Inmate Attitudes about Prison Tours for Students

• Date: 01 December 2020
• Author: Melissa J. Stacer
• DOI: 10.1177/0032885520968248
• Published date: 01 December 2020
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885520968248

The Prison Journal

2020, Vol. 100(6) 787 –804

© 2020 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/0032885520968248

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Article

Inmate Attitudes

about Prison Tours

for Students

Melissa J. Stacer1

Abstract

Correctional facility tours are common within criminal justice programs as a

way for students to experience real-world criminal justice. While tours have

received praise for solidifying learning, they have also been criticized for

objectification of inmates. In this research, individuals who were incarcerated

in a Midwestern state were surveyed about their attitudes toward students

touring prisons. While participants, in general, viewed tours favorably, one

theme underscored the need to include the voices of incarcerees in the

schedule of prison tours.

Keywords

prison tours, inmate attitudes, criminal justice education

Introduction

Correctional facility tours have become a common part of undergraduate

criminal justice curricula, with a great deal of research exploring their educa-

tional benefits as well as illustrating some of the issues, both technical and

ethical. Proponents of prison and jail tours point to evidence that students

gain valuable knowledge from them and have their stereotypes about incar-

cerated individuals and correctional staff challenged (Calaway et al., 2016;

1University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, IN, USA

Corresponding Author:

Melissa J. Stacer, Criminal Justice Department, University of Southern Indiana, 8600 University

Boulevard, Evansville, IN 47712, USA.

Email: mjstacer@usi.edu

968248TPJXXX10.1177/0032885520968248The Prison JournalStacer

research-article2020

788 The Prison Journal 100(6)

Smith et al., 2009, 2010; Stacer et al., 2017; Wilson et al., 2011). Others,

however, highlight the issues related to the resources involved with planning

and implementing correctional tours in criminal justice courses (Helfgott,

2003), the staging and scripting of tours (Dey, 2009; Nagelsen & Huckelbury,

2009; Piché & Walby, 2010) as well as ethical concerns regarding invasion of

inmates’ privacy and the “prisons as zoos” phenomenon (Bordt & Lawler,

2005; Dey, 2009; Meisel, 2008; Nagelsen & Huckelbury, 2009; Piché &

Walby, 2010). What is lacking in the literature is a sense of what incarcerated

individuals themselves think about correctional facility tours. What are incar-

cerees’ attitudes toward correctional facility tours for undergraduate criminal

justice students? The current research explores this question utilizing an

inmate survey to gather their perceptions and attitudes about various aspects

of student touring.

Literature Review

Scholars (Austin & Irwin, 2000; Calaway et al., 2016; Farrington, 1992)

have suggested that exposing students to the criminal justice system outside

the classroom can provide them with a more realistic approach to under-

standing both those who work in criminal justice careers and those who are

impacted by the system as offenders and victims. In particular, prisons and

other correctional facilities such as jails are largely unknown environments

mired in negative stereotypes about both correctional personnel and inmates

(Brown, 2009; Cecil & Leitner, 2009; Rockell, 2009; Smith et al., 2010).

Additionally, experiences outside the classroom give students unique

opportunities to develop cognitive and affective learning skills and help

create a student-centered learning environment (Sims, 2006). Students have

better retention when they are active in the learning process (Knowles,

1998). For example, field trips in the social sciences are often nonexistent

once students reach the post-secondary level. Yet, such excursions can sup-

port educational objectives such as critical thinking and understanding of

concepts. According to Smith et al. (2010), “The use of guided prison tours

as an educational tool would expose a larger number of students to the cor-

rections field where they can observe and experience first-hand the prison

setting, albeit for a brief period” (p. 2). Smith et al. (2009) found that over

85% of students who toured a prison indicated a change in their perceptions

of corrections. Stacer et al. (2017) also found that students who attended a

jail or prison tour had changed attitudes, specifically concerning percep-

tions of correctional officers, with students more likely to agree that cor-

rectional officers were caring and willing to help inmates after the tour

experience. Wilson et al. (2011) illustrated how students were impacted