Abstract

This article outlines an evaluation of a student-volunteer program at a corrections facility in Aotearoa New Zealand. The aim of the volunteer program was to offer students the opportunity to think critically on the criminal justice system and to give back to the community. This article explores the volunteering project evaluation in terms of the potentials and limitations of service-learning initiatives and unpacks the implications for teaching sociological criminology. While learning in a community setting is a powerful tool, this evaluation indicates that student learning initiatives may need to be adapted to initiate increased reflection upon the role of structure and agency in shaping lives, and to develop a framework that encourages students to engage in a critical consideration of taken-for-granted assumptions (about who is ‘dangerous’, about what ‘rehabilitation’ means). These findings point more broadly to some of the challenges in teaching sociological criminology in the contemporary era.

摘要

本文概述了对新西兰 Aotearoa 惩教所的学生志愿者计划的评估。志愿者计划的目的是为学生提供批判性思考刑事司法系统并回馈社区的机会。本文从服务学习计划的潜力和局限性方面探讨了志愿项目评估，并揭示了对社会学犯罪学教学的影响。虽然在社区环境中学习是一个强大的工具，但该评估表明，学生的学习计划可能需要进行调整，以引发对结构和机构在塑造生活中的作用的更多反思，并制定一个鼓励学生参与的框架对理所当然的假设进行批判性考虑（关于谁是“危险的”，关于“康复”是什么意思）。这些发现更广泛地指出了当代社会学犯罪学教学中的一些挑战。