A research project in teaching in a women's prison

The purpose of this project was to discover new goals and techniques for teaching commercial subjects to women inmates at the House of Detention for Women in New York City. Formerly, this program had been judged a failure, since almost none of the inmates went on to secretarial work after release. With long histories of recidivism, these women were generally out of touch with themselves and with reality; their behavior was evasive and manipulative both in and out of prison. A typewriter, however, cannot be manipulated; typing cannot be faked. The confrontation with the inflexible reality produced by the black symbol can thus be used by a well-trained teacher to impart new insights, encourage firmer reality orientation, and strengthen selfconcepts. The redirection must be from emphasis on the acquisition of technical skill to the understanding of behavior and the therapeutic value of autonomous achievement.