Prisons: rehabilitation or retribution?

Megan | Feb 12, 2025Feb 12, 2025

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this advanced speaking lesson are to:

• engage in talking about prisons and prisoner rehabilitation;
• watch a video on imprisonment in the U.S.;
• review vocabulary to discuss imprisonment.

With this speaking lesson, students discuss incarceration from a critical perspective. They talk about its purposes, effects and challenges. Students watch a video about mass incarceration in the US, read about ‘the world’s most humane prison’ and share their opinions. They can also do an additional activity where they revise vocabulary to talk about incarceration (e.g. rehabilitation, deterrence, recidivism).

WARM-UP AND VIDEO

Before this speaking lesson begins, students can do an optional vocabulary activity to help them participate in talking about prisons. In the task, they complete gaps using the noun form of verbs (e.g. rehabilitate – rehabilitation). As a warm-up, students then discuss the purpose and impact of incarceration. After that, they watch a video about mass incarceration in the US. First, they read the statistics the video mentions and give their opinion. Next, they watch the video and look at some perspectives on incarceration and its consequences. Students explain what they think they mean and whether they agree. Afterwards, they complete statements about the video with their opinions. 

MORE DISCUSSION

In this part of the lesson, students engage in more discussion about prisons and incarceration. They read about Halden, ‘the world’s most humane prison’, a rehabilitative detention centre in Norway. They engage in talking about prisons, share their thoughts and discuss questions about prison systems and prisoner rehabilitation. Finally, they look at some opinions about crime and punishment (e.g. It should be a mandatory part of rehabilitation that prisoners find a way to give something positive back to society.) and share what they think about them.

WORKSHEETS

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