Rehabilitation Through the Arts

Last updated

Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) was founded by Katherine Vockins in 1996 in Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York, and now operates in six men's and women's, maximum and medium security New York State prisons: Sing Sing, Bedford Hills, Woodbourne, Green Haven, Fishkill and Taconic. RTA is the lead program of Prison Communities International, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. RTA brings art workshops in theatre, music, dance, visual arts, writing and poetry behind the walls to over 230 incarcerated men and women.

Contents

Background

RTA began at Sing Sing when Katherine Vockins, RTA's founder, met with a group of men who wanted help writing and presenting a play. One year later, the theatre group performed an original piece for the prison population. The play was about their own lives—drugs, gangs, crime and bad decisions—but also about the possibility of change and redemption. In time, participants, observing changes in their own attitudes and behavior, changed the organization’s name to Rehabilitation Through the Arts.

In 2003, Sing Sing closed its medium security section and men who were transferred lobbied the Department of Corrections to establish RTA at their new facilities. In 2008, RTA began working at Bedford Hills, New York State’s only maximum-security prison for women, and in 2020 RTA established its program at Taconic Correctional Facility, a medium-security women's prison where many Bedford Hills residents are transferred as they near release. Many RTA alumni seek to continue their creative journey and maintain the community they found so meaningful inside.

Rehabilitation Through the Arts’s theatre program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility has been dramatized in the independent narrative film Sing Sing , which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2023. [1] Produced by Greg Kwedar, Sing Sing stars Colman Domingo and previous RTA participants, including co-star Clarence Maclin, and RTA Founder Katherine Vockins in a cameo.

Programs

RTA works with professional teaching artists to lead year-round workshops in theatre, dance, music, creative writing, and visual arts. The RTA model provides an intensive, comprehensive arts program to help the participants develop self-expression and the ability to communicate, collaborate, solve problems, and set goals.

40% of people who enter the NYS prison system do not have a high school or equivalency diploma. RTA has no academic or good behavior requirements to participate, with a focus on the life skills learned through the arts within a safe community: communication skills, problem-solving, collaboration, goal-setting, discipline and much more.

Participants can remain in the program as long as they are in a facility where RTA operates. Many participants stay in the program for years, forming a close community and a safe space where they are mutually respectful and accountable.

RTA is self-governed by steering committees made up only of incarcerated participants. Steering committees liaise between the facility and RTA staff and make decisions about workshops and material to perform.

Compared to the average national recidivism rate of over 60%, that of RTA participants is less than 3%. [2]

"Reimagining Myself"

RTA's transitional reentry program, "Reimagining Myself" is an approach to reentry that explores the social and emotional challenges an incarcerated individual is likely to face when released. The program includes narrative and interview films, a 20-session workshop with an arts-based curriculum, participant workbook, facilitator guide and facilitator training. The program was launched in New York State prisons in 2023 and is being marketed to departments of corrections and reentry agencies nationwide.

Research

Two research studies demonstrate the positive effects of RTA's program. John Jay College of Criminal Justice's 2003 study with the NYS Department of Correctional Services showed that RTA participants had fewer infractions than a control group. [3] A 2010 study conducted by SUNY Purchase and the NYS Department of Correctional Services concluded that RTA participants complete the GED earlier in their incarceration, more RTA participants complete educational programs beyond the GED, and that after joining RTA, participants spent an almost three-fold increase in time enrolled in post-GED courses than those who did not participate. [4]

Board of directors

E. Annette Nash Govan (Board Chair); Mikki Shaw (Vice Chair); Jermaine Archer; Sheryl Baker (Secretary); Lawrence Bartley; Michael Capra; Allison Chernow; Gabe Cruz; Tanya Diaz-Goldsmith; Kenneth Fields (Treasurer); Sean Dino Johnson; Suzanne Kessler; Que Newbill; Lauren Price; Karin Young Shiel.

Funding

RTA is funded through the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mellon Foundation, the Tow Foundation, Art for Justice Fund (a project of the Ford Foundation in partnership with Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors), ArtsWestchester, Humanities NY, Hyde and Watson Foundation, Sills Family Foundation, Tikkun Olam Foundation, Robert & Mercedes Eichholz Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, the New York State Department of Corrections & Community Supervision and many individual donors.

Theatrical productions

Published works

Original works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison Fellowship</span>

Prison Fellowship is the world's largest Christian nonprofit organization for prisoners, former prisoners, and their families, and a leading advocate for justice reform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sing Sing</span> New York State maximum security prison

Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about 30 miles (48 km) north of New York City on the east bank of the Hudson River. It holds about 1,700 inmates and housed the execution chamber for the State of New York until the abolition of capital punishment in New York in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recidivism</span> Person repeating an undesirable behavior following punishment

Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been trained to extinguish it. Recidivism is also used to refer to the percentage of former prisoners who are rearrested for a similar offense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sullivan Correctional Facility</span> Maximum-security state prison for male prisoners, located in New York, US

Sullivan Correctional Facility is a New York State maximum security prison correctional facility for male prisoners located in Fallsburg, New York. It is operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Taconic Correctional Facility is a medium/minimum security women's prison in Bedford, New York operated by the New York State DOCCS. Although the prison has a maximum 387-person capacity, the incarcerated population was under 170 as of November, 2021.

Fishkill Correctional Facility is a multi-security level prison in New York, United States. The prison is located in both the Town of Fishkill and the City of Beacon in Dutchess County. Fishkill was constructed in 1896. It began as the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision</span> Department of the New York State government

The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS) is the department of the New York State government that administers the state prison and parole system, including 44 prisons funded by the state government.

A prison nursery is a section of a prison that houses incarcerated mothers and their very young children. Prison nurseries are not common in correctional facilities in the United States, although prior to the 1950s many states had them and they are widespread throughout the rest of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prisons in California</span>

The California State Prison System is a system of prisons, fire camps, contract beds, reentry programs, and other special programs administered by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Division of Adult Institutions to incarcerate approximately 117,000 people as of April 2020. CDCR owns and operates 34 prisons throughout the state and operates 1 prison leased from a private company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ironwood State Prison</span> State prison in Blythe, California

Ironwood State Prison (ISP) is a state prison located south of Interstate 10, in a detached section of Blythe, California, that lies west of the main portion of the city. It is located in eastern Riverside County, California, adjacent to Chuckawalla Valley State Prison.

The InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI) was an American Christian prison program operated by Prison Fellowship International (PFI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established by Chuck Colson. The program was closed in 2016.

Libraries are provided in many prisons. Reading materials are provided in almost all federal and state correctional facilities in the United States. Libraries in federal prisons are controlled by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Department of Justice. State prison libraries are controlled by each state's own department of corrections. Many local jails also provide library services through partnerships with local public libraries and community organizations. These resources may be limited, mostly provided through government sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Relationships for incarcerated individuals</span> Familial and romantic relations of individuals in prisons or jails

Relationships of incarcerated individuals are the familial and romantic relations of individuals in prisons or jails. Although the population of incarcerated men and women is considered quite high in many countries, there is relatively little research on the effects of incarceration on the inmates' social worlds. However, it has been demonstrated that inmate relationships play a seminal role in their well-being both during and after incarceration, making such research important in improving their overall health, and lowering rates of recidivism.

Gender-specific prison programming in the United States are programs created to prepare incarcerated women for successful reentry, and minimize recidivism. Prison programming and how it is structured has changed significantly over the decades to fit the needs of women in gender-specific programming. Focus on gender-specific programming increased during the 1970s and 1980s, an era marked by a substantial increase in the female prison population. Traditional programming in female correctional facilities have been deemed ineffective since most were structured to fit men's needs. For example, women's pathways to prison typically involve drugs, while men are typically involved in violent crimes. Additionally, women are more likely to have experiences of sexual and/or physical abuse relative to men.

Prisoner reentry is the process by which prisoners who have been released return to the community. Many types of programs have been implemented with the goal of reducing recidivism and have been found to be effective for this purpose. Consideration for the conditions of the communities formerly incarcerated individuals are re-entering, which are often disadvantaged, is a fundamental part of successful re-entry.

Osborne Association is a non-governmental, multi-service, criminal justice reform, and direct service organization. Osborne runs programs for people who have been in conflict with the law and their families. It operates from community offices in Brooklyn, The Bronx, Buffalo, Manhattan, and Newburgh, New York, White Plains, New York, Troy, New York and inside more than forty New York State prisons and jails. They work with the families and communities of incarcerated individuals to try and redress harm done by the criminal justice system, whilst also working to reform the system by challenging racist policies and retributive justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incarceration in California</span> Overview of incarceration in the U.S. state of California

Incarceration in California spans federal, state, county, and city governance, with approximately 200,000 people in confinement at any given time. An additional 55,000 people are on parole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Sale</span> American artist

Gregory Sale is a socially engaged, multidisciplinary artist, educator, and advocate. Collaborating with individuals and communities on aesthetic responses to social challenges, Sale creates and coordinates large-scale and often long-term public projects that are organized around collective experiences. Participants become creative co-producers focused on collective artistic experiences that identify, address, and transform lives. With the commitment of a wide range of constituencies and institutions, his creative practice includes projects with primary partners in activist circles, social service agencies, non-profit organizations, and government. His most prominent and continuing projects focus on issues of mass incarceration, illuminating the complexities of justice, democracy, and how we practice care as a society.

Prison-to-college programs exist around the world, providing prison education to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals access to increase employment opportunities and reduce post-release recidivism rates. In the United States, programs have expanded in prisons, jails, and juvenile detention centers across amid calls for criminal justice reform and improving outcomes for justice-involved individuals.

References

  1. Radheyan Simonpillai, "TIFF 2023: Colman Domingo searches for the souls stuck behind bars in prison drama Sing Sing". The Globe and Mail , September 8, 2023.
  2. "2018 Update on Prisoner Recidivism: A 9-Year Follow-Up Period" United States, Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics, May 2018
  3. Moller, Lorraine, "Project Slam: Rehabilitation through Theatre at Sing Sing Correctional Facility." The International Journal of the Arts in Society, volume 5, number 5, Common Ground Publishing LLC, 2011 Champaign, Illinois, USA, (pp. 18-19).
  4. Halperin, Ronnie, et al. "Rehabilitation Through the Arts: Impact on Participants’ Engagement in Educational Programs." Journal of Correctional Education (1974-), vol. 63, no. 1, 2012, pp. 6–23.