Dear Educators! 

The United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other country in the world.  Inside/Outside/Other: Mass Incarceration in the United States asks students to examine how the dehumanization of incarcerated people, both inside and outside the four walls of prison, allows this system to keep growing.  

Students will read the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and discuss the question of who is deserving of these rights. Students will also learn about the roles that bias, discrimination, and dehumanization play in our understanding and treatment of incarcerated people.  

By examining statistics and reading transcripts and interviews of incarcerated people, students will  learn about the many ways incarcerated people refuse to be dehumanized by this system; how they affirm their own humanity and often affirm the humanity of others. Finally, the students will imagine a more just system. 

The activities in Inside/Outside/Other connect directly to several UDHR articles, including: 

       •   Article 2: These rights belong to everyone. You should never be discriminated against. 
       •   Article 5: No one can torture you or treat you in a cruel or degrading way. 
       •   Article 25: You have the right to an adequate standard of living, including housing, food, and medical care. 

THANKS!

Hope of Family