NCJ Number
77409
Date Published
Unknown
Length
12 pages
Annotation
An innovative educational endeavor which links the graduate psychology program at Hahnemann Medical College (Pennsylvania) with the State's Bureau of Correction in a joint effort is described, and problems encountered in administering it are discussed.
Abstract
A seminar in correctional psychology calls for students to serve as interns in various correctional facilities. The first 6 weeks of class time are spent on the sociology of corrections, since most of the students have had little or no background in this area. The course then moves into a consideration of individual character and impulse disorders, found in a large portion of the resident population of State correctional facilities. Some time is also spent studying prison psychotics. The treatment of such persons receives attention, but more needs to be given since the students have not received much training in this area. Part of each class session is spent discussing problems the students have encountered in their intern work. The term paper of the initial seminar was to develop a model treatment program for a correctional facility. The issue of confidentiality in working with inmates when this conflicts with correctional administration interests is also examined. Overall, the internships appear to provide suitable learning experiences for doctoral students, infuse the prison with additional therapeutic services, and lay the seeds for manpower development and recruitment. A few footnotes and seven references are provided.