Volunteers

Types of Volunteers

Among the many different types of prison volunteers are those generally classified as administrative, staff, and programmatic. Administrative volunteers provide services that help states fulfill the goals of their departments of correction. For example, students interested in the criminal justice field may volunteer to work for the correctional system either in prisons or in administrative positions, such as in regional or state offices. This type of work enables such volunteers to learn skills important to their future employment while providing resources to the government. Specialists from academia may also evaluate prison programs or provide consultation to administrators on prison populations on a voluntary basis. For instance, sociologists might evaluate whether education programs help keep former inmates from reoffending. Similarly, vocational skills educators might evaluate the success of vocational or technical programs to determine which courses provide inmates with the best opportunities for employment once they are released.

Staff volunteers provide resources directly to facilities to bolster the facilities' workforces. Such volunteers might provide expertise in particular areas of vocational training or general education. For example, they may offer training in small engine repair and other vocational fields to help offenders be productive citizens when they are released. Some staff volunteers may help inmates learn to read and write; others might offer inmates courses in basic life skills. In Oklahoma institutions, for example, unpaid individuals offer tutoring to inmates on Saturdays to supplement the prison education programs. Elsewhere volunteers play in athletic group competitions with inmate teams.

Programmatic volunteers may help organize and/or directly oversee programs in the correctional system. For example, religious leaders or groups may help provide special religious services that are unavailable from the prison chaplain. Volunteers from groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous may provide leadership for these programs within the prison walls for inmates. Academicians may offer programming in areas such as moral development or critical thinking abilities, which are often found lacking in offender populations. For example, one team of volunteers operated a prison program for long-term offenders that focused on helping the inmates develop the critical thinking skills needed for responding to real-life situations. Linda Collins, a volunteer featured in a 2002 Volunteer Today article, has operated classes for inmates in anger management, depression, communication skills, and victim impact.

Finally, prisoners themselves sometimes volunteer to help communities in need. For example, such volunteers often help with the cleanup needed after severe storms, help fight extreme forest fires, and provide needed manpower for other tasks. Some offenders help troubled youth by speaking to delinquent juveniles or high school students. This type of volunteerism is important to offenders, often helping them build self-esteem and a sense of belonging. Inmates have also been involved in building houses through Habitat for Humanity. This experience helps them to develop marketable skills and to establish networks of potential employment. Another example of inmate volunteers can be found in the many Speak Out programs, which enlist inmates to speak to troubled youth both inside and outside of prison settings. One of the Speak Out programs in Oklahoma's medium-security prison provides inmate speakers to talk to groups about “prison life” as well as arranges one-on-one visits with inmates for troubled juveniles, giving these young people the chance to visit with someone who has experienced the same problems they have.

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