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2013 Spring | Arts & Humanities, Environmental Justice

Growing Green Correction Facilities

Student(s):

Sophie Hart

Program or Department(s):

  • Program on the Environment
  • University of Washington

Site supervisor(s):

Ann Anagnost

Partner(s):

  • University of Washington

Faculty advisor(s):

Ann Anagnost, Department of Anthropology, University of Washington

For my capstone project, I looked at the role of gardening programs in correctional facilities. The rehabilitative horticulture programs I learned of during a study abroad trip to Italy inspired me to focus my project on assessing the role these types of programs could play in America’s correctional system. To that end, I volunteered in a Washington State prison, where I worked with inmates each week in the facility’s greenhouses and gardens. I also reviewed academic literature and governmental reports that examined similar programs in the United States. I found that gardening programs in prisons address some of the biggest problems with our correctional system in a unique and critical way.