NCJ Number
75062
Date Published
1977
Length
69 pages
Annotation
Results of four community dialogues held in Seattle, Wash. involving scholars, community members, residents of the Firland Correctional Center, and professionals working in the legal and justice system are presented.
Abstract
The four sessions addressed such issues as the correctional system as a reflection of social values and citizen impact on the development of correctional programs; the community's response to crime and responsibility for controlling and preventing it; involvement of community members in correctional facilities and the impacts of that involvement; and the future of treatment programs and the impact of citizens on future treatment and crime prevention programs. The public policy issues in each session were interconnected to provide participants with a framework within which to make informed decisions about their role in the correctional system. Two of the three parts of the evaluation present representative comments from the audience and from speakers. The third part contains the results of an opinion poll of dialogue participants. A 39-item pretest and posttest comparison of audience responses showed a slight positive shift toward greater concern for the public policy and human issues presented in the sessions. The program process and content followed the proposal closely, the topics were given in-depth coverage, and the target audience size (100 to 200 persons) was met for every session, despite two bad-weather nights. One goal that was not met was the presentation of an unedited evaluation of the proceedings by an outside observer reporter. Appendixes contain a sample participant response card, a sample questionnaire, quotations from speakers, summaries of audience responses to each of the four dialogue sessions, concluding remarks by a scholar participant, discussion group comments, and a letter of appreciation from the Shoreline Youth Services Group.