NCJ Number
168608
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 23 Issue: 1/2 Dated: (1996) Pages: 111-116
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
A program for matching volunteers from the community with female inmates for visitation and social support provided significant benefits for both the inmates and the volunteers; this article focuses on one such inmate-volunteer relationship.
Abstract
Betty, in prison for shoplifting and heroin use, had few emotional or intellectual contacts while in prison. As a pilot program, the prison superintendent agreed to let two women from a community women's club come to the prison to meet with several of the inmates to talk and get acquainted; this would then be followed by scheduled visits with inmates by other club members. Betty was matched with Pat. They learned how to talk with each other during their first meeting, and then Pat took Betty to her home for a meal. Betty was so pleased to be invited anywhere by anyone who cared about her that she cried virtually non-stop through the entire meal. The project lasted a year or two, and although the numbers were small (only 5 to 10 matches), each of the encounters was significant to the people involved. The program led to the involvement by some of the husbands of the club members in a project with a men's prison. Further, due to the publicity received by this program, changes occurred that helped remedy the lack of programs for all inmates. 17 references