Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program: A classroom behind bars

One day a week, eight UC students travel to the institution as part of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, where they and eight incarcerated individuals discuss criminal justice topics such as sentencing, parole, life after prison and recidivism in a classroom setting. 

“UC students are learning from people on the inside and the inside students are learning about diverse experiences, too,” says J.Z. Bennett, an assistant professor of criminal justice who incorporated the program into his Special Topics in Corrections class at UC in fall 2023 and will teach it again in fall 2024. 

Bennett earned his doctorate in criminal justice at Temple University (where the program originated in 1997) and incorporated the program at UC when he came on board at the School of Criminal Justice — within the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services — in 2022. 

In their midsemester reflection papers, UC students expressed an increase in comfort level with both the environment and the population over time. Like all visitors, they must pass through security checks, and a guard is placed inside the classroom located in the facilities’ education wing.

Third-year criminal justice major Shaun Sikanda writes that when he is physically inside the classroom having in-depth discussion with the incarcerated students, he doesn’t feel the difference in status. 

“I know that neither of us have more value than the other, but it can’t be forgotten how the inside students are perceived outside those gates,” Sikanda explains, adding that the exposure to the incarcerated students “has given me the opportunity to forget our differences.”

An inside student reflected, “I’m surprised that the outside students can arrive every Wednesday with a smile on their face.” He adds that the UC students comment on everything, “as if we were telling the most interesting stories, which makes all of the inside students feel a little more human.”

From both an academic and personal perspective, fourth-year criminal justice major Abby Stevens says, “It was very awe-inspiring to witness firsthand the drawbacks of our prison systems from every incarcerated person in class.”

Professor Bennett, Stevens says, “has really helped me with being in the mindset that people are more than their worst mistakes, and that the mistakes that have been made shouldn’t be what defines them.”

The program was also incorporated into the philosophy curriculum within the university’s College of Arts and Sciences in the spring 2023 semester and is being facilitated by Jacob Ebbs, a doctoral candidate in philosophy.

Ebbs, who was trained by Bennett, learned to facilitate the program while he was earning his master’s degree in criminal justice. His students travel to the Warren Correctional Institute, also in Lebanon, Ohio.

Both the UC students and the inside students have seemed particularly engaged this semester, says Ebbs. “Both groups have reported that the class has provided them unique learning opportunities that they otherwise would not have received.”

While the UC students earn degree credit, Bennett says they are working toward a way for inside students to earn a certification.

Featured illustration at top from iStockphoto/erhui1979.