Abstract

The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program unites college students and incarcerated individuals for semester-long courses. The present study assessed the association between Inside-Out participation and perceptions of incarcerated populations, as well as criminal justice activism. Specifically, we compared Inside-Out participants to students who submitted a request to enroll in Inside-Out but ultimately did not participate, and students who neither participated nor requested enrollment, on: empathy, social closeness and similarity to incarcerated individuals, and criminal justice activism importance and confidence. Inside-Out students expressed greater affective, but not cognitive, empathy, and felt closer and more similar to the incarcerated, compared to their non-participating peers. Inside-Out students and those who requested enrollment did not differ in activism. Both groups scored higher than students who neither participated nor requested enrollment. Present findings demonstrate that empathy and social connectedness towards incarcerated populations are uniquely associated with Inside-Out Program participation, not simply an interest in its curriculum.

摘要

由内而外的监狱交流计划将大学生和被监禁的人联合起来进行为期一学期的课程。本研究评估了由内而外的参与与被监禁人口的看法以及刑事司法激进主义之间的关联。具体来说，我们将 Inside-Out 参与者与提交了 Inside-Out 入学申请但最终没有参加的学生，以及既没有参加也没有申请入学的学生在以下方面进行了比较：同理心、与被监禁者的社会亲密度和相似性，以及刑事司法行动主义的重要性和信心。与未参与的同龄人相比，由内而外的学生表达了更大的情感，但不是认知、同理心，并且感觉与被监禁的人更接近、更相似。由内而外的学生和那些要求入学的学生在激进主义方面没有不同。两组的得分都高于既不参加也不要求入学的学生。目前的研究结果表明，对被监禁人口的同理心和社会联系与由内而外的计划参与独特相关，而不仅仅是对其课程的兴趣。