Ashley Provencher, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics, is teaching her students the ins and outs of the criminal justice system in the Capital Region. Her class, Economics of Crime, has taken Provencher almost a year to put together, offering her students a myriad of guest speakers and first-hand opportunities during the semester long course.
In the fall of 2014, Ashley participated in the Office of Academic Community Engagement’s Faculty Bus Tour and was introduced to the Community Accountability Board (CAB) at the Albany County District Attorney’s Community Justice Outreach Center (CJOC), a satellite office located in Arbor Hill. CAB is a community based, diversionary program that targets first-time, non-violent offenders. The Bus Tour introduces Siena faculty, like Provencher, with local community programs in hopes of fostering collaboration. These partnerships are not only important for the organizations, but provide an innovative and rigorous academic experience for the Siena students.
“What was really wonderful is that, in addition to working with real world data and being able to produce a report that will be useful beyond this semester, the students learned to use a new statistical software program – STATA,” said Provencher.
Provencher worked from February to May 2015 with Siena VISTA Leah Godin and CJOC Bureau Chief Amanda Kyle-Sprague to code all of the CJOC’s paper case files. They then worked with the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services to match the criminal history records of CAB participants with their case files. Provencher’s students worked to analyze the data during the semester to estimate the recidivism rates of CAB participants and were able to present their findings to Albany County District Attorney David Soares and Bureau Chief Kyle-Sprague. A technical report co-authored by the students and Provencher also will be delivered.
“The D.A. is really interested in the work that we’re doing,” said Dylan Keyer ’16. “Not because he thinks it’s great that we care, but because he actually wants to know this information. He will only get the information if we do the analysis and do the work and present it to him as a professional technical report. There are not many classes where you get these amazing opportunities.”
Provencher wanted her students to fully understand criminal justice in the Capital Region. In order to give them the full picture, she brought in restorative justice scholars such as Dr. David Karp and Duke Fisher, cost-benefit coordinator for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Marc Schabses, civil rights advocate Dr. Alice Green and local police officers. In addition, Provencher and her students traveled to observe CAB case hearings, sentencing at Albany City Court, and incarceration at local and state correctional facilities.
“It’s one thing to have someone come in and tell you about what’s going on in disenfranchised neighborhoods. But when you’re able to drive through the city, you realize these aren’t just statistics. You see these people’s lives and the conditions they’re in,” said Keyer.
Provencher plans on continuing her work with the CJOC well after the semester ends. Her personal research on program evaluation and criminal justice reform will keep her connected with the program.
The Economics of Crime was supported by a Cross-Cultural Solidarity Experience Grant from the Damietta Cross-Cultural Center. It is also a Community Engagement (ACOM) class supported by ACE's Community Engaged Teaching and Learning (CETL) program.
