Savannah Clinton

Senior Project Proposal

October 7th, 2016
B1

A. ABSTRACT
The title of my paper and project shall be The Psychology in Prison Policy. My
overarching topic is the rights of US prisoners, and my specific topic is the application of
correctional psychology in policies meant for rehabilitation of inmates and the safety of all those
in the facility. I selected this topic because Ive always had a profound interest in the criminal
mind, and after interning with the Virginia Beach Sheriffs Department I became more interested
in the prison and jail systems. My driving questions are as follows:
What are some of the broader laws relating to using psychology-based strategies in
prisons?
How often is a psychological profile used in determining the housing of an inmate?
Does the level of safety produced by solitary confinement outweigh its psychological
harms?
To what extent do the mentally ill receive therapeutic treatments?
What are some common examples of revoking or denying privileges to inmates based on
their psychological profile?
Are there rehabilitation programs in place?
What are the roles of prison psychologists?
What are some historical uses of psychology relating to criminal justice?
My project will consist of a brief seminar discussing the most significant of my findings, as well
as a movie-themed costume contest. While at first glance this may seem an unrelated topic, it
does in fact connect to my chosen subject. As explained in the court case Lewis V Phillips,
certain inmates are denied access to movies and videos games of certain ratings based upon the
recommendation of a therapist. I will have about ten people volunteer as contestants, and those
who go to my event will act as the judges. They will get to vote on the best costume, but theres a
catch: underneath each seat will be a note dictating which costumes each person is allowed to
vote on. This would demonstrate the frustration of those inmates who are not allowed to watch
certain ratings. Finally, I could have a Kahoot set up to pull the information together at the end.
My consultant will be Mr. Winn, and I plan on holding my event on ( ) at a local high
school. The success of my project will be based on the results of a short survey I will give at the
end, meant to assess whether or not participants learned new information or changed their
opinions on inmate rights issues. Materials I will need are the surveys, a method by which to
give the presentation- promethean board, laptops, etc.-, and some snack foods.

B. LEARNING SKILLS
New skills that I will learn:
Finding and securing a venue will teach me how to communicate with different
organizations.
Large event planning will be new to me.
Long term communication is also a new skill I will acquire after securing volunteers. I
will have to get out not only initial information, but continuously update or stay in contact with
contestants.
Skills that I will enhance:
Addressing a group during the seminar is something that will improve my public
speaking. I have prior experience with both Legal Studies classes and instructing children in
summer programs, but speaking on something Ive come up with in my own will further
strengthen this skill.
My ability to create surveys will also be enhanced; I have done them for my AP Statistics
class, but always with strict guidelines. This will be a good way to create a set on a more
individual basis.
My time management skills will be improved as I balance a long paper and project with
other schoolwork and college applications.

C. MARKETING PLAN/FACILITIES/AUIDENCE
My target audience is both high school students who are interested in psychology and
students who ae interested in costume design. The seminar part of my project will appeal to
students who are interested in or who want to work in the field of psychology, and the costume
contest part will be a fun addition that will also draw in students who may not have experience
with psychology. They will benefit from my project through learning about the real-word
applications of this area of study, as well as some of the basic functions of the US prison system.
My target venue is Landstown High School, so to gain a high school audience I will appeal to
teachers of AP Psychology and the drama club sponsor in that school, as well as in First Colonial
and other schools. I may try to get contestants from both schools to market it as a school-versus-
school event. I want to use Landstown because it is a relatively new and large school, and as I
attended the school freshman year, I am familiar with it. My marketing strategies will include
putting up flyers in both schools, if allowed, as well as word of mouth. I will also use social
media platforms and ask the contestants to do the same so that I can reach a larger group of
people. For example, one of the contestants is in college and has connections to ODU students
who I personally wouldnt be likely to reach.

D. PROJECT STEPS
Preliminary Steps Find at least ten contestants
total, for the costume contest 4 hours
in both schools. Contact
teachers at both schools, as
well as the principle for
permission to use LHS as my
venue. Create a basic outline
for my seminar and the
survey to give at the end. Go
over outline with consultant
and revise where needed.
Midway Steps Meet with consultant to 10 hours
discuss what date the project
should be held on. Create the
presentation for the seminar,
and flyers to put up in both
schools. Finalize volunteer
list of contestants as well as
setting up place for them to
get information.
Later Steps Get necessary materials. Set 3 hours
up venue. Complete project.

Follow Up Pass out surveys. Analyze 3 hour

completed surveys. Send
thank you letters to
consultant, venue provider,
and teachers that participated.
Total 20 Hours
(Minimum)

E. PROJECT DOCUMENTATION
How I will document my project:
Signed agreement forms to participate from contestants
Emails between principle, teachers, and contestants.
Outline of seminar
Presentation
Copies of flyers and survey
Photo/video documentation during project
Copies of thank you letters
Blog and time log

F. PROJECT JUSTIFICTAION
With my project, I hope to spread awareness of the policies in prisons that are related to
or due to the use of psychology. I want to spread this awareness to both students who have some
background in psychology and students who have never delved into the subject. This project is a
challenge for me because I have never tried to run a large event on my own before. Reaching out
to Landstowns principle to ask to use the school will be difficult because I need to firmly
establish the importance of what Im doing to get permission. I will also have to show that it
directly relates to LHS students as well as FCHS students. I will need to find students to
participate as contestants that are reliable, and preferably, people who have many friends and are
likely to draw a crowd.

G. PROJECT-PAPER CONNECTION
My topic guides my project as the major informational component of it is giving a
seminar about the things I discovered while writing my paper. The second part, the costume
contest, ties in an interesting subset of my topic. Ill briefly explain to the group that the reason I
am holding said contest is to demonstrate just how many aspects of a prisoners life are affected
by the application of psychology. Once all the contestants have shown their costumes, I will
instruct everyone to grab the envelope Ive hidden under their seats. It will tell them which, if
any, costumes theyre allowed to vote on. This simulates how the recommendation of a therapist
can severely limit the access an inmate has to movies by prohibiting their watching movies with
certain ratings. After the winner is announced, I will start a short discussion on whether or not
this is a fair practice. As a concluding activity, I am going to pass out a short survey where
participants are asked to evaluate how much theyve felt they learned.

H. ACADEMIC HONESTY
Academic honesty is completing work individually without using prohibited sources, be it
another person or an online resource. It involves always turning in original work and citing
sources when necessary. Plagiarism occurs when someone elses work is used in place of the
work of the student submitting it. It can also include neglecting to provide citations where
needed. The consequences for plagiarizing or violating the principle of academic honesty are as
explained in the following statement taken from the manual, I understand that any academic
dishonesty by me on any part of the project will result in failure of the Senior Project and
forfeiture of the Legal Studies Seal on my High School diploma.