A quilting program inside a Missouri prison became the focus of 香蕉视频 student Hailey Gifford鈥檚 Academic Showcase presentation in April. Through her research, Gifford looked at how restorative justice programs like the quilting program can help prisoners build identity, patience and practical skills that may carry beyond incarceration.
Academic Showcase, held every spring on campus, gives students a chance to present a project of their choosing to the community. Gifford, a math education major from Eagle, Colorado, took the opportunity to dive into more details behind a documentary on the quilters.
鈥淭he dichotomy between harsh prison conditions and the gentleness of quilting was fascinating,鈥 Gifford said. 鈥淲hat could be the impact of these opposites being paired together?鈥
The program aims to help prisoners in the maximum security prison feel safe and unwind, while at the same time supporting foster children by providing them with beautiful, handmade quilted blankets.
Before diving deeper into that, Gifford explained alternative rhetorical identity.
She said prison education can act as resistance and safety in a system that is built around hypermasculinity 鈥 a set of behaviors such as an over the top attachment to traditional gender roles with a focus on aggression, dominance and physical strength. Inmates in the quilting program break down these behaviors because their craft allows them to do so. Aggression isn鈥檛 helpful in quilting 鈥 as it鈥檚 all about patience.
鈥淩esisting the loss of identity is difficult in a uniform system,鈥 Gifford said. 鈥淧risons perpetuate the narrative that prisoners don鈥檛 matter the same way as those outside the prison do.鈥
This loss of identity can also be found in the small living spaces prisoners are placed in, often sharing a cell that is no larger than the average single dorm room. These cells are small and leave zero room for privacy, leaving prisoners vulnerable physically and emotionally.
鈥淩estorative justice programs, such as the quilting program, allow a safe space for self expression,鈥 Gifford explained. In the walls of the quilting room, individuals may abandon hypermasculine traits as they ask questions and learn patterns.
The crafting room also offers a communicative space, where a social bridge is created between inmates and foster children.
鈥淨uality and care exist even within prison walls,鈥 Gifford said. An art-centered program allows prisoners to reactivate their personality through a humanizing act. Individuals become gentle with the fabric, and then gentle in their behavior.
Unfortunately, when the day is done, many of the prisoners slip back into their metaphorical masks of hypermasculinity. In a prison system, these behaviors are often meant to be self-defensive rather than outwardly aggressive.
Gifford said programs like the quilting one aren鈥檛 uncommon. A lot of prisons are beginning to offer restorative justice options such as education, arts, gardening and more because they have been proven to help prisoners retain knowledge and skills that are helpful after they complete their sentence.