http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/12/prison.farmers/index.html
Here is a website that talks about the Florida Department of Corrections and how the inmates are becoming farmers 5 times a week. They go to the University of Florida Research and Education Center to water and harvest the crops that they have. The inmates get to keep what they harvest in return for their work. This has cut the cost of food that is needed for the inmates in prison, because they no longer have to order vegetables from other places. Having the inmates work on the farms helps them gain respect and work ethic, so those who are in prison for non-violent acts will be able to get out and find a job easier.
I think this is a great idea, because it is cheap labor and the inmates will be able to gain knowledge of farming and will be able to find jobs once they are released from prison. This also helps get the inmates out of the prison "world" and lets them have a chance to see what is outside the prison walls.
This program is excellent. Teaching the skills and values of a hard day's honest work is priceless experience that many prisoners would benefit from greatly, additionally the idea of incorporating the idea of a certificate for their work and education would be a great motivator for working harder and learning. The system of reaping what you sow is also very important. It helps to get rid of any previously established sense of entitlement ingrained into a prisoners head. The benefits are also pointed out as two-fold, not only are the prisoners benefiting, society is also, the combination of the 60,000 tax savings and healthy re-integration for the prisoners benefits society as well. It would be interesting to know more about the program especially considering the group behaviors we have been talking about in class regarding social loafing, group polarization, and conformity. I think that these kind of programs should be integrated into other entitlement based programs as well, like welfare. This would help not only with the financial burden, but to improve the attitudes of many and help them understand the true value and motivation behind a hard days work.
I also think this is an excellent idea for both the community and for the inmates. I think it is important that inmates be punished for their crimes but I also believe that not all inmates should be locked in their cells 23 hours a a day. Dont get me wrong I do think that some offenders that are dangerous to the staff and other inmates should be locked up but the other offenders that are not likely to hurt anyone else should be able to participate in activities like this. I think this is beneficial to the community because it is cheap labor and the inmates probably will enjoy it, therefore do good work. I think this is something that all prisons, if they have the necessary resources, should look into doing. I know that Angola prison in Louisianna has a golf course in which the prisoners help to maintain it. The course is even open to the public! I think this is also a very cool idea. Here is a link to an article that talks about the course.
http://www.225batonrouge.com/news/2007/may/31/prison-golf/
I also agree that this is an excellent idea. Upon reading this, I thought about the movie Shawshank Redemption and the idea of institutionalization. Institutionalization is the idea that prisoners become familiar and adapt to prison life and consider it normal. While in prison, it may not be all that bad to become "institutionalized" because it may make you feel more at home, but upon release from prison, it can cause big problems. In the movie Shawshank Redemption, an older character named Brooks was released from prison after spending nearly his entire life behind bars. Unable to essentially fit in to the outside world and adapt to freedom, Brooks committed suicide.
This example may be extreme, but regardless, institutionalization is a big issue. To me, this farming program is a great way to help prisoners feel "normal" and regain a sense of their life before imprisonment. This program allows them to get away from the prison and feel somewhat free.
Besides the potential impact of lessening the effects of institutionalization, this program allows prisoners to eat healthier. Before the program started, prisoners were eating vegetables from cans or were frozen. Because prisoners are allowed to eat the vegetables they grow and harvest, they are given the opportunity to eat more nutritiously.
This program also has great monetary rewards for society. As mentioned in the article, taxpayers benefit from this program because it cuts out the cost of buying vegetables as well as the transportation of these products to the prison.
Overall, this program is a win-win situation for everybody involved!
After reading this article I am amazed at how beneficial this program is and how helpful it is for everyone including prisoners and the prison system. The main benefit I noticed is the fact that prisoners are able to leave and enter past the prison walls. I'm sure this showed a large impact on institutionalization problems that prisoners face. Many long time prisoners suffer from institutionalization meaning they have adapted and become so used to the prison environment that they find it hard to live in public after they are released. Another benefit is obviously the amount of money saved since prisoners are growing their own food and I'm sure the inmates love the fact that their food is farm fresh! With the economy it is always a plus when prisons can save money and at the same time be rehabilitated. Farming will give prisoners a chance to do physical labor with their own hands, which is also an advantage to being rehabilitated. Keeping busy with work can be beneficial for inmates because they are not bored sitting around which can cause fights and riots because instead of being busy working they have time to scheme and plot with other inmates. It is obvious that this farming program helps the prison and prisoners. One struggle inmates deal with after release is finding a job that will financially support themselves and maybe even family, but having experience with farming can help newly released prisoners have a larger chance of being hired. Psychologically, an inmate may have more confidence and increased self-esteem from the fact that they are able to self-manage and grow their own food supply. On the law of things, prisons are once again saving money as well as creating a cheap rehabilitative program.
I think this is a smart thing to do. Gives the inmates the idea of what the other life feels like, they lived a life of crime, now they can see what a life of honest paid work is. Maybe some will even become farmers when they get out and change their life around.
I completely agree with this method that they are doing for these inmates. One thing that the public has to remember about a prisoner going to prison is that it isn't just about locking them, but about rehabilitation, and getting ready to put back into society and not commit any crimes again. I believe that what this prison in Florida is doing is great for the rehabilitating and giving them some work experience for when they are ready to join society. Also, this is a great way to get them out of the trouble they may cause while they are locked down and not out of ways of the prison. They don't have so my influences around them to be tempted to commit other crimes while locked away.
I went to another college before UNI, and at that college the local jail/prison would allow their inmates to landscape the college. They would do tasks like mow, or rake, and make sure the sidewalks were cleared or snow. I didn't feel threatened when I walked to class from my dorm or endanger because of the inmates that were around. They all were nice, and probably happy to not be behind bars or outside of the prison walls.
I think that there should be more of this type of work like what Florida is doing and the college I went to. They are doing what correctional places are suppose to do. They are getting them ready to be out in society and follow the laws to not be put back into the system.
I too agree with this being an excellent thing. Not only is it cost effective but it gives these inmates a feeling of accomplishment. I think when trying to rehabilitate criminals intergrating them back into society little by little is very good, and this seems like an excellent way to do it. Besides being cost effective it also has benefits of when they are released they will have had some sort of "job" and not lack all skills they once posessed.