For the American Prison Writing Archive, a 'Shadow Canon' Sheds Light

U.S. courts are offering war veterans who face jail time the choice of rehabilitation. This helps them adjust to civilian life and reduces repeat offences.

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.

For first-time youth criminal offenders, the traditional American jury falls short in encouraging behavioral change and may even set the juvenile on a course for repeated crimes. Washington, DC’s Youth Court is a jury that tries juveniles for minor non-violent offenses and offers peer pressure to prompt positive behavioral change. The DC Youth Court is one of many in the United States that reduces crime and future court costs.

Millions of families of arrested individuals do not know what to do to help, how to obtain a lawyer, or what the process entails in the court system. Created by Albert Cobarrubius Justice Project, participatory defense is a type of community organizing that teaches and empowers people who face criminal charges. Individuals know how to work with attorneys in order to navigate the system and ultimately feel equipped to become drivers of their own change.

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.

Inmates who get correctional education are less likely to become repeat offenders, but education costs money. An organization is funding educational opportunities for prisoners in various cities in the U.S. to improve their reentry into society.

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.

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.

A positive transformation in a Mississippi prison has become a focal point for a growing number of states rethinking the use of long-term isolation. Humanitarian groups have long argued that solitary confinement has devastating psychological effects, but a central driver in the recent shift is economics. Some officials have also been persuaded by research suggesting that isolation is vastly overused and that it does little to reduce overall prison violence.

Cabarrus County’s Project Re-entry gives those experiencing incarceration a chance at an education and self-reflection. The program has shown such success that it is being expanded to other detention centers in the county. Those who take part are able to take classes – all taught by volunteers – like literacy and religious studies, or choose to enroll in programs like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.