Purpose Changes Richard Garland’s Path of Violence to Violence Prevention

Richard Garland has travelled from behind bars to an office at the University of Pittsburgh, aiming to reduce crime in local communities. He was a fighter. He belonged to a gang. He didn’t have a traditional family upbringing.  He came from a broken and dysfunctional home with only a grandmother for parental guidance. And atContinueContinue reading “Purpose Changes Richard Garland’s Path of Violence to Violence Prevention”

Undocumented Experiences: Duquesne’s Oral History Initiative Aims to Share Stories of the Marginalized

“You can’t get something like that from another source.” This is how Megan DeFries describes listening to oral histories of slaves sharing their hardships and firsthand experiences in a racist South during the Civil War. As she explains, in the 1930s during the Great Depression, federal writers began a project to document former slaves toContinueContinue reading “Undocumented Experiences: Duquesne’s Oral History Initiative Aims to Share Stories of the Marginalized”

To Punish or Rehabilitate: Lessons from Comparing US Prisons Across International Lines

What happens after someone is convicted of murder? In the most serious cases, the person is given life without parole or a death penalty sentence. Here, he or she is held in strict quarters, likely to never rejoin society. Or the person could receive a life sentence of around 15 years, possibly serve a 21-yearContinueContinue reading “To Punish or Rehabilitate: Lessons from Comparing US Prisons Across International Lines”