{"id":15463,"date":"2017-05-17T16:51:24","date_gmt":"2017-05-18T00:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=15463"},"modified":"2023-08-25T11:31:04","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T18:31:04","slug":"teachers-beat-macho-culture-prisons","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/teachers-beat-macho-culture-prisons\/","title":{"rendered":"Teachers Beat the &#8220;Macho Culture&#8221; in Prisons through Art Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the early 2000s, Hollywood invested in the urban fairy tale where a teacher is called into the principal\u2019s office of a school in a low-income, broken part of town and is requested to help \u201cbuild character and morale.\u201d (Think Samuel L. Jackson in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coach Carter<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Antonio Banderas in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take the Lead<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and Hilary Swank in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Freedom Writers<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). The \u201chappily ever after\u201d was usually the students graduating high school or even getting into a prestigious college with the credits rolling to some inspirational Hip-Hop\/R&amp;B song that inspires teachers and parents to never give up on their kids.<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Freedom Writers - Trailer\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JhXMJlm852A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unfortunately, we live in a reality that doesn\u2019t have enough Samuel L. Jacksons and Coach Carters or even ballroom dance and poetry classes to help keep kids in school and out of prison. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Approximately 2,500 minors sentenced to life<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> this year may not graduate from high school or attend college; prison art programs and their teachers are these inmates&#8217; last hope of rehabilitation and sense of purpose. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere\u2019s so many things [inmates] can\u2019t do from prison, but they can write screenplays, they can write poetry, they can write books,\u201d said <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">filmmaker and Los Angeles facility screenwriting class instructor Gabe Cowan in PBS\u2019s<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Independent Lens <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">documentary feature <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/they-call-us-monsters\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They Call us Monsters<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cWhat else are they gonna do for the next 90 years?\u201d \u00a0<\/span><pullquote class='left'> Out of the 61 inmates who have never taken an art class before, 96% enjoyed it \u201cvery much\u201d and 62% of them got along better with their inmates within a year.<\/pullquote><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prisons and schools may at first seem diametrically opposed because <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">academia and the critical thinking that comes with it encourage questioning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPrisons are closed institutions in which control is the primary concern and questioning authority is not tolerated,\u201d says Duke University researcher <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heather Jane McCarty<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, prisons that do invest in teachers to facilitate art programs have been carrying positive results.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tom Lackey, a Republican state assemblyman who is a retired California Highway Patrol officer, has a prison in his district and visited a theater program there. \u201cSix million is no joke,\u201d he told <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The New York Times<\/span><\/i> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the statewide funding. \u201cIt was, \u2018O.K., I\u2019m going to watch this incredible waste of money.\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But he wasn\u2019t prepared for the impact.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI could tell it was building morale and self-respect among inmates, which is hard to do,\u201d said Lackey. \u201cHow do you measure the value of a person in dollars? This in an investment that yields a return.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interdisciplinary research suggests<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a strong correlation between practicing creativity and the development of the right brain, which enables a person to attain higher-order thinking skills and greater emotional self-regulation such as focused attention, intellectual flexibility, patience, self-discipline and the ability to work with others.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Laura Pecenco, an associate professor of sociology at San Diego Miramar College and founding director of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Project PAINT<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility sees the shift in attitudes between inmates in the prison yard versus the art studio.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe criteria of being a good artist is different than being a good prisoner,\u201d Pecenco told <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">KPBS<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cBeing a good artist requires vulnerability.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Project PAINT has given Donovan facility inmate Royce Casey, one of the people responsible for the death of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Elyse Pahler<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 1996, empathy and a greater understanding of the scope of his crime. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;The person whose life I took loved art,&#8221; said Casey in a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">San Diego Union Tribune<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> feature about Pecenco\u2019s program. &#8220;I\u2019m able to see what I took away from someone.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">93% of the prison population<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> being male, hypermasculinity is an apparent issue due to the power dynamics between prisoners and guards and the need to be the \u201cbiggest and baddest\u201d among the prisoners themselves. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">University of California psychology professor Craig Haney <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">describes<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> how hypermasculinity informs young inmates concept of manhood:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The great majority of adolescent boys and young men who are being pushed and pulled through this pipeline are very often denied the opportunity to learn other models of manhood, are rarely taught gentler and less confrontational ways of standing up or standing out, or given the opportunity to excel through the exercise of their intellect or sensitivity rather than physical intimidation.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With art programs and the support of teachers, these inmates are given <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">access<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to a safe and healthy way to express, release, and navigate instances that trigger destructive feelings such as anger and aggression.<\/span><pullquote class='left'> &#8220;The criteria of being a good artist is different than being a good prisoner. Being a good artist requires vulnerability.&#8221; <\/pullquote><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Susan Turner, a professor of criminology, law and society at the University of California, Irvine, is evaluating the state\u2019s new initiative for the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">William James Association<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a nonprofit specializing in arts programs in nontraditional settings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cArt resonates,\u201d Turner said in an interview with <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The New York Times<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cPeople want to believe that the arts make a difference.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2014 Justice Policy Journal Study<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> conducted by Larry Brewster, professor of public administration and former dean at the University of San Francisco, <\/span><b>100% of the 49 inmates who participated said arts education helped them with self expression<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>75% said it relieved stress and made them feel happier<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Out of the 61 inmates who have never taken an art class before, 96% enjoyed it \u201cvery much\u201d and <\/span><b>62% of them got along better with their inmates within a year<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Filmmaker Rob Richert witnessed this impact during his time teaching inmates in San Quentin. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey all welcomed me,\u201d said Richert. \u201cThey were stumbling over themselves the first day, to make sure I knew they were intelligent, conscientious, and, most importantly, not the kind of guys I should feel nervous around. These efforts affected me almost immediately. Strangely I felt myself thinking of the class the way I would any other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"My Name Is Your First Love - Trailer\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/40545359?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write\"><\/iframe>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Richert\u2019s film that his students at San Quentin got to watch.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to the endings of Hollywood films on teachers where the tables turn and the teacher realizes the lasting impact the students have made on them, Richert\u2019s experience also shaped his outlook on the prison system as a whole.<\/span><pullquote class='left'> &#8220;The person whose life I took loved art. I\u2019m able to see what I took away from someone.&#8221; <\/pullquote><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAt best, I provided them with an intriguing weekly respite from their day to day, and they changed me in ways that are both simple and hard to articulate,&#8221; said Richert. &#8220;I miss them. They were perhaps the most enthusiastic and focused class I\u2019ve had. They seemed the happiest of all my classes, for the instruction I gave. Even though I don\u2019t know any of their personal reasons for being inside, it seems unfair that many of them have nothing ahead of them but a life of this.&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Rehabilitation seems like it ought to be a more nuanced process,&#8221; Richert added. &#8220;I am a visual and experiential learner and to see and understand that first hand is what most changed me and my relationship to our prison system.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In California, juveniles between the ages of 14 and 17 can be tried as adults and receive sentences longer than their natural life expectancy. As They Call Us Monsters reveals, in the last four years, the state has passed bills to decrease juvenile sentencing \u2013 a move that re-sparked a national debate over whether these kids have the capacity to change at all yet alone whether art programs can be a catalyst to it.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the early 2000s, Hollywood invested in the urban fairy tale where a teacher is called into the principal\u2019s office of a school in a low-income, broken part of town and is requested to help \u201cbuild character and morale.\u201d (Think Samuel L. Jackson in Coach Carter, Antonio Banderas in Take the Lead and Hilary Swank [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":15486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1357],"tags":[],"topic":[1216,1247,1245,1246,1261,1257,1225,1226,1251,1293],"class_list":["post-15463","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-the-films","topic-arts-and-culture","topic-cinema","topic-crime","topic-education","topic-human-rights","topic-law-administration","topic-politics-and-government","topic-social-justice","topic-theater","topic-youth-and-family"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Teachers Beat the &quot;Macho Culture&quot; in Prisons | PBS | Independent Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Some inmates may be &quot;Breaking Bad,&quot; 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