Chapter 7: Educating the Incarcerated Through a Community Jailing Model: A Social Justice Leadership Perspective

Today’s reality television provides only a glimpse into the reality of prison or jail life. Television sensationalizes the experience by focusing on only the worst events and the most disruptive inmates. In truth, most of the 2.2 million inmates in today’s jails and prisons will eventually be released. Is it possible to rehabilitate such a large number of men and women who have been institutionalized for such a long period of time? This chapter examines models of cultural, restorative, and social justice leadership centered on the idea of “Community Jailing”—a direct supervision technique allowing for greater and meaningful officer/inmate interaction (Petteruti & Walsh, 2008). Even though the direct supervision model has been used in hundreds of jails and prisons for the past 30 years, ironically, the U.S. inmate population has grown 500% (Maguire & Pastore, 2006). While many states are experiencing a slowing of the rate of growth of their prison population, and some even a small decline, the federal prison population continues its rapid expansion. This chapter begins with an review of extant literature, which served as the framework to determine why the current practices of direct jail supervision have failed. Subsequently, the authors offer suggestions for making positive change, including prison-based/education-based incarceration programs. A new “community jailing” supervision model is suggested as a social justice response coupled with evidence to corroborate lower incidents of jail violence, a reduction in recidivism, and improved public safety.