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It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails.

A nation
should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.
Nelson Mandela
What comes to mind when you think of a criminal? That rebellious group of teens
who vandalized the neighborhood park last week, or the grisly murderer that you see
splashed across the news? For most of us, criminal is more a hazy idea than a tangible
person. Criminals arent your chatty neighbor, nor your favorite T.V. show hostinstead
we think of criminals as removed from our everyday lives.
In the same way that criminal is a nebulous idea for many, so too is what
happens to a criminal once he or she ends up in our justice system. Locked up, criminals
are out of sight and out of mind. This is how I, and many of my peers, used to
conceptualize, or rather ignore, criminal justice.
But what happens after someone breaks society's rules is extremely important.
Systems of justice not only encapsulate a set of cultural norms and practices, but reflect
some of the most contentious and contemporary issues facing societies. For example, an
examination of the U.S. criminal justice system helps to reveal the prominent racial
inequalities still very much existing in our country. Systems of corrections are a
significant lens into history and collective values.
My plan in the Watson is to survey correctional systems across the world in order
to examine some fundamental questions: What features define each unique correctional
system? Why does the correctional system function as it currently does? What are the
impacts of the system on both the people within and outside?
Though these are broad questions, I believe they will have incredibly complex
answers which I intend to tackle from a variety of angles. In each country, I will spend
three months working closely with an organization addressing a salient aspect of criminal
justice (for example in the United Kingdom, the high sexual offense rate). Narrowing my
focus will allow me to dig deep into each topic.
However, I also plan to learn about the broader system in order to put my deeper
learnings in context. I will tour prisons and jails, talking to staff and inmates along the
way. With this approach, I will both build both a general and specialized understanding of
each corrections system shaped from both outside and inside perspectives.
I will begin my exploration of corrections systems in the United Kingdom, where
the foundations of western correctional systems were formed. From there I will head to
the widely renowned progressive corrections system of Norway. Next, I plan to travel to
Australia, a country with a rich history of colonial convict roots. Finally, I will end my
journey in Argentina where the still recent dictatorship has a profound impact upon
corrections seen even to this day.
United Kingdom:
My first step will follow in the footprints of the man who inspired this project,
superintendent Bob Rhay. As prisons practices in the United Kingdom have shaped
correctional systems in the U.S. and throughout Europe, the UK will provide a more
familiar context, allowing me to ease into my international enquiry.
The reported sexual offenses throughout the United Kingdom are higher than
other comparable countries (UK Justice Committee Briefing). I will work with an

organization in Nottingham, England called the Safer Living Association. They have a
sex offender circle program that works with incarcerated people in Nottingham prison
pre-release and continues on into their re-entry in the community. The circle provides a
support group and rehabilitation for offenders throughout this transition process. I am in
contact with Dr. Belinda Winder, one of the leaders of the organization, who has
expressed interest in my volunteering there.
Furthermore this area provides a rich opportunity to visit other prisons: I plan to
make trips to the first panopticon style Pentonville prison, and to HM Wakefield, the
largest high security prison in western Europe. Generally, my understanding is that it is
not incredibly difficult to gain access to prisons in the UK; I have had several
conversations about this with professor Steve Rubin, who previously organized a tour of
UK prisons for the Prison Research group.
Norway:
After establishing a foundation in the UK, I will continue on Rhays trajectory and
head to Norway to engage with one of the correctional systems deemed most progressive
in the world. In fact, it is explicit that prisons in Norway are not for punishment. I would
like to explore radically different types of prisons including Bastoy island prison, a small
community focused on promoting human-ecological values and understanding, and
Halden prison, dubbed the most humane prison in the world. The prison system in
Norway is considered very receptive to visitors, so I do not predict difficulties in gaining
access.
Despite its reputation of progressiveness, Norway has one odd conservative quirk:
there is no juvenile justice system separate from the adult system. I will work with an
organization called the Change Factory that promotes the voices of incarcerated youth in
the system. There, I will have the chance to speak with youth in order to understand the
unique challenges for juveniles in the system. Why is it that youth are treated in the same
system as adults? What changes would youth like to see in the system? I have contacted
Marit Sanner at this organization plus have further connections, Per Jrgen Ystehede with
the European deviance research group and Danish criminologist Anne Okkels Birk, to
guide me.
Australia:
Next, I will fly to Australia, a country with criminals tied up in its history.
Between 1788 and 1868, 165,000 British and Irish convicts were sent to Australia which
resulted in conflict with Aboriginal people who had already inhabited the continent for
thousands of years (A Short History of Convict Australia). After having already explored
the UK, this will be an opportunity to relate what I learned there to what I observe in
Australia, enriching my understanding of the impacts of colonization.
This convict colonization created lasting effects of racism and struggle for the
survival of Aboriginal culture; today, indigenous people are massively overrepresented in
the Australian justice systemover 28% of prisoners are Aboriginal (Creative Spirits). I
will work with The Torch Project, a program that helps to encourage incarcerated
indigenous people to develop their ethnic identity. There I seek to cultivate an
understanding of the complex history and discrimination in the current system. At the
same time, my contact Professor Pete Parcells, who conducted research in Australian

prisons for the past 15 years, has kindly agreed to put me in contact with policymakers
and prisons to interview and visit during my time in Australia.
Argentina:
For the final leg of my journey I will travel to Argentina, a country only one
generation past its 1976-1983 military dictatorship. Reports here are mixed: some say
that the prisons conditions and practices still reflect this dictatorships rule. On the other
hand, the United Nations has noted that within the last ten years Argentina has seriously
pushed to improve prison conditions, especially conditions for women.
I plan to work for the organization Yonofui that focuses on transforming the
criminal justice system for women. The project concentrates on building skills for
incarcerated women who are re-entering society. I have been put in touch with its founder
Maria Medrano.
Furthermore, I am excited to put my language skills to use conversing with people
during my time in Argentina. My impression is that access to the prison systems in
Argentina is more difficult, so I plan to take more of an outside approach, living with an
Argentinian family and talking with people in the community to understand their views
about the correctional system. In these one-on-one conversation I have no doubt that I
will encounter people who have experiences around the criminal justice system and who
will be able to help shape my understanding of the Argentinian system. My Spanish
professor, Janis Breckenridge, has contacts in Argentina who I tentatively plan on staying
with.
I have steadily immersed myself in my interest for criminal justice and Ive found
that with each additional project my passion only grows: by the end of this year I will
have completed my senior thesis concerning women staff and correctional officers at the
Washington State Penitentiary and I will have led a trip exploring the correctional system
in Olympia. My unique involvements and the skills Ive formed have prepared me for my
undertaking the Watson: I have experience with international travel and independently
navigating unknown communities, I am comfortable with communication with people in
many capacities; I have the drive to create deep, meaningful connections and learn from
them. Come next year, no matter what happens, I will continue to pursue my passion for
criminal justice. But if there is one experience that has the potential to shape the rest of
my life and career, it has to be this.

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