, therefore having a purpose in life for themselves or helping give another inmate a purpose. It has been shown, as Dr. Osterlund told me, that when these men go cell to cell to speak with other inmates, it has a calming peaceful effect on the entire block. A similar program was first tried at Angola in Louisiana under the leadership Warden Cane. Any of you John Grisham readers know all about Angola; remember The Chamber? It was shown in Angola, that when prisoners were meaningfully involved and lived out their faith, violence decreased 40%. Osterlund studied the program and the results stemming from the program and presented it to his superiors; thus the initiative was begun. Each semester four or five professors go to the prison and teach courses such as World History, Intro to Psychology, Field Education, Theology, Bible Survey, English, Speech and Math. As of today twelve of the fifteen inmates are on the Dean’s List which is not surprising given their I. Q’s and their focus. In August 2008 16 more men will begin another two year program. Of those that are being released I would like to know what happens to them, what they end up doing or if they are recidivist. I suppose this could be the rebirth of the rehabilitation model of prisons if it proves to be successful.

The Robins have made a mass appearance this past week. Huge flocks have descended to eat as many Carolina Cherry berries as they can hold. One obvious results of this is the lovely purple spots on our cars and the other is I think the berries make them tipsy. I have witnessed strange behavior such as flying into fences. I, for one, am glad they are here. It means fewer Carolina Cherry trees will germinate, every one that hits the ground grows, and the fewer that germinate the fewer we gardeners will have to pull up.