Suckage

Where have I been? Lost somewhere in limbo between teaching and the fun/craziness of summer research projects. I did take my class on a prison tour last week and that really reinforced and heightened my interest in continuing my work on institutional corrections. I saw two men being processed into the facility. One was at least 60 and looked calm and collected - one cell over was a petrified man no more than 20. He had tried to kill himself in the local jail the night before. One officer spoke poignantly about a young inmate who had killed himself the week prior and of a fight over stamps that quickly turned into a homicide. We need to continue to tell and examine these stories.

I really don't have anything else insightful to post, so here is a link to a great article in the New York Times on new strategies for working with parolees.

New Tack on Straying Parolees Offers a Hand Instead of Cuffs

The article has a number of great interactive features including interviews and a geographical display of revocation rates.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that my older son was quite worried about me taking my class to the prison. He asked - why are you taking your students to the place where they put people who make bad choices?