Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Doctoral Research Paper

Degree Name

Psy.D.

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Michael Karson

Second Advisor

Kim Gorgens

Third Advisor

Bradley McMillan

Keywords

ACT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, BOP, Corrections, Intern, Psychology

Abstract

Correctional psychology became my passion while working on my master's degree. I was surprised to find that such a challenging environment brought me such personal fulfillment, interest, and purpose when I began. I pursued my degree in forensic psychology because I was looking for a career that would bring fascinating and unusual experiences not usually found in more mainstream psychological pursuits. Among the many options within forensic psychology, I had written off correctional psychology in the same way that many people write off the correctional population. At that time, I felt there was little to do for the correctional population and felt little obligation to the incarcerated population. I saw them as individuals who had been given and then discarded their opportunities in life. Upon reflection, I realized that my biases from years of success and privilege had made me disinterested in an entire population of people in need of services. This narrow view was quickly and forcefully broadened when, through circumstances, I found myself working in a local jail for a year. Initially, I had planned to gain the experience of working inside a correctional facility and then quickly redirect towards bigger and better things. However, my professional and personal life was changed when I saw, in person, the people that I had so quickly written off.

Copyright Date

4-22-2022

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. This work may only be accessed by members of the University of Denver community. The work is provided by permission of the author for individual research purposes only and may not be further copied or distributed. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Abby Jay

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

31 pgs

File Size

389 KB

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