Citizen volunteers in prison: bringing the outside in, taking the inside out

Abstract

The United States correctional system relies heavily on citizen volunteers, but there is little contemporary research on prison volunteers, which is further limited by sample and geographic region. The purpose of this project was to explore the role of citizen volunteers, including investigating why they volunteer and what their experiences with inmates and prison staff are like. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with citizen volunteers in the penal system of a Midwestern state. Volunteers had altruistic or faith-based motivations, viewing themselves as ‘seed planters’ but not saviors, and placing priority on building relationships. They described how volunteering transformed their views on inmates and the prison system. Volunteers appeared to gain awareness of and appreciation for the problems associated with both serving time and reentry. Additional research on the role of citizen volunteers is needed to improve recruiting and retention of volunteers, and to better evaluate and develop programs for current and reentering inmates.

Keywords::

• volunteers
• prison
• corrections

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Research Council at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, GA, 2013.

Notes

^1. Email: [email protected].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lisa A. Kort-Butler

Lisa A. Kort-Butler is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In addition to prison volunteers, her research interests include law violation and well-being among adolescents and young adults, and media representations of crime and justice. Her recent publications appear in Justice Quarterly and Criminal Justice Review.

Sarah E. Malone

Sarah E. Malone is a doctoral student in Sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her research interests include crime/deviance with an emphasis on substance use, mental health, health, social network analysis, survey research and methodology, and statistics.