Prisons of the mind: Lessons learned from home confinement*

Abstract

As conservative political ideologies have shifted U.S. correctional policies toward a justice model orientation, efforts to escalate the “pains of imprisonment” have become increasingly prevalent. Although these attempts to enhance the punishing aspects of incarceration are primarily driven by political grandstanding and emotional appeal, it is not uncommon for today's postsecondary students to enter the classroom with punitive attitudes similarly based on rhetoric and emotion. Yet correctional students cannot be expected to develop an empathetic appreciation for the intrinsically punishing nature of confinement itself through traditional classroom techniques that rely exclusively on the cognitive dimensions of learning. In an effort to broaden personal perspectives on punishment by engaging the affective domain, students in an introductory corrections class participated in a simulated 48-hour confinement exercise. The intent was to enhance empathy for the intrinsic discomfort of imprisonment through experiential learning. The results not only point clearly in that direction, but also manifest parallels with the actual pains of confinement experienced by inmates in the real world.