{"id":7977,"date":"2020-02-05T23:00:51","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T05:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=7977"},"modified":"2020-02-06T08:07:16","modified_gmt":"2020-02-06T14:07:16","slug":"whitney-gass-gains-valuable-insights-at-national-correctional-conference-in-san-diego","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2020\/whitney-gass-gains-valuable-insights-at-national-correctional-conference-in-san-diego\/","title":{"rendered":"Whitney Gass gains valuable insights at national correctional conference in San Diego"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whitney Gass, assistant professor of criminal justice at Southern Arkansas University and a Governor\u2019s appointee to the Arkansas Board of Corrections, had an \u201ceye-opening\u201d experience attending the American Correctional Association Conference in San Diego, Calif., Jan. 10-14.<\/p>\n

Gass was appointed to the state board by Gov. Asa Hutchinson in February 2017; her term is for seven years. The American Correctional Association (ACA) Conference is held twice annually, in winter and summer. The ACA is the leading accreditation agency in the nation for prisons, reentry centers and community corrections. Gass attended in support of Arkansas\u2019 correctional agencies and said all three passed their reaccreditation hearings \u201cwith flying colors.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Whitney<\/a>

Whitney Gass<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cEach facility up for reaccreditation submitted a packet including an audit performed by a certified ACA auditor,\u201d she said. \u201cThe purpose is to ensure the safety of all inmates, staff and administrators associated with their facilities.\u201d She was proud of the success of Arkansas\u2019 three ACA-accredited agencies.<\/p>\n

Attending the national conference was a great opportunity for Gass \u201cto learn more about the vast machine that is American Corrections from the association that has championed correctional effectiveness for almost 150 years,\u201d said Dr. Deborah Wilson, chair of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Department at SAU. For Gass, it was a chance to learn from professionals in the field and researchers who have dedicated their lives\u2019 work making correctional institutions better and more effective.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most interesting sessions I attended was the accreditation hearing for the three agencies in our state,\u201d Gass said. \u201cIt was my first time meeting some of the staff members and administrators of those institutions. It was an eye-opening opportunity. I learned a lot about corrections in general but also the hard work these professionals do every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conference offered presentations, workshops, and professional development regarding prison education, healthcare in prisons, security, trauma, reentry, drug abuse, and many other topics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI attended several sessions but one of the most enlightening was entitled \u2018Better Understanding Trauma, Abuse and Invisible Suffering Experienced by Men,\u2019\u201d Gass said. \u201cWe talk and read about trauma experienced by women and children, but some of those children are boys and one thing we have failed to embrace is that traumatized young boys grow up to be men who\u2019ve never dealt with or received help healing.\u201d The session was led by a man who had experienced an inordinate amount of trauma with the first event starting around age 7. As a result, he developed addictions, failed in his relationships, and experienced many dark days. \u201cThis shed new light on the incarcerated and how recidivism might be reduced if we encourage more men to dig deep and acknowledge the ways they\u2019ve been hurt even if it happened when they were 5 years old,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n

Prison can be a horrible experience but also a time for education, recovery, and more. \u201cThis conference was academically beneficial because I\u2019ll be able to share much of what I learned \u2013 the importance of professionalism, honesty, integrity, teamwork, communication,\u201d Gass explained.<\/p><\/div>\n

Another topic Gass would like to expand her and her students\u2019 knowledge of is the seriousness of human trafficking. \u201cI don\u2019t believe our students have a real understanding of the severity of this epidemic,\u201d Gass said. \u201cThere should be more education and awareness of it, for our students and future professionals in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other topics covered by the 120-plus conference presentations included gender-responsive care, emergency planning for juvenile facilities, and education in juvenile facilities. \u201cThere was no possible way to hear all of these presentations,\u201d Gass said, \u201cbut they all had something valuable to contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences offers degrees in criminal justice, cybercriminology, psychology, and social work. For more information, please visit https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/lpa\/depts\/bss\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whitney Gass, assistant professor of criminal justice at Southern Arkansas University and a Governor\u2019s appointee to the Arkansas Board of Corrections, had an \u201ceye-opening\u201d experience attending the American Correctional Association Conference in San Diego, Calif., Jan. 10-14. Gass was appointed to the state board by Gov. Asa Hutchinson in February 2017; her term is for… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":564,"featured_media":7978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[297,207,7753],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bss","8":"category-college-of-liberal-performing-arts","9":"category-homepage","10":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}