Criminal Justice Students Tour Prison Complex

Nine students from Mansfield, a Commonwealth University, along with Dr. Justin Crowl, associate professor of criminal justice, toured the Federal Correction Complex (FCC) Allenwood on Thursday, Nov. 10. FCC Allenwood is a complex with three facilities – FCI Low, FCI Medium and USP High. The prison, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, houses male offenders.

The students are criminal justice majors and members of the Mansfield University Criminal Justice club, a student organization open to all criminal justice majors and minors. Students were able to experience prison and experientially learn by going behind the walls to experience prison directly for themselves.

The group first toured FCI-Low, a low-security facility that houses nonviolent criminals, including drug offenders and white-collar criminals. Prison staff, led by Lane Vogler, Ian Lundy, Stacy White, and the associate warden, conducted the tour. A tour of FCI Medium followed. Students were able to ask questions and interact with prison staff. Historical information about both facilities was provided. Staff also talked about the inmate population, the current state of corrections, incarceration, prison culture, staff-inmate dynamics, and prison programs.

The group then toured the penitentiary. USP Allenwood is a high-security facility that houses violent, disruptive, and problematic offenders, many of whom are serving life sentences. Students were able to view several housing units in addition to inmate cells, most of which house two inmates and are no larger than a standard dorm room. They also had the opportunity to tour other parts of the prison, including the dining hall, prison recreation, the yard, UNICOR, a prison labor program operated by the Bureau, and RDAP, which is an intensive, 9-month substance abuse program for inmates. The program uses therapeutic, evidence-based strategies to reduce offender misconduct and recidivism while enhancing education and vocational skills for inmates.

Near the end of the tour, prison staff spoke to students about careers in corrections.

Pictured are students who participated in the tour: Cordasia Adams, Samantha Albright, Brady Eastwood, Serge Grega, Carlie Jensen, Meghan Reichelderfer, Tatyana Singleton, Morgan Smith, and Hayden Spade.