Criminal Justice - University Of Pittsburgh
criminaljusticereformLesson PlanIn this lesson plan, your students willengage in powerful dialogue around theschool-to-prison pipeline.This toolkit includes artwork and atwo-day lesson plan with prep materialsto help you speak confidently andcourageously about these issues alongside tips for creating a Brave Space inorder to lead thoughtful discussions.In addition, you’ll find multipleextensions to dig deeper with yourstudents and grounding exercises tohelp create a healthy, honest, andrestorative educational space.
Thank Youfor bridging 6-12 classrooms and social change movements to inspire youth around the countryto lead social change in their communities! The Education Amplifier program is committed toamplifying the voices of social change movements through art and community engagement bycreating meaningful ways for educators and their students to join the national conversation.We achieve this by collaborating with artists and social change movements to create anddistribute teaching tools such as artwork, lesson plans, art builds, and storytelling opportunitiesto registered Amplifier educators for their classrooms. We hope that you will adapt and improveupon this lesson plan to meet the needs and age range of your group.The Education Amplifier program is proud to present you with a lesson plan developed incollaboration with We the Future youth icon and prison reform activist, Ismael Nazario, anddozens of formerly incarcerated youth, activists, and educators from the non-profit organization,Performing Statistics. In this lesson plan, your students will engage in powerful dialogue aroundthe school-to-prison pipeline. This toolkit includes artwork and a two-day lesson plan with prepmaterials to help you speak confidently and courageously about these issues alongside tips forcreating a Brave Space in order to lead thoughtful discussions. In addition, you’ll find multipleextensions to dig deeper with your students and grounding exercises to help create a healthy,honest, and restorative educational space.Ismael Nazario is a formerly incarcerated prison reform/social justice/human rights advocatecurrently working at The Fortune Society (TFS) where he initially worked within the I-CAN(Individualized Correction Achievement Network) program, helping those at high risk forrecidivism from Rikers reintegrate into society after their release. He is currently a DatabaseSystems Analyst within the IT Department at TFS. Before his work at TFS, Ismael worked at theCenter for Community Alternatives dealing with court involved youth. He became passionateabout helping young people and inspired to stand up for these disenfranchised voices. Ismael hasworked with numerous advocacy projects such as the Raise the Age campaign, Banning SolitaryConfinement, and Rikers Reform. In 2015, he was recognized for his contributions and receivedthe Peabody Award for Community Activism. Through his firsthand experience within thecriminal justice system, Ismael focuses his work on numerous social justice and human rightsinjustices, not only to shed light on these issues, but to encourage others to take action andbecome a part of the solution. Ismael is partnering with the We The Future campaign to connecthis story and advocacy to the work of other formerly incarcerated teens in the PerformingStatistics program.Performing Statistics, a project by ART 180 in partnership with RISE for youth, connectsincarcerated teens with an incredible group of artists, designers, educators, and Virginia’sleading policy advocates to transform the juvenile justice system. By working with incarceratedyouth to become creative and civic leaders in their communities Performing Statistics supportsRISE for Youth’s advocacy work to directly affect laws and public policy that affect theschool-to-prison pipeline.
Based in Richmond, Virginia, Performing Statistics,a project of ART 180, connects incarcerated teenswith artists, peer mentors, teachers, lawyers, andorganizers to create art and media-campaigns thatamplify and power juvenile justice reforms acrossthe city, state, and country.The work advocates to close prisons, pass laws,train law enforcement, and connect the dreamsand demands of incarcerated youth with tens ofthousands of people.what if we askedincarcerated youth tobe our teachers?What might we learnabout keepingour schools andcommunities SAFE,FREE, and WHOLE?And now you can take the work inside yourclassrooms!In the summer of 2018, a group of brave andbrilliant teenagers (14 - 17 years old), incarceratedin Richmond, Virginia, met for eight weeks atART 180’s Atlas teen art center as part of thePerforming Statistics program. We asked them:“If you were teaching a class on theschool-to-prison pipeline, what would youwant your students to learn? Feel?Be inspired to do?”We then connected the teens with a group of highschool and middle school teachers in Richmondand the surrounding counties to help transformtheir ideas into a powerful series of lesson plans.What you hold in your hands includes one of thoselesson plans as well as the teens art, stories, andcalls to action.Now it’s your turn. as you engage their lesson planand artwork, we hope you will listen, you will learn,and that, in whatever way makes sense to you, youtake action. As one teen says,“We’re behind the walls,let’s change the laws!”
Lesson Plan GoalsProvide free social justice tools to teachers: This lesson plan was created to help teacherseducate and inspire classroom conversations on the school-to-prison pipeline. The lesson planincludes artwork and a two-day lesson plan co-designed by incarcerated youth in thePerforming Statistics project in collaboration with high school and middle school teachers.The lesson plan is designed to take two class sessions, but also includes:Prep materials for educators to help you speak confidently and courageously about theseissues alongside tips for creating a Brave Space in order to lead thoughtful discussionsMultiple extensions to dig deeper with your studentsGrounding exercises to do with your students to help create healthy, honest, and restorativeeducational spaceShare powerful art made by youth in the juvenile justice system: Throughout the eight-weekprogram, teens at the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center worked with muralists, filmmakers,virtual reality designers, radio journalists, silk screen artists, photographers, hip-hop artists,and others to create the artwork you’ll find in this lesson plan.We have included high-tech and no-tech versions of their artwork, so that you and your students can engage their powerful artwork in any educational spaceSpark and support activism to dismantle the school-to-prison Pipeline: Communities acrossthe United States are fighting back against the policies that perpetuate the school-to-prisonpipeline. We hope that this lesson plan will help connect you and your students not only to theteens most impacted by this issues (incarcerated youth themselves), but also to local statisticsand advocacy efforts to dismantle the school-to-prison-pipeline.Target Audience for Lesson PlanMiddle and high school students, all settings: public school, private school, museum, or communityRationale Behind the Lesson planYouth incarceration and the school-to-prison pipeline are issues that affect every person in ourcommunities, but directly and disproportionately affect students of color and students with disabilities.This lesson plan addresses these issues while sharing tools that students can carry with them tounderstand and engage these critical issues in the classroom or community.We look to you, the teacher, as a facilitator. We hope this lesson plan can help you feel even morecomfortable to spark discussion, learn alongside students, and be inspired to take action together.The artwork included and the corresponding facts on the school-to-prison pipeline are important andpowerful, but the true learning takes place when teachers and students critically think about the issues,discuss how the school-to-prison pipeline affects students and their own communities, and decide howwe can all take steps towards change. This lesson plan is a cross disciplinary jumping off point whereteachers and students can choose which avenues to take through arts, writing, history, etc.
CreditsSummer 2018 youth participants:C (14 years old), Ch (17 years old), O (16 years old), S (16 years old), Sid (18 years old)Summer 2018 educators:Cluny Brown, Jessica Diaz, Stuart Harnsberger, Sarah Pedersen, Kim TolbertGuest Artists included in this lesson plan:Kate Deciccio (mobile murals)Catherine Komp (audio design)Mark Strandquist (photography, poetry)Studio Two Three (poster design support)Performing Statistics staff:Project Director: Trey HarttCreative Director: Mark StrandquistEngagement Director: Gina LylesPrep materials and initial framework for this lesson plan was co-designed byDr. Courtnie Wolfgang, Tesni Stephens, and the Performing Statistics staff.More information, artwork, and expanded lesson plan (this is just a portion of whatthe teens have created) can be found at our website: www.performingstatistics.orgGlossarycounter narrative:a system of laws, policies, and practices thatpush students out of school (through suspension,expulsion, or arrest) and onto a path towards thejuvenile and criminal justice system.Restorative justice:School-To-Prison Pipeline:Dominant narrative:stories and media that validate and amplify theinterests and ideologies of a society’s mostpowerful and influential social group(s).Decarceration:the act of eliminating incarceration as a tool forpublic safety, i.e., closing prisons, ending electronicmonitoring systems, etc.stories and media that validate and amplify thestories, belief systems, and future dreams ofthose who have been historically marginalized,oppressed, and kept from power and influence.is an approach to problem solving that stemsfrom indigenous practices and is based onrepairing harm (to all involved). Restorative justicedoesn’t ask what happened, by why did somethinghappen? When harm has been done (whether in aconversation, school fight, or criminal behavior)restorative justice connects wrongdoers, victimsand the community in efforts to heal the harm andput things right.
Module 1warm upLesson Plan:A) Warm-Up / IntroWelcome studentsGo over outline of dayCreate a Brave Space for conversationSince this lesson plan focuses on important and heavy topics, it is important that students feelboth comfortable asking questions and sharing experiences. Feel free to use the Creating BraveSpaces materials found on page 14 to help set the stage for your classroom conversation.Module 2Key ConceptsSchool-to-prison pipeline, youth incarceration,juvenile justice reformEssential QuestionsWhat is the school-to-prison pipeline? What isyouth incarceration? How does it affect me?How does it affect my community?Understanding the issuesWhy Prisons Don’t work (20-30 min)MaterialsPrintouts of juvenile justice statistics(see statistics below)If classroom has web access, use Youth Firstand ProPublica tools to identify local statistics(see links below)Writing utensils (pens/pencils)Blank paperObjectiveBy engaging research and statistics about the juvenile justice system (both locally and nationally) youand your students can understand the scale of an issue. As we combine research and statistics in thissection, with the personal stories of currently and formerly incarcerated teens in the next section, theteens’ powerful stories will be magnified, one struggle becomes part of the struggles of 50,000 otheryouth who are trapped in the juvenile justice system. One dream becomes a whole generation’s.
Lesson Plan:Ask students if they have heard of the school-to-prison-pipeline? What do they think it means?Pass out print outs of the research materials below to each studentHave students spend 5 minutes looking over the hand outsThen, going around the room, have students respond to the information:What statistics and information most stand out to them?How does this issue impact youth in their own school? In their own community?Create a list on the board of places, people, rules that contribute to the school-to-prisonpipeline in their own schools and communitiesWhat is the school-to-prison pipeline?The school-to-prison pipeline is a system of laws, policies, and practices that pushes students out ofschool and onto a path towards the juvenile and criminal justice system.In 2015, Virginia (where we work) referred more students to law enforcement than any state in thecountry and still suspends thousands of students each year for things like “insubordination,” “classroomdisruption,” and “walking away from or cursing at adults.” Even a ten-day suspension can set a child backfar enough educationally that staying on grade level becomes a challenge. When students are pushedout of school for weeks at a time, many fall too far behind, become too discouraged, and feel toodisconnected from school to return. In Virginia, unless a student has a disability, schools are notrequired to provide any educational services during suspensions.Separating young people from their education can lead to academic failure, school dropout, lowerself-esteem, substance abuse, and contact with the criminal justice system. Keeping youth engagedin relevant and supportive educational environments can keep our youth free, our communities safe,and our society whole.extensionWhat about myown community?If you have time, use this extension to work with your students to research juvenile justice issues inyour/their own community.State-by-state statistics about youth incarceration
Why Prisons Don’t Work!Because 1 child is too many, but 50,000 is an emergency:On any given day, America incarcerates nearly 50,000 youth within the juvenile justice system.Source: pBecause the system is unjust:African-American youth are 5 times more likely to be incarcerated than white youth, Native Americanyouth are 3.2 times more likely to be incarcerated than white youth, and Latino youth are 2 times morelikely to be incarcerated than white youth.Source: pBecause they cost too much.In 2017, Virginia, the state spent 214,207 to incarcerate one youth for one year in state prisons vs. 12,171 to educate one student.Source: 2017 Va JDD Data Resource GuideBecause isolation is not what our youth need.In 2016, 64% of committed youth in Virginia had a diagnosed mental health need.Source: 2017 Va JDD Data Resource GuideBecause prisons don’t prepare our youth to re-enter their communities, homes,and schools.74% of youth are reconvicted within three years. The stats don’t lie. Prisons don’t work: not for youth, notfor their families, not for our communities, and not for you.Source: 2017 Va JDD Data Resource GuideWhat do youth need to stay free?A 2014 John Jay Research and Evaluation brief looked at 3,523 juvenile justice involved youth and foundthat 86% remained arrest free while in a community-based program, and 93% were still living in theircommunities when their time in the program ended. Like all young people, youth in the system need support, peer mentors, programs to inspire and nurture their dreams, customized employment options, andavenues to creatively express themselves and imagine a more just future for us all.Source: eyondBars.pdfProPublica Based on civil rights data released by the U.S. Department of Education, ProPublica has built aninteractive database to examine racial disparities in educational opportunities and school discipline.This interactive map includes more than 96,000 schools and 17,000 districts: https://projects.propublica.org/miseducationYouth First Campaign Research your own state on this website to see how the juvenile justice system impacts youthin your own community: http://www.youthfirstinitiative.org/thefacts/
Module 3Building empathyJail Mail: Stories and Artwork by Youth inDetention (20-30 min)What do incarcerated youth want you to know about their lives? Their needs? Their dreams?Key ConceptsMaterialsEmpathy, Stereotypes, Counter NarrativesEssential QuestionsHow does youth incarceration and theschool-to-prison pipeline affect people’s lives?How do they feel? What stereotypes do I, or otherpeople, hold of incarcerated people? Why should Icare? What similarities and differences do I have tosomeone who may be incarcerated, or to thefamilies of those incarcerated?Printouts of Performing Statistics artwork,poems, and stories and their correspondingreflection questions (Refer to attached packetentitled “Performing Statistics#ArtAsEvidence”)Writing utensils (pens / pencils)Blank paperObjectiveUsing a series of reflection questions, students will engage the artwork, poems, videos, and audio piecesmade by incarcerated youth in the Performing Statistics project. Based on answers to those questions,students will discuss empathy, privilege and stereotypes, and prepare to propose solutions to theschool-to-prison pipeline.Lesson Plan:Frame the conversation: (3-5 minutes)Talk about how research and statistics (like the ones they just engaged) can provide a broadunderstanding of an issue but emphasize it is people’s stories that make those statisticscome to life, who humanize numbers, and bring issues “home” to our own lives, families,communities, and schools.Begin dialogue: (3-5 minutes)What are stereotypes?Work with students to define stereotypes and come up with examplesIt may be useful to ask; “what are some stereotypes about incarcerated youth?”What is wrong with stereotypes?They are:UntrueReductive/IncompleteHarmful
How do stereotypes connect to politics?Society makes laws based on stories they believeIf we hear the same stories about people, our laws will reflect those storiesThese stories are called DOMINANT NARRATIVES (see glossary for definition)If we create stories (through many art forms) that challenge, replace, and/or destroythose stereotypes with our own stories, we are creating COUNTER NARRATIVES(see glossary for definition).New stories that amplify people’s full humanity, needs, dreams, and demands can createthe foundation for more just and fair laws, policies, and institutionsShare Artwork / Spark Reflection: (7-10 minutes)Pass out prints of art projects made by incarcerated teens in the Performing Statisticsprogram (it’s ok if there are multiple copies of the same artwork)Art materials have been designed to function in classrooms with access to high levels oftechnology AND in those classrooms and workshop spaces that have no technology atall, see below for how different art pieces can be engaged by students with their eyes,with their phones, with your own computer, and more.After students each have an art piece on their desk, have students work individually,or in groups of 2-3Have students spend 5-7 minutes looking at their art piece and writing responses to thecorresponding reflection questionsShare Artwork / Spark Reflection: (7-10 minutes)Go around the room and have each student, or group of students, share:One solution (reinforce that the more personal and specific, the more powerful):to end the school-to-prison pipeline “in my school” “in my community”or one thing that youth need to stay free and out of the juvenile justice system?”As each student responds, write their answer on the boardKeep this list on the board, or document the list in some form that you canshare with studentsTeachers, if useful, can tell students something such as:“Tomorrow, we will each create a poster that demands one of these ideas.”#ArtAsEvidenceRefer to attached packet (entitled “Performing Statistics #ArtAsEvidence”)for art pieces and reflection questions
Module 4ActionFrom Art to Action: Challenging the schoolto-prison pipeline in Your Own Community!Key ConceptsUsing art and storytelling for social change,advocacy, and ed
criminal justice system, Ismael focuses his work on numerous social justice and human rights injustices, not only to shed light on these issues, but to encourage others to take action and become a part of the solution. Ismael is partnering with the We The Future campaign to connect
School of Criminal Justice Dis-tinguished Alumni Award from the University at Albany, State University of New York. The School of Criminal Justice has a well-regarded doctoral program in Criminal Justice. Professor Zalman is a graduate of this pro-gram. Each year, the School of Criminal Justice at the Univer-sity at Albany selects two alumni
Criminal Justice - CJ CJ 493 Undergraduate Research in Criminal Justice Faculty-guided undergraduate research in criminal justice. CJ 494 Criminal Justice Practicum Observation, participation, and study in selected criminal justice agencies. Economics - EC EC 332 Monetary Policy Analysis for Fed Challenge
US Department of Justice, World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington DC, 1993 MODULE 2 ASPECTS OF COMPARATIVE CRIMINAL POLICY. 6 Systems of Administration of Criminal Justice (Adversarial & Inquisitorial) . Perspectives on Criminal Justice Systems,
-Organized a panel on International Terrorism for criminal justice department, November 2012. -Advised junior students, from 2012 to present. -Member: Criminal Justice Faculty Search Committee 2013. Chair: Criminal Justice Methods Faculty Search Committee 2014. -Member: Criminal Justice General Faculty Search Committee 2014.
3. Articulate and defend differing views on contemporary criminal justice issues. 4. Analyze the sources of political influence over Criminal Justice Policy 5. Use a range of resources to research a contemporary issue in criminal justice 6. Apply criminal justice research methods to current issues in criminal justice Course Textbook:
begin an analysis of the entire criminal justice system by focusing on various decision making points. The Framework for Evidence-Based Decision Making in Local Criminal Justice Systems is being relied upon as efforts are focused on a comprehensive approach to achieving a fair, effective and efficient criminal justice system in Dutchess County.
Criminal Justice Information Project Catherine Plummer, SEARCH Pamela Scanlon, Automated Regional Justice Information System Laurie Smith, Kalamazoo Criminal Justice Council Integrated Justice Information System Institute (Integrated Justice Information Systems): Susan Bates, Justice Management Inc. Steve Mednick, Law Offices of Steven G.
Dr. Todd Bricker (Faculty, Criminal Justice; Ph.D. Michigan State University) Dr. Bobbie Ticknor (Faculty, Criminal Justice; Ph.D. University of Cincinnati) "We are committed to providing students with the most fulfilling program -Valdosta State Criminal Justice Program. The Docket Summer 2015 Issue.
