Videotaping as a method of dialogue: A new teaching and research method in criminal justice

Abstract

The criminal justice system contains numerous barriers to personal communication between various persons involved, e.g., police and court officials, judges and prison officials, victims and offenders, students and agency personnel, etc. A recent effort by the Department of Criminal Justice, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, to overcome one such barrier deserves note. From January to March, 1972, Professors Sanford Sherizen and Bernard Dolnick (in cooperation with Gerald Tammaner, head of the Film Production Center) led an unusual proseminar in criminal justice. The course, “Issues and Corrections,” was distinctive in that it consisted of videotaped encounters between twenty-seven students and seven inmates of an Illinois penitentiary. The students, mainly seniors and graduate students in criminal justice, sociology and social work, had learned theories of corrections and other related topics as part of their previous studies. They were selected for participation in the seminar for their level of knowledge and their willingness to test theories with some practical applications. The inmates became participants in the seminar as a result of a discussion held between the professors and the warden. Once the warden’s permission was obtained for establishing the seminar, the chief administrative assistant in charge of rehabilitation was directed to investigate inmate participation. He asked a group of inmates who had been members of a voluntary inmate counseling group if they wished to participate. They quickly agreed. Since the inmates belonged to a group which had met once a week for over a year, they were able to participate immediately in the seminar as an established group. Students and inmates were made aware that prison officials would not be present during any taping sessions. The officials-agreed with the professors that the tapes would not be viewed by anyone other than the immediate seminar participants and that the officials would not be made aware of the contents of the seminar discussions except in the most general of terms. The only prison staff member present during the taping was the group counselor who had worked with the counseling group for a long period of time. He was not viewed as a major threat by the inmates and they accepted him as a cameraman.