UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 12, Page 9
November 17, 1994
Experiencing real world; Criminal justice students volunteer at
   hospital

     Experience outside the classroom is especially important in the
field of criminal justice according to Dennis O'Sullivan, instructor
in criminal justice. So, he, along with Jeannine Herrmann, community
relations officer at Delaware State Hospital in New Castle, organized
a volunteer program for interested students in 1991 at the hospital.
     Currently, eight of O'Sullivan's students are working as
volunteers there.
     "I'm encouraged by the number who volunteer and stick with it,"
O'Sullivan said.
     Herrmann is equally pleased with the program. "We are so
fortunate to have these students bring their youth and vitality to our
hospital," she said. They "are among our best resources."
     The volunteers engage in a number of structured activities with
patients, including holiday and birthday parties and instruction in
music. "But, most important," according to O'Sullivan, is the
"informal interaction between students and patients.
     "Their activities give both patients and students the opportunity
to realize not only their differences, but also the opportunity to see
their similarities first-hand," O'Sullivan added. "It is the
similarities between them that students usually don't expect to
encounter."
     Jennifer Corcoran, a junior criminal justice major who hopes to
attend graduate school in psychology, volunteers each Saturday morning
in the Aggressive Male Unit. Her activities are mostly informal, such
as playing checkers or bumper-pool, giving her and patients an
opportunity to talk.
     The barriers come down quickly in most cases, she explained.
     "I know a lot of the people I talk with have committed serious
crimes, but I'm not frightened," she said. "You get a whole different
perspective. We learn a lot about each other from the conversations."
     Senior Brandon Webster recalled the tension he felt on the first
night of his volunteer work last fall on the hospital's forensic unit.
"Going through all the security steps makes you nervous-getting buzzed
through all the doors-dropping off any sharp objects you have before
going into the ward.
     "But, when I got in, the patients welcomed me with open arms.
They're excited to see a new face, someone other than the doctors and
fellow inmates they deal with every day."
     Webster's conversation with patients touched on various topics,
including their past, their mental illnesses and the crimes that may
have resulted. "It's interesting to talk about why they did what they
did, to get their perspectives. They often have a unique view of their
acts that most people on the outside wouldn't understand."
     Webster said, however, that most of his conversation with
patients was not always so serious. "I'm one way of connecting them to
the outside world. They're really interested in what I do when I
leave, whether I'm going to the movies or what I did before I arrived.
Even in that way, I felt like I was helping. If I made one person feel
better, it was worth my time."
     Much of O'Sullivan's experience in the fields of criminal justice
and psychology has been outside the realm of education. "But, I have
always wanted to teach," he said, bringing to the classroom his
experience as a psychologist. O'Sullivan has been a member of the
University adjunct faculty since 1991.
     "My students frequently tell me they are fascinated by various
aspects of the course materials. However, their learning is always
missing something without a real-world context, that element of having
seen it first-hand," O'Sullivan said. "I believe it is my
responsibility as a teacher to offer students the opportunity to learn
outside the classroom."
     Underlying this belief is O'Sullivan's own experience as an
undergraduate at Yale University, where he interned at a West Haven,
Conn., psychiatric facility as a student.
     "Former students have told me how instrumental their volunteer
work was in helping them to choose working with the mentally ill as a
career. This parallels my own undergraduate experiences. And, for
those who choose other fields, it remains a valuable experience," he
said.
     O'Sullivan noted that most students, if given the opportunity,
respond enthusiastically to extracurricular learning opportunities.
     "They sense the value of the placements offered and meet me half
way," he said. "I don't have to recruit or coax them. Students are
willing to take advantage of these opportunities, to move outside the
traditional classroom environment, to see how their study of the field
relates to life. They have a hunger for that."
     The volunteer work is not a course requirement, nor is it offered
as extra credit. "I want students to see it as an opportunity to learn
without constraints," he said. "Mrs. Herrmann and I review their
activities to assure that all students have direct patient contact and
are getting something of value from the experience."
     In addition to volunteer work, O'Sullivan, promotes interactive
learning between students and people directly involved in the criminal
justice system by inviting guest speakers to his courses, "The
Psychology of Criminal Behavior" and "Sex, Crime and the Law."
     "In the social sciences, especially psychology, learning
exclusively from lectures and readings is always incomplete. Students
need a context for their learning that is available only through
personal experience," O'Sullivan said. "Volunteer work that is both
interactive and experiential provides that context."
                                                      -Chris Keirstead