User talk:Baileyshanti/sandbox

Hello
Just stopping by to say hello and tell you that I am interested in your topic. I am currently conducting an independent study on parole processes in Michigan, specifically for prisoners with mental health concerns. If I can help in any way let me know. Also, although I am a novice at Wiki editing, I may be able to help with some formatting issues. Anyway, I look forward to completing this project with the class! Umich hudsonmh (talk) 02:58, 26 February 2014 (UTC)

Content:
The content is good, yet very broad. Thinking about who the audience will be, it could help to break it down a bit more. A way to do this would be to also talk about the offenses that African-Americans are criminalized for in comparison to Whites. What are the differences in charges? What are the differences in served time? What are the differences in type of crime? You could also create various links that you don’t have to go into detail (because they already have wiki pages) but can further explain recidivism, such as linking it to institutionalized racism, school-to-prison pipeline, private prisons, prison-industrial complex etc.

“A cultural re-grounding of African Americans is important to improve self-esteem and help develop a sense of community” is a bit confusing. Is this “cultural re-grounding of African Americans” and “develop[ment] of a sense of community” Is this referring to something that should take place while they are imprisoned? Or is it a broader comment in regards to people of African descent?

In regards to the programs that address “social skills training and social problem solving,” it would be helpful to be more specific. What are examples of these programs? What type of social skills? What type of social problems would they address?

Also, because recidivism is related to racism, it would be great to mention programs that educate employers, detention centers, prisons, and communities about this unjust situation. You could also mention groups that are trying to address prison abolition. You could make a link to The New Jim Crow or Angela Davis.

There are a few places where grammar could be tweaked-I (Becca) would be happy to help. I love proofreading (seriously). Also, the term "Caucasian" is a misnomer for white people-if you look it up on Wikipedia, it leads you to information about peoples of the Caucasus region (the border of Europe and Asia). I understand that can be tricky if your source uses the classification "Caucasian" though.

Additionally, the section titled "Reducing Recidivism Among African-Americans" seems a little unclear to me (Becca)-the language about conformity implies heightened social control, and I'm not sure that's what the intended meaning is. (I hope that makes sense!)

Content (Response)
Thank you for your feedback; it was definitely insightful. We agree in part with your assessment of the broad nature of our contribution. Because this article deals solely with recidivism, we did not feel it was appropriate to discuss charges, institutional racism, etc. However, we will take your suggestion and provide links to the appropriate pages so that the reader can explore further if they wish.

We will also take your suggestion regarding mentioning programs that work to reduce recidivism. In addition, we will work to clear up the confusion within the section "Reducing Recidivism Among African-Americans". We are definitely not trying to convey that African-Americans should conform.

The figure was found on the website the librarian showed us in class (the name escapes me at this moment). We will consider creating our own figure, or at the very least, provide better citations for it.

We apologize for the references. We are still trying to work out the bugs. We will have that complete this weekend.

Again, thank you for your insights. We will use them to strengthen our article. Baileyshanti (talk) 16:09, 12 March 2014 (UTC)baileyshanti

Figure:
Did you make this image? Is it an original? If so it’s great! if not it would be good to turn it into a simplistic chart/graph. Otherwise, good job.

If you make another graph, it may be helpful to have something specifically about recidivism--the current graph refers generically to incarceration rates.

References:
The references in the introduction do not have a link. We were unable to check the quality and appropriateness of the rest of the references because you did not include your sources, so just remember to try to vary your sources so they aren't all one type (textbooks, primary literature, and review articles are mentioned in the rubric). Also, you didn’t include a content box.