Episode 18: Personal Growth Program Evaluation (Amber Petkus)

Think like a burglar! What makes one house an irresistible target and another one a hard pass? And could that Second Amendment sign in your front yard actually be attracting burglars instead of deterring them? In this episode of Pracademically Speaking, we go inside the minds of experienced burglars—virtually! Dr. Patrick McClanahan of the University … Continue reading "Episode 25: Using Virtual Reality to Understand Criminal Decision-Making (Dr. Patrick McClanahan)"

What happens when we interview AI itself about the future of AI in corrections?  For the first time on the podcast, our guest isn’t human. Meet Dr. PracaBot, an AI bot with an honorary doctorate and plenty of opinions, for a completely unscripted conversation about how artificial intelligence could transform corrections—from prison safety and recidivism … Continue reading "Episode 24: Future of AI in Corrections (w/ AI bot as guest)"

What happens after lawmakers pass criminal justice reform? Eventually, somebody has to ask: Did it actually work? In this episode, Bret Bucklen and Matt Kleiman (Executive Director of the PA Commission on Sentencing) discuss two major evaluations required under Pennsylvania’s Justice Reinvestment Initiative 2 (JRI2)—Short Sentence Parole and the State Drug Treatment Program—and what the … Continue reading "Episode 23: Justice Reinvestment program outcomes (Dr. Matt Kleiman)"

What happens when a Pennsylvania prison unit is built around dignity, normalization, and human-centered design—and then tested with real science? Recorded onsite inside SCI Chester’s nationally recognized “Little Scandinavia” unit, this episode features Dr. Jordan Hyatt (Drexel University) sharing the philosophy behind the model and early results from a randomized controlled trial on violence, misconducts, … Continue reading "Episode 22: Little Scandinavia (Dr. Jordan Hyatt)"

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections recently developed a new five-year strategic plan – a roadmap for becoming a more intentional, data-driven organization.  This episode features a discussion with Randee Brant (Chief of Staff for the PA DOC) about why the department chose this moment to develop a strategic plan, how the goals and measures were built, … Continue reading "Episode 21: PA DOC Strategic Plan (Randee Brant)"

Results are in from the most rigorous evaluation to date of Pell-funded college programs in prison. In this episode, Dr. Sarah Tahamont (University of Maryland) joins Pracademically Speaking to unpack findings from Pennsylvania’s randomized controlled trial of Second Chance Pell—and what the evidence really says about recidivism, employment, and the limits of impact at scale.

In this episode, Dr. Bucklen discusses what it means for a program, policy, or practice in corrections to be “evidence-based.”  This label gets applied frequently to all sorts of programs, policies, and practices in corrections but less examined is the strength and quality of the evidence.  Dr. Bucklen also discusses cost-benefit analysis, and why effectiveness … Continue reading "Episode 19: Evidence-Based Corrections Policy"

In this episode, we discuss a recently completed evaluation of the Personal Growth program for technical parole violators.  The guest on the show is Dr. Amber Petkus, joint post-doctoral fellow with Penn State University and the PA Department of Corrections.  We also talk with Dr. Petkus about her experience as a post-doc at the PA … Continue reading "Episode 18: Personal Growth Program Evaluation (Amber Petkus)"

In this episode we revisit three previously conducted evaluations by the PA Department of Corrections: 1) Therapeutic Communities (TCs); 2) the SIP-HOPE pilot program; and 3) a residential relocation pilot program. These evaluations highlight the use of multiple rigorous evaluation methodologies (randomized controlled trial, regression discontinuity, and propensity score matching) for attempting to understand the … Continue reading "Episode 17: PADOC Evaluations of TCs, SIP-HOPE, and Residential Relocation"

Staff wellness is an under-appreciated component of corrections historically.  The field is just now starting to pay more careful attention to this important topic, but how do we measure the effectiveness of staff wellness initiatives?  Outcomes in this area tend to be a bit more squishy than say recidivism rates or in-prison assault rates.  In … Continue reading "Episode 16: Staff Wellness (Kayla Franklin)"