Grow Where You Are Planted: The Use of Gardening as Offender Rehabilitation in Prisons

• In Event: Carceral Cultures, Spaces and Knowledge

Abstract

The outdoors play an integral part of our lives, even as we are experiencing rapid urbanization of our country. Research shows that nature has a profound effect on health, both physical and mental, which is why it is common to hear talk of “cabin fever” or for persons to lament about working inside on a beautiful day. Prisoners often spend 23 hours of the day locked indoors with little to no sunlight. One way in which this could be remedied is through the use of prison horticulture, or garden programs. Prison horticulture is a productive, outdoors activity in which inmates would be able to raise gardens that would benefit their facility or the community. In the process, prisoners learn about gardening methods, as well as acquire applicable skills that could be utilized in future vocations. Examined through a rehabilitative framework, this paper concedes that prison gardens provide physical exercise and mental stimulation to prisoners, engender a safer prison environment, contributes to inmate health, and paves the way for improved interpersonal relationships in and outside of prison walls.

Author

• Kendahl Granger, Eastern Kentucky University