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Actor's Gang: How Tim Robbins has cut reoffending rates

Kate Bissell

March 14, 2016 |

BBC |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

For many offenders, prison can be a tense, divisive, and anger-inducing environment, fueling the negative influences that landed them there in the first place and leading to high recidivism rates. Actor Tim Robbins - who once famously portrayed a prisoner himself - started a program called The Actors Gang to bring theater to inmates as an outlet for emotion and expression, breaking down barriers between former gang members and helping individuals to process their troubles.

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The San Francisco Jail That Started a School

Rob Waters

March 10, 2016 |

Bright Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

Five Keys Charter School, established in 2003, works in various California prisons to provide education and job training to inmates. Since its founding, Five Keys has awarded 684 high school diplomas to inmates in custody and 712 more to people who completed their coursework at a network of community sites scattered around San Francisco and Los Angeles.

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How to Get Out of Solitary — One Step at a Time

Maurice Chammah

January 07, 2016 |

The Marshall Project |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Alger, Michigan

New programs aim to ease inmates out of years of solitary confinement by passing them through different "stages," each with different behavioral requirements and rewards. It's an approach that allows inmates to gradually gain more control over their lives.

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Pa. state prisons transform mental health care, but is it working?

Daniel Simmons-Ritchie

November 06, 2015 |

PennLive |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

The Department of Corrections in PA pledged to transform care for mentally ill inmates. Its system of diversionary treatment has achieved some success but continues to face skepticism.

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Harvard's prestigious debate team loses to New York prison inmates

Lauren Gambino

October 07, 2015 |

The Guardian |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Cambridge, Massachusetts

The Bard prison initiative, in New York, allows inmates at correctional facilities to take liberal arts classes and improve their opportunities to find work upon release.

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Prison Without Punishment

Maurice Chammah

September 25, 2015 |

The Marshall Project |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Both incarceration and crime rates are low is Western Europe where the focus in prison is on rehabilitating prisoners so they can return to society. American leaders visited a prison in Germany to consider implementing certain aspects in the United States.

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When Prisons Need to Be More Like Nursing Homes

Maura Ewing

August 27, 2015 |

The Marshall Project |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The U.S. prison population is aging, which is costly because older inmates need more care. Some states have responded by creating special wards, having the young inmates care for the old, or building nursing homes.

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Can Prisons Reduce Recidivism by Inviting Victims of Crime to Talk to Prisoners?

Mark Obbie

July 19, 2015 |

Slate |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

A Houston man whose sister was murdered created a way to help his own pain and possibly foster more empathy and understanding among inmates. The restorative justice program, Bridges to Life, has grown to hundreds of volunteers throughout Texas, which includes crime victims who tell their stories and work with inmates to impress upon them the harm that their actions can inflict on others. The prisoners are encouraged to open up about their own lives with the idea that both groups will find healing.

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Putting Fewer Innocents Behind Bars

Tina Rosenberg

July 03, 2015 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Pre-trial detention for non-risk offenders has proven to be socially harmful, costly, and actually increases the crime rate. The Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative is a national program that aims to decrease pre-trial detentions based upon individual merit, and provides ways that a newly released offender can be surveilled, have mentoring, and receive treatment for mental health or substance abuse. The initiative has effectively helped to keep low-level offenders out of jail.

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Prison Born

Sarah Yager

July 01, 2015 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Bedford Hills, New York

More women are being incarcerated around the United States and that has spurred more institutions to create prison nurseries, which allow women to be with their newborns. It's not a new idea, but it's finding support among prison advocates as well as budget hawks because research shows nurseries can lower recidivism rates among mothers. The idea of children in prison remains controversial however.

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