Growing behind and beyond bars: an examination of prison gardens and reentry green jobs programs

Abstract

This research focuses on prison garden and green re-entry jobs programs to understand the benefits their participants can receive. The United States continues to have one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world. Yet, penal tactics shift over time to placate modern sensibilities and meet ideas around the role prisons should play in broader society. Most recently, some prisons are shifting their focus from discipline to reform and rehabilitation, implementing and working with reintegration industries like prison gardens and green jobs training programs. The success of these programs is often solely measured in recidivism rates, which I argue are limiting and serve to legitimize the prison-industrial complex. This ethnographic research examines these programs to argue that they impact participants beyond what the recidivism rates show, including providing: a sense of purpose, a safe space, new senses of selfhood, and a sense of belonging and community. However, not all garden and green jobs programs are inherently successful and positive. Rather, there must be careful consideration to the structure, formatting, implementation, and execution of the programs in order for them to make a meaningful impact on participants.