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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 2015)
Wednesday, September 9, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 21 Washington prison to offer nature videos in solitary By Rachael La Corte Associated Press SHELTON, Wash. (AP) — For dozens of maxi- mum-custody prisoners at Washington Corrections Center, 23 hours each day is spent alone in a small cell, with an hour to walk or run, also alone, in a recreation room with high concrete walls and a metal-grated roof that offers a view of the sky. In the coming weeks, these prisoners — which include the most danger- ous and unruly of the over- all prison population — will have the option of using the hour outside of their cells to watch sunsets, mountains and underwater seascapes through a program that brings the outdoors inside, via video, projected on a blank recreation room wall. The hope of corrections officials is that by offering a regular visual dose of nature, inmates will be calmer, guards will deal with fewer outbursts or violent interac- tions, and overall safety in the unit will increase. The so-called “Blue Room” is based on a pro- gram of the same name in an Oregon prison that has seen some early success with pris- oners in its solitary confine- ment wing. Officials at Washington Corrections Center have installed a projector in one of the recreation rooms and are working out the final details Year-round FIREWOOD SALES — Kindling — — — SISTERS FOREST PRODUCTS 541-410-4509 SistersForestProducts.com before making it available to inmates in their intensive management unit. Starting a few weeks ago, in a room painted blue and decorated with plants, prison officials starting showing the videos to prisoners with intellectual disabilities who are part of a special unit at the prison. The prison, about 30 miles northwest of Olympia, is the first in the state to set up the videos, though oth- ers have expressed interest, including Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla. “If there’s something that shows promise and is going to make it a better work envi- ronment for our staff and for offenders, that’s something we need to take seriously,” said Steve Sinclair, the state Department of Corrections’ assistant secretary over prisons. The blue room is the latest endeavor from the state Department of Corrections’ partnership with the Sustainability in Prisons Project at Evergreen State College in Olympia. Through that effort, prison- ers at various facilities have been involved in programs to breed endangered frogs and threatened butterflies and to grow native flowers and prai- rie grasses. Last year, Washington corrections officials met with their counterparts at Snake River Correctional Institute in Ontario, Oregon, which Sisters Acupuncture Center Julia Wieland WielandTSmith Smith L L.Ac., Ac LMT Greg Wieland L.Ac. 521T523T1523 352 E. Hood Ave., Ste. E ACUPUNCTURE • HERBOLOGY • MASSAGE NUTRITIONAL COUNSELING SISTERS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY Thrift Store ReStore There’s a nip in the air, and we have a huge selection of YARN for your scarf & sweater projects... 50% OFF ANYTHING YOU BUY 1 SKEIN, GET 1 FREE! 541-549-1740 CAN BUILD WITH up Finish m mer u s e thos jects! pro 541-549-1621 141 W. Main Ave., Sisters 254 W. 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The idea for the Oregon program was sparked by Nalini Nadkarni, a profes- sor at the University of Utah. She was called by officials at Snake River who saw a 2010 taped TED talk she gave. In that 5-minute talk, given while she was a professor at the Evergreen State College, Nadkarni spoke of the impact nature could have on those who have no access to it: specifically, prisoners held in solitary confinement. Nadkarni, who had pre- viously worked with prison officials in the Sustainability in Prisons Project, proposed putting nature pictures on the walls of the indoor recreation yard in maximum custody units. Snake River officials were intrigued and wanted to take it one step farther and use videos. Nadkarni and other researchers visited the prison earlier this year to interview inmates and guards and to look at disciplinary data. Nalini said that their prelimi- nary analysis shows that the unit that has seen the nature imagery appears to have a lower rate of disciplinary issues with inmates than the units that haven’t seen the videos. Josue Torres-Rubio, a 22-year-old from Wapato who is serving time on charges for robbery, residen- tial burglary and possession of a stolen car, said he’s looking forward to the video option during his time away from his solitary cell. “It would be good to watch something other than the walls,” he said. Currently, statewide, there are 837 prisoners — or 5 per- cent of the overall prison population — being held in a single cell. Those prisoners range from those who have committed an infraction in the general population and spend no more than 30 days in solitary, to prisoners who are a threat to staff or oth- ers, and can spend more than three years in segregated housing. Others are there for their own protection. Nadkarni said that pro- grams like the blue room are essential rehabilitation tools for prisoners, many of whom will ultimately be released. “Whatever we can do to men and women while incar- cerated to make them more human, less violent, less anxious, it seems that ben- efits society as a whole,” she said.
