Internship

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Internship

• The Harmony House

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• Many of our communities are affected by crime.
  The news broadcasts are riddled with stories of
  horror that are not imagined not created for
  our entertainment, and unfortunately, parental
  discretion should be advised. These stories are
  so close that we can experience them through
  nearly all of our senses! With this in mind, I
  dedicate this study to the victims of the
  Virginia Tech tragedy and their families.
• James Costen 2007

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Statistics

• Current Georgia Corrections Population
• Probation..............146,325
• Prisons.................53,526
• Parolees...............22,512
• Total....................222,363
• (GDOC 2007)

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Statistics

• 70 80 of all inmates are incarcerated for
  drug-related offenses,
• 23,000 arrests were made in 2006.
• 17 of these arrests was for possession of
  cocaine (the most frequent arrest).
• The list of other drug-related arrests includes
  marijuana, alcohol, heroin, and methylamphetamine
  (meth),
• 50 of all homicides and 62 of all assaults
  involve drugs and/or alcohol,
• Substance abuse treatment can reduce criminal
  activity by up to sixty percent,
• Cobb County ranked second (1,616 arrests) behind
  Atlanta (1712 arrests).

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Statistics

• Health is rarely mentioned
• 46 arrested tested positive for Hepatitis C,
• 5 tested positive for tuberculosis,
• 3 tested positive for syphilis, and
• 2 tested positive for

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The Harmony House

• Turner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME)
  Church
• Community Need was Recognized
• Prison Ministry
• The Turner Hill Community Development Corporation
  (THCDC)
• Harmony House July 1, 2006.

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The Harmony House

• The THCDC Structure
• Primary Program Administrators
• THCDC Executive Director,
• Program Director, and
• Program Manager,
• The Turner Chapel Prison Ministry, Turner Chapel
  AME Church Administrators, and Consultants

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The Harmony House

• The THCDC Structure
• Staff
• Case Manager
• Provides social services and guidance in order to
  assist the ex-offender with reentry issues
  (housing, employment, substance abuse, and mental
  health).
• Resident Manager
• Ensures day-to-day operation in the Harmony House
  
• Assistant Resident Manager (Intern)
• Assists in ensuring day-to-day operation in the
  Harmony House (weekend coverage).

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The Harmony House

• The Partnership
• THCDC , The United Way and the Cobb Collaborative
  Planning and Discharge Committee (CCPDC)
• MUST Ministries,
• The Georgia Department of Labor,
• The Extension,
• The Wash and Wax Connection,
• Travelers Aid,
• The Cobb County Detention Center,
• The Cobb County Sheriffs Department,
• The Cobb County Office of Probations and Parole,
• The Cobb County Police Council on Homelessness,
  and
• The Cobb Community Collaborative.

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The Harmony House

• The Issues
• Many incarcerated in the Cobb County system were
  classified homeless and nearing their release
  dates,
• The communities to which they would be released
  had limited housing options for them,
• Many had addiction issues,
• Many had damaged relationships (family,
  employment, general support), and
• With these pressures, the chances of the
  ex-offender re-offending are high.

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The Harmony House

• The Operation
• Prison officials notify the Harmony House staff
  about inmates in need
• Harmony House literature is provided in the
  facilities
• Prospective participants of the Harmony House
  program are met, interviewed, and assessed before
  their release from prison
• Disqualifying criteria are sex-offenders, violent
  offenders, and severe mental health issues.

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The Harmony House

• The Work
• To walk with the participant through the
  processes of
• reporting to his probation/parole officer
• developing a network of support for recovery from
  addictions
• acquiring employment
• embarking on strategic financial savings
  awareness and planning and
• securing long-term housing.
• Upon exiting the Harmony House, the Case Manager
  continues to walk with the participant for a
  period of time to ensure stabilization.

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The Harmony House

• The Challenge
• The first few hours of reentry are crucial
  because, although there is no intent to use (get
  high) at release, the untreated addict will use
  if the opportunity arises.
• Fully aware of addiction issues at the time of
  incarceration, few offenders seek the help that
  they need while serving their time (Wodahl 2006).
  
• Considering the criticality of the first few
  hours of reentry, the Harmony House Case Manager
  and the Resident Manager are there to take
  participants to the Harmony House upon release.
  Currently, the Harmony House serves only men.

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The Harmony House

• The Internship
• The objectives of the intern (Resident Assistant)
• To make sure that the day-to-day operations are
  maintained throughout the weekends (the time off
  for the resident manager)
• Live on the property while on duty
• Orient the participants to the regulations and
  culture of the house
• Coordinate in-house tasks assigned to the
  participants
• Maintain order in the house
• Administer breathalyzers and/or urinalysis
• Maintain detailed and accurate notes on each
  participant
• Inspect all living quarters, equipment, and
  property on a regular basis
• Provide an example of upright living and
• Submit reports at regular and called staff
  meetings.

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The Harmony House
Durkheimian View

• Observing Social Facts
• Sociological study that veers away from a
  scientific ethos becomes another discipline
  namely philosophy. The dangers of this are the
  inclination to prescribe instead of describe
  and/or studying ideas of ethical/moral rules
  instead of studying ethical/moral rules.
• A couple of other objectives in observing social
  facts are
• Observation must be done without preconceptions,
  and
• The investigation needs to be clearly defined,
  and defined by their external characteristics
  (durkheim 1938).
• As a participant observer at the Harmony House, I
  had the opportunity to see the processes of
  reentry for the ex-offender, the processes of
  assisting them, and an opportunity to experience
  successes and frustrations that accompany these
  processes for both the facilitator and the
  ex-offender.

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The Harmony House
Durkheimian View

• Deviance
• Behavior that violates the rules set by a society
  or behavior that is not conforming to societal
  expectations. Therefore, deviance is relative
  constrained by the society that sets the rules.
  What is wrong in one society may not be wrong in
  another.
• Deviance is normal in and even crucial to healthy
  societies.
• Non-deviants get the sense of solidarity in
  support of the rule that has been violated and
  further affirmation in the processes of punishing
  the deviant. This punishment is not intended to
  prevent crime. Punishment of deviance is
  necessary to assert the importance of the rule
  that has been violated.

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The Harmony House
Durkheimian View

• Suicide
• Suicide is a strong term, but
• In a 1992 study in Norway, 45.5 of 2,051 drug
  addicts admitted into treatment reported
  experiencing life-threatening overdoses, and
• 32.7 attempted suicide. Although one act is
  seen as intentional and the other accidental,
  these two life-threatening behaviors cannot
  always be separated (Rossow and Lauritzen 1999).

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The Harmony House
Durkheimian View

• Suicide
• The suicide rate is a social fact and a product
  of a societys social structure.
• Two Key Factors
• Social integration (where relations bind an
  individual or a group to others moral demands)
  and
• Social regulation (where norms or moral demands
  are placed on the individual as they become
  members of a group)
• Bearman, Peter S. 1991. The Social Structure
  of Suicide. Sociological Forum. 6501-524.

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The Harmony House
Durkheimian View

• Suicide
• Durkheim states that individuals from situations
  where, futures are pitilessly blocked and
  passions violently choked by oppressive
  discipline commit suicide in order to escape
  this control or put more accurately, an attempt
  to demonstrate having some control over their own
  lives.
• Emile Durkheim. 1951. Suicide, A Study in
  Sociology. Glenco Free Press.

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The Harmony House
Durkheimian View

• Religion
• Four functions
• Self discipline is imbued by religious rituals,
• Cohesiveness by the ceremonies that cause people
  to congregate (this edifies the groups
  commonality and social solidarity),
• Vitalization by religious observances that
  maintains the perpetuity of social heritage, and
• Euphoria by restoring the sense of well-being,
  restoring confidence in the state of morality in
  society, restoring faith, counteracting
  frustration, counteracting uncertainty, and
  restoring confidence in the state of morality.
• Coser, Lewis. 1988. Primitive Classification
  Revisited. Sociological Theory. 685-90

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The Harmony House
Durkheimian View

• Sociology of Knowledge
• Basic categories shape perceptions
• Experiences are birth from social structure,
  particularly in simple societies.
• His conclusion was that cognition has social
  origins
• He states that there are no original
  ideas/sentiments motivating any individual they
  are formed by lifes experiences.
• Changing ones worldview is a daunting challenge

Coser, Lewis. 1988. Primitive Classification
Revisited. Sociological Theory. 685-90
Mannheim, Karl. 1952. Essays on the Sociology
of Knowledge. Ed. Paul Kecskemeti. London
Routledge Kegan Paul.
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The Harmony House
Durkheimian View

• Community
• Concern for the transition from mechanical
  solidarity into organic solidarity
• The state of anomie (normlessness) is maintained,
  and possibly, exacerbated by this transition, and
  as an end result, despair or even suicide
• Unlike the state of nature theorists, he thought
  of humans as social beings.
• As organic solidarity developed, so did
  individuality, therefore it would be safe to
  deduce that society makes us individuals rather
  that depicting that individuals make societies.

Emile Durkheim. 1951. Suicide, A Study in
Sociology. Glenco Free Press.
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The Harmony House
Conclusion

• The Cobb County Community
• Working together to address their needs
• Eliminating the blaming
• Successful reentering offenders are good for the
  community
• Examples for others
• Support for other reentering offenders
• Strong resistance of deviance in their
  communities
• This makes the community safe for all
• The Employer
• The employer will eventually find that successful
  reentering offenders are reliable employees
• Experience at the Harmony House is not one for
  the squeamish, for working with the ex-offender
  can be intimidating. However, someone has to
  roll up their sleeves for this tough work in the
  trenches. I highly recommend the appropriate
  sociology or criminal justice major to consider
  the Harmony House assignment for internship.