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Edification and Education Activities

  • Publication Date :
  • Last updated:2021-11-05
  • View count:4024

1. In-Prison Edification and Education: (1)Counseling Education: jIndividual Counseling: Counsels and inmates conduct person-to-person consultations, which are administered in a kind and friendly manner without constraint of formality. Timing is of the essence when administering counseling. In addition to administering counseling for new admittance, parole, consumption, change of inmate status, family incident, reward and punishment, sickness, classification, and promotion, for inmates who are upset about sickness, family misfortune, loss of family member, no visitor for a period of time, or other special situations, comfort and special counseling will be given. kGroup Counseling: The Edification and Education Section is in charge of arranging the counseling schedule. Volunteer social workers and volunteer counsels are recruited to administer counseling for inmates; experts and scholars are also invited to deliver educational seminars. lCategorized Counseling: Inmates are classified by the details of crime type and the nature of crime when allocating resources and achieving maximum correctional and educational results for educational purposes. mReligion Counseling: A religion awareness time is scheduled weekly. According to inmates’ religious beliefs such as: Christianity, Catholicism, and Buddhism, religious groups are invited to the Prison to spread their good word and purify the minds and souls, in hopes that the inmates’ moods will be lifted. In addition to purifying people’s minds, advocating mercy and benevolence, and inspiring inmates’ conscience, inmates’ violent and stubborn natures are expected to be replaced with kindness of heart, harmonic personal relationship, and good deeds. n Post-imprisonment Education: Content of edification and guidance: Besides listening to religious preaching and attending seminars, inmates’ reasons for serving prison sentence, relationships with family members, and personal background are inquired to thoroughly understand inmates’ performances in realization of one’s error, attitude of life, personal interaction, awareness of behavior, psychological guidance, willingness of learning, plan for serving out a sentence, and a future prospect in life. Joint efforts of personal counseling service from the Taiwan After-Care Association are also provided. Inmates about to be released from the Prison or special individual cases are admitted in to the in-prison counseling program initiated by volunteer social workers, volunteer counsels, and other volunteer edification workers who have received training in counseling and guidance, so that inmates may cast off the painful suffering of the prison sentence, understand the truth, the good, and the beauty of life along with fully understanding the direction of life, and build a sense of mission. Inmates will receive after-life guidance after being released from the Prison to exercise morality and conscience, abandon biased thoughts and wrong behaviors, become good citizens, and together build a warm and peaceful atmosphere for the society. (2)Activity Groups: jTable Tennis Team: The purpose of establishing a table tennis team is to allow inmates the opportunity to build a healthy body, enrich their spirit and have a calm mind and collective soul. By joining the table tennis team, the inmates can be at peace with one’s self, shake off their naïve nature and wandering dreams, and thus perfect both internal and external qualities while serving their prison sentence. kBasketball Team: The purpose of establishing a basketball team is to allow the inmates the opportunity to build a healthy body, cultivate confidence and courage, see with a broader vision, open up breadth of mind, purify their mind, gain a macroscopic perception of life, establish noble sentiment, and enhance humane cares. After being released, the inmates are expected to be able to adapt to the competitive world outside, not to compromise public order and endanger other people and the interests of society, rather to be a good person. Through basketball games, inmates may release pressure while serving their prison sentence. It not only allows for vent to depression and stabilizes inmates’ status, but also helps in elevating boredoms while at the prison and adds freshness and vivacity to edification. lBadminton Team: The purpose of establishing a badminton team is to cultivate physical bodies for the inmates, abandon bad habits of the past, and bring out the best traits within each of the inmates. By participating in the badminton games, inmates may have a good channel to release pressure. It not only stabilizes inmates’ status, but also helps to build endurance and diligence. Building indefatigable and vivacious spirits helps in wiping out unpleasant memories of failure in the past, cast off shame and inferiority complex, and strive to move toward a new self and new dream. mTraditional Chinese Music Orchestra: The purpose of establishing the traditional Chinese music orchestra is to help inmates find the ideal music style among the Chinese music instruments, which best fits their taste. Through actual performance of arts, dreams, blessings, and wishes in the inmates’ hearts are revealed while other inmates may share and own a feast of the soul when listing to the music pieces. Through the performance of traditional Chinese music, inmates may try to face their crime, reconcile with the moods that they have never realized, confess to themselves, generate different prospects, go beyond the limit of time and space, and break the boundary of interpersonal relationship. nOrchestra Band: The purpose of establishing an orchestra is to convert inmates’ stubborn natures into gentle and merciful behavior. During long-term learning, training, and performing, the benefit of exertion of music is more and more obvious, and the result of edification for inmates is excellent. Through the orchestra performances, inmates may perfect their minds and souls, improve behavior, release pressure, eliminate feverish and unstable atmosphere, explore their potential interests and live the life in prison, cast off limitation of freedom of activity and fetters and handcuffs of spirit and soul, and focus on self-improvement and self-examination. oLion Dance Group: The purpose of establishing the lion dance group is to promote traditional lion dance arts, pass down folk arts, enhance the cultural and art level, and achieve the goal of edification. In addition, it may encourage inmates to practice team spirit, learn cooperation within groups, and exhaust excessive energy and help to develop ones potential. It exhibits the diverse edification mission that integrates with traditional folk arts, achieves the effects of “no punishment in prison term” and “assist rehabilitation with just”, and opens up a new page in the reform of prison administration. pChorus: The purpose of establishing a chorus is to allow inmates the opportunity to express their feelings about depression when they need to find an exit for their emotion by singing in a chorus. Even though they may not sing very well, enjoyment can be added to the long and boring life in prison with professional teacher’s instruction and the healing effect of the music. In addition, inmates may find their own paradise in their happy and easy singing. Inmates’ depressed feelings may be released thorough songs and the anxiety may be dissolved. When the inmates are singing, they may focus on the joy of songs and devote themselves as if it is a paradise. Inmates will no longer feel sad and setback. (3)Talent Workshop: Talent Workshops teach Chinese painting, calligraphic art, western painting, paper umbrella, and other artistries. Inmates learn through observation and imitation in the beginning, and then further improvise to bring out their hidden talent in the creation of art works. Such non-traditional edification brings art culture over the high walls, and inmates may learn occupational skills, appreciate art, purify minds and souls, and convert violence to peace, so that inmates may have better competitiveness in job placement after being released from the Prison, learn patience and gain a sense of responsibility, cultivate personality with art, be inspired with quality of humanity, enrich their personal life, and be encouraged to be confident and work toward a better self. 2. All types of volunteer counsels: In order to enrich the insufficient professional edification personnel in the correction institutions, honor edification counsels and volunteers who are in good standing and have impeccable morality, knowledge and enthusiasm in serving society are the focus of our recruiting efforts. In addition, volunteer workers are trained to improve their expertise so they may assist with investigation and guidance for inmates on parole. Currently the Prison has 37 honor counsels and 209 volunteer social workers to assist with inmates’ edification. 3. Readers’ Club: (1)Inmate Readers’ Club: The readers club has been established in hopes to create an influential environment for the inmates to build well-rounded personalities along with edify and develop greater learning skills. The Kaohsiung City Color Page Women’s Vision Organization leads the course planning and teaching material compiling of the readers’ club. Uplifting and motivational books are recommended to the Prison for purchase for the inmates of the readers’ club to read. Scholars and experts enthusiastic about the readers’ club are also invited to the Prison to hold readers’ club seminars to enhance inmates’ wisdom and understanding of the readers’ club. Readers’ club may assist inmates in purifying their souls and clearing up minds and thoughts, and open up a window for the inmates to release their depression of life in prison. Through the power of knowledge interpreted in words and the perfection of minds, inmates may escalate their level and self-expectation. (2)Inmates’ Writing: In order to enhance the learning environment within the prison and refine personality traits among the inmates, the inmates are given the opportunity to express their thoughts about life in the prison, write self-examinations, book reports, comments about quality newspapers and magazines, and learning results through reading and reflecting on holidays. Two writing sessions about reading commentaries or prison life are conducted every month; it is expected that the inmates may gain a sense of remorse and become better people through literature and writing. (3)Employee Learning Organization: In order to fully facilitate all techniques of a learning organization, enhance knowledge and skills of the members of Discipline Small Group of the Prison, maximize the functions of Discipline Small Group, and promote results of correction at the Prison, the Prison has especially purchased the Fifth Discipline – arts and practice of learning organization published by Common Wealth with public budget. The books located at all the educational blocks for the employees to read. Two topic discussions are arranged every month (Fridays of the second and the fourth week). The Personnel Office records participation hours of employee of correction in Lifelong Learning Passport. Results have been excellent since its implementation. 4. Open University: In concerted efforts with the “School in a Prison” and “Lifelong Learning” policies promoted by the Ministry of Justice to enhance the level of correction education, the Prison cooperates with open universities and establishes an in-person teaching point of Open University. This opens up the new beginning of in-prison university programs. Inmates may choose from 1. National Open University (or) 2. Open University of Kaohsiung, and select the courses they are interested. (1)Programs: Social Science, Life Science, Interpersonal Interaction, Laws, and Business Management. (2)Source of Faculty: Instructors and professors who originally teach in Open Universities are recruited by the Open University Center to teach at the in-person teaching point in the Prison. (3)Class Status: Four in-person teachings every semester. One two-hour session are held per month. 5. Family Visit on Holidays: The Prison hopes that through these visits, inmates can be educated and their nature can be converted to maximize the functions of rehabilitation and correction, society protection, and prevention of recommitment so as to enhance the results of inmate edification and correction. (1)Face-to-Face Family Visit: Visits between inmates and family members are arranged to convert inmate’s mind and correct biased behaviors. Face-to-face family visit are held on the following holidays: 1. Lunar New Year (and) 2, Mid-Autumn Festival. (2)Telephone Visit: The Prison has arranged telephone visit to break though the limitation of imprisonment and maximize edification results. Inmates’ homesickness can be eased. Inmates far away from home and separated from family may talk to family members freely without the limits of time and space and burdensome traffics in good telephone conversation quality. Telephone visits are held according to the holidays: 1. Lunar New Year, (and) 2. Mid-Autumn Festival. 6. Family Visitation: Family visitation in the Prison may allow family members of inmates to better understand the edification concepts of modern correction institutions, eliminate gloomy and corrupted images of prison in the old feudal times, correct erroneous knowledge and concepts, and establish confidence in modernized prison management and skill training environment through the arrangement of prison visitations. Family members no longer need to worry about their relatives serving time in prison by guessing. 7. Leisure Activities: (1)Various leisure and competition activities are held every month. The activities are both physical and mental in nature, such as: volleyball, table tennis, badminton, basketball, dodge ball, calligraphy, Chinese painting, western painting (watercolor, sketch, and comics), singing, public speech, writing (poem, essay, and ragged verse), stage performance, folk art performance, lantern production, design and use of recycled wastes, scale models, and etc. (2)Entertainment and social groups are invited to the Prison for unscheduled performances to ease the minds of the inmates, bring vivacity to prison life, and encourage inmates to participate in calligraphy competitions, paintings, and writing activities outside the Prison. The results of participation in such competitions have been exceptional. (3)Inmates are allowed to watch TV or listen to music during the remaining time from business operation as leisure activity. (4)In order to encourage inmates to establish self-improvement concepts and cultivate reading habits, book exhibitions are sponsored every quarter and quality books are provided for inmates to purchase, so that inmates may cultivate hobbies, improve personal traits, and self-inspire. 8. Whitepaper for Public Service(Edification and Education Section) In order to fully deliver Government’s instruction of public service, promote understanding between the Prison and the general public, establish smooth communication channel, maintain good practice of justice, protect inmates’ human rights by laws, and implement the policy of public service to the basic level in the society, the Whitepaper for Public Service has been produced. (1)By effectively utilizing resources throughout society and increasing services provided by volunteers and social workers, the service windows of the Prison have been strengthened to expand social service functions. (2)We further encourage the general public to use “Superintendent’s Mailbox” and “Public Opinion Mailbox of the Prison” to offer more suggestions about concerns and inquiry of services provided.

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