Landworks: A Psychological Analysis

When we got to the prison, I was surprised to see multiple buildings all around a center courtyard. The inmates were dressed in green or gray and were busy doing various activities. The first thing that really swept me off my feet was when we visited the inmates near the gym in the knitting room. The things they were making required so much talent, which is something I had never considered prisoners to have, mostly because I had never thought about it. I was even more shocked by the talent of the brick layers and the high success rate that is found in the inmates that

Whenever you imagine prison, you think up ideas and violent images that you have seen in the movies or on TV.   Outdated clichés consisting of men eating stale bread and drinking dirty water are only a small fraction of the number of horrible, yet “just” occurrences which are stereotypical of everyday life in prison.   Perhaps it could be a combination of your upbringing, horrific ideas about the punishment which our nation inflicts on those who violate its’ more serious laws that keeps people frightened just enough to lead a law-abiding life. Despite it’s success in keeping dangerous offenders off the streets, the American prison system fails in fulfilling its original design of restoring criminals to being productive members of society, it is also extremely expensive and wastes our precious tax dollars.

After reading the book I have gained a new understanding of what inmates think about in prison. Working in an institution, I have a certain cynical attitude at times with inmates and their requests.

What the researchers found during this study was that both the behaviors and mentalities of guards and prisoners changed. Guards became more aggressive and prisoners became passive. A group of five prisoners had to actually be released from the study because of physical and emotional changes they were experiencing. Those prisoners remaining actually began acting as if they were truly incarcerated. By the behaviors they exhibited they had all but forgotten that they were free to leave at any time and not forfeit the money they had already earned. Guards, on the other hand, actually stayed at the prison longer than they were scheduled and were actually disappointed when the study came to a close while prisoners were very happy and expressed their luck at getting released early. These results clearly demonstrate that it is the environment that contributes to the behaviors observed. Those who were given the role of guard expressed the power and control they had over the prisoners. The prisoners began to become hopeless and bend to the power of the guards.

He explained that many of the people that he face in doing his job make it especially hard to compartmentalize convicts characteristics and charges versus the fact that they are nonetheless human beings – and with that must be treated accordingly. Of course, there is extensive training prior to becoming an active employee. Training continues on the job after the fact. Initially, he found it the most difficult to know that some of these inmates were child molesters and rapists, and he was, by law required to treat every inmate professionally and equally. In addition, in order to gain the respect needed from each inmate he had to first show them respect. Earning their trust was the key to

Foremost among them was a former prisoner who had served nearly seventeen years behind bars. This consultant made us aware of what it was like to be a prisoner. He also introduced us to a number of other ex-convicts and correctional personnel during an earlier Stanford summer school class we co-taught on "The Psychology of Imprisonment." Our prison was constructed by boarding up each end of a corridor in the basement of Stanford's Psychology Department building. That corridor was "The Yard" and was the only outside place where prisoners were allowed to walk, eat, or exercise, except to go to the toilet down the hallway (which prisoners did blindfolded so as not to know the way out of the prison). To create prison cells, we took the doors off some laboratory rooms and replaced them with specially made doors with steel bars and cell numbers.

At any given time, a single corrections officer, can expect to be outnumbered by upwards of 400 inmates (Conover, 2011). It can be chilling to work in the midst of hundreds of inmates, some of which initiate attacks and inappropriate relationships. However, other issues have impacted the psychological health and physical safety of the staff. Detrimental factors have included heavy workloads, the prisons physical structure, and a lack of support from both peers and superiors. Each workplace issue has been in addition to role problems, specifically role ambiguity and role conflict (Schaufeli & Peeters, 2011). It is believed that anyone of these undesirable facets of prison should be enough to deter the public from attempting to enter such

According to the prisons inspectorate, the ‘health’ of a prison should be measured according to safety, respect, purposeful activity and resettlement (HMCIP, 2013). Choose one of these factors, and using academic research to support your argument, discuss to what extent this represents a critical element of imprisonment in contemporary society.

The gaze which is inscribed in the very structure of the disciplinary institution is internalized by the inmate; modern technologies of

The life-sustaining bond of human beings with the land has a strong connection. Centuries have gone by… throughout the many years, humans have relied on the land to provide, evolve, help survive, and move forward with their lives. The land provides for humans in a non costly manner. The land provides humans free shelter. For example, Humans use the dirt we walk on to build shelter. The Earth provides humans natural resources, such as water from lakes, streams and rain. The land gives humans bountiful, healthy nourishing food. The Earth provides free healthcare for every living creature. The land has a bond with humans because the land provides natural resources, it provides shelter, and it evolves the human body.

Roger’s traditional person-centered therapy is perhaps the greatest example of “talk therapy” as there is not any homework, specific techniques, or behavior to be changed. Instead, the success of the therapy lies in the process and letting clients experience this process as fully as possible. Therefore, it may be surprising that Natalie Roger’s person-centered expressive arts therapy has shifted away from traditional verbal means of expression to more creative means. According to Sommers-Flanagan, through mediums such as movement, drawing, painting, music, writing and improvisation “clients peel away the layers of defense and find their true nature” (2007). Expressive art therapy is not concerned with the end product (client’s do not create a piece to hang on the wall) but rather the process of using art to delve into a client’s pain, rage, or grief is the goal. Therefore, just as in Roger’s person-centered therapy the process is the focal point but the mediums used are quite different. Through these mediums clients find other ways to go inward, other ways to speak. Like her father’s person-centered therapy, Natalie Roger’s expressive arts therapy is nondirective and lets client’s lead the process and trusts them to find the modalities they can learn from (Sommers-Flanagan, 2007).

The charity provides the offenders the chance to experience freedom with discipline, discharging tension, representing forbidden thoughts and feelings, visualising the invisible, and expressing ideas that are hard or impossible to put into words. I question how art therapy facilitates emotions to be voiced through the use of art, the importance of artistic and therapeutic techniques within LandWorks, and the significance to implement art therapy into everyday life assisting self-exploration. I also investigate how each offender copes with showing emotion, the importance of time, and how their use of time has changed and what offenders have learnt throughout their journey, whilst striving to keep motivated. A key process was exploring the difficult and emotional experiences, the relief of painful and troubled emotions, the offenders’ challenges of life enhancement, and testing out reality through stretching the mind. This will include looking at cognitive developments, and how imagination and play enhances creativity with offenders, and how social connectivity helps develop social relationships and identity for the

Not much has been written about the use of expressive arts in existential practice. “Pat Allen, one of the founders of the open studio approach to art therapy… decided to experiment with having people make art alongside each other and be of service to each other during the process, hence the Open Studio Approach” (Story, 2007). This approach is based upon three elements; intention, attention and witness (Story, 2007).

Western traditions narrowly define art as a market-oriented specialized discipline (Levine & Levine, 2004). When art is used therapeutically, content and meaning take priority over mechanics and technicalities.

The documentary “Waste Land” leads a controversial issue related to depression and the treatments of depression. The question that stems from the controversy is does art therapy actually help cope with the symptoms of depression. An artist by the name of Vik Muniz contends to the idea that art therapy is considered a coping method for depression, and helps with the effects of depression. The individuals within the documentary have a background of poverty, and with poverty comes depression, but that does not stop them from their everyday tasks. Although, when the issue of depression is brought upon others, most avoid speaking about such topic. Add Thesis Muniz on the other hand decided to dive right into a reality he was not much aware of, but decided to go for it anyways. Add more to this paragraph, and make it stand out more!!!!