Gardening Behind Bars

This book discusses jail and prison gardens in the context of clinical sociology. Institutional site-level interventions are used with aims of being able to create system-wide change through the adoption of prison gardens not just at a few facilities, but all facilities using a rights-based approach. Gardens in incarcerated settings can generate real change for the greater good of the imprisoned communities we serve and at the same time be a stepping-stone to address environmental injustice in jail and prison settings. Jail and prison gardens challenge the prison industrial complex by placing some control in the hands of the incarcerated through food sovereignty and community building, not just amongst the incarcerated population, but also with staff who work with them. Jail and prison gardens force administrators to rethink rules and therefore, the iron cage of bureaucracy that they all contribute to. Closer examination of rules and the bureaucratic structure provides officials with the opportunity to modify these structures for the greater good of all, bringing forth meaningful change through collaboration and negotiation with clinical sociologists and incarcerated populations