Offenders, Work, and Rehabilitation
Author(s): Jaime Ascencio
Source: Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture , 2018, Vol. 28, No. 1 (2018), pp. 21-28
Published by: American Horticultural Therapy Association
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26598041
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Offenders, Work, and
Rehabilitation:
Horticultural Therapy as a
Social Cognitive Career Theory
Intervention for Offenders
Jaime Ascencio1
1 Colorado State University
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JOURNAL OF THERAPEUTIC HORTICULTURE
Horticultural Therapy as a Social Cognitive
Career Theory Intervention for Offenders
People within the prison system, commonly
referred to as offenders, are an important
population to reach with vocational psychology.
The number of people within the criminal
justice system is rapidly increasing, yet funding
cuts are frequent. To better reintegrate into
society, offenders need adequate care and
training, such as vocational skills, counseling,
and addressing criminogenic concerns.
Vocational psychology is uniquely equipped
to aid offenders in their rehabilitation and
reintegration. While further research is greatly
needed, the current predominating vocational
theory for offenders is Social Cognitive Career
Theory (SCCT) (Brown, 2011; Varghese &
Cummings, 2012). This model is able to explain
offenders and their vocational situations.
Interventions can be designed to address
this model’s components by using vocational
horticultural therapy in prison populations.
These interventions, when implemented in a
more general vocational sense, have greatly
improved recidivism rates and helped offenders
with their various concerns (Jiler, 2006).
Horticultural therapy is able to act as a unique
vocational intervention for prisoners from the
perspective of Social Cognitive Career Theory.
2018: VOLUME XXVIII | ISSUE I
Vocational Psychology
It is becoming increasingly important to use vocational
psychology with offenders both because of the shifts in
offender populations and because of the paradigm shifts
that this viewpoint creates. In 2009, 3.1% of adults
were incarcerated, on parole, or on probation, which
was an increase from 1.3% in 1980. 1/45 European
Americans are under correctional supervision, compared
to 1/27 Latinos and 1/11 African Americans (Varghese
& Cummings, 2012). These increasing numbers, large
racial disparities, and the fact that 95% of the offenders
will be released back into the general public indicate
a need for improved interventions among offender
populations. To begin offering these improvements,
a paradigm shift for both how vocational psychology
and offenders are viewed needs to occur. Vocational
psychology must recognize the need to intervene at
earlier stages since adult interventions are largely unable
to change poverty and poor education. Furthermore,
it must be recognized that criminal behaviors include
attitudes and beliefs that are often overlooked (Varghese
et al., 2013). Crime is not simply a mistake that harms
society, but it serves many of the same purposes that
other legal vocational pathways serve. With the rising
needs of offenders, the way that people view vocational
psychology and crime must change in order to create
lasting differences in millions of lives.
Helping offenders to increase their vocational skills
and become gainfully employed will benefit not only
the offenders, but also the prison systems and society
at large; however, many current vocational programs
are not meeting the unique needs of offenders.
Employment is associated with a decrease in re-offense
and an increase in mental well-being (Brown, 2011).
Stable employment is one of the strongest predictors
of success after release from prison (Brown, 2011),
yet 60% of offenders remain unemployed one year
after their release (Varghese & Cummings, 2012). In
addition to benefitting the individual, employment
also benefits families and communities. Families are
helped both financially and via improved relationships.
The community benefits by experiencing reduced
crime (Brown, 2011) and by saving over $30,000 per
year for each individual kept out of the prison system
(Varghese & Cummings, 2012). Having vocational
programs in prisons is important, as moving to prison
results in offenders developing new roles and career
goals (Neusteter Koshak, 1998). Offenders also cost
the prisons less when they are engaged in productive
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2018: VOLUME XXVIII | ISSUE I
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labor, as working prevents their deterioration. While
the goal is to increase employment among ex-offenders,
many current programs are insufficient. They are
often educational, teaching a specific craft, or they
involve working in the prison to offset the cost of
their incarceration. These programs are neglecting to
integrate the mental health and criminogenic needs of
its clients. Fortunately, vocational psychology is able
to make the programs more realistic and appropriate
for offenders by integrating these needs (Varghese
& Cummings, 2012; Varghese et al., 2013). Through
the lens of SCCT’s Model of Person, Contextual, and
Experiential Factors Affecting Career-Related Choice
Behavior Perspective (Figure 1), horticultural therapy
is able to work with the ideas and goals of offenders and
vocational psychology. This model portrays the network
of factors that ultimately influence a person’s careerrelated behaviors.
Social Cognitive Career Theory
SSCT and Social Learning Theory are preferred
vocational theories to use when conceptualizing
offenders, as they account for occupational choices and
decision-making processes (Brown, 2011). SCCT is the
most studied and arguably the most applicable theory
for offenders due to its further addressing of a variety
of contextual, intrapersonal, experiential, and decisionmaking influences (Varghese & Cummings, 2012; Brown
et al., 2013, Varghese et al., 2013). The model can be
viewed both as a content or process model, focusing
on what offenders do or on how they do it. Typically,
the theory is looked at from a content perspective, yet
using the process model allows for it to examine adaptive
career behaviors and attitudes such as work readiness,
employability skills, job maintenance behaviors, and the
interests, values, and skills that offenders have (Brown
et al., 2013). Each stage of SCCT explains unique
challenges that offenders face and offers different
ways in which vocational interventions can be done via
horticultural therapy.
Horticultural Therapy
Horticultural therapy (HT) is done by a trained
professional who uses plants and horticulture activities
to accomplish the client’s defined treatment goals. The
activities can be adapted to meet the client’s treatment
goals in natural ways and is a client-centered, strengthsbased modality. Vocational horticultural therapy is one
of the three main types of HT and its goal is to positively
affect vocational outcomes by improving job skills and
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employment (Haller & Kramer, 2006, p. 8). A prime
example of HT is a program at San Francisco County
Jail. This is an educational program with an 8-acre
garden that was started in 1982 and will be further
explained throughout this paper. For more information
on other well-implemented HT prison programs and for
information beyond the scope of this article, please see
Doing Time in the Garden: Life Lessons through Prison
Horticulture, a book by Jiler (2006) about GreenHouse
on Rikers Island, Insight Garden’s website (http://
insightgardenprogram.org/) about a program at San
Quentin State Prison in California, or Roots to ReEntry’s website (https://phsonline.org/programs/rootsto-re-entry/) about a program for Philadelphia’s Prison
System. Horticultural therapy programs such as these
are designed to meet offender’s unique vocational needs
at all stages of the SCCT model.
Person Inputs and Background Contextual
Affordances
The first stage of SCCT’s model involves person inputs
and background contextual affordances. Particularly
salient person inputs for offenders include ethnicity,
internal struggles, and criminogenic needs. An
example of the effects of ethnicity was demonstrated
when a study had both African Americans without
criminal records and European Americans with and
without criminal records apply to various jobs. It was
found that the African Americans without a criminal
record were less likely to hear back than both groups
of European Americans. Considering that African
Americans are grossly overrepresented in the criminal
justice population, it is important to understand their
pre-existing employment challenges, despite their
criminal records. Another important person input that
offenders deal with are their internal struggles. They are
3-4 times more likely to suffer from mental illness than
the general population, yet they infrequently receive
treatment (Jiler, 2006, p. 35; Varghese & Cummings,
2012). Offenders also suffer from skill deterioration
while incarcerated, making it even more difficult for
them to obtain employment once released (Varghese &
Cummings, 2012). A final person input that uniquely
affects offenders is their criminogenic needs, such
as antisocial attitudes, criminal peers and family, and
substance abuse. These person inputs of ethnicity,
internal struggles, and criminogenic needs are all
important to consider and work with.
Background contextual affordances are also an essential
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JOURNAL OF THERAPEUTIC HORTICULTURE
component within the first part of SCCT’s model.
Offenders often do not have their basic vocational
needs met after being released, such as transportation,
interview clothing, and housing. They also struggle to
be hired. In surveys, 40-66% of employers report that
they would probably or definitely not be willing to hire
someone with a criminal record (Brown, 2011; Varghese
& Cummings, 2012). This is likely due to the unfounded
stigma that offenders experience, as workplaces who
hire ex-offenders are no more likely to experience risks
than those who only hire non-offenders. Additionally,
there are legal restrictions as to what jobs offenders
are allowed to work (Harris & Keller, 2005). Finally,
offenders often lack experience. Only 50% of offenders
have graduated from high school in comparison to 75%
of non-offenders. Combining that with their time spent
in jail, offenders have much less vocational experience
as well as large gaps on their resume of times not spent
in the work force (Brown, 2011; Varghese & Cummings,
2012). Offender’s unique person inputs and background
contextual affordances are essential to consider when
designing vocational programs for them.
Horticultural therapy is able to improve some of
offenders’ person inputs and background contextual
affordances such as poverty, criminogenic needs, and
mental health. To help with poverty, a person influence
in line with their variety of employability difficulties,
horticultural therapy can teach both general and specific
employment skills. One Caucasian female inmate at San
Francisco County Jail explains the general skills she sees
her fellow inmates gain from their HT program:
A lot of people who come in here haven’t had jobs,
steady jobs. They sold dope. And they come here and
you’ve gotta get up at six in the morning, you gotta get
dressed, you gotta get ready, and for them that’s unheard
of. I’ve heard people saying this is the earliest I’ve been
up in my life. … And pretty soon you see these people
that aren’t used to it wanting to go out on weekends too.
(Wellington, 1992)
This demonstrates the generalizable skills that HT helps
teach its clients. The offenders also learn horticulture
specific skills, such as the growing process, management,
construction, and maintenance that will help them
obtain employment in those fields (Jiler, 2006, p. 38).
HT is also able to provide the offenders with the skills
and means to grow themselves inexpensive, healthy
food, which is difficult to obtain when impoverished.
2018: VOLUME XXVIII | ISSUE I
Horticultural therapy helps with other person inputs,
such as criminogenic needs. It helps build prosocial
attitudes, such as by making prosocial goals (e.g., not
arguing with the other participants during the activity
earns a reward of the offender’s favorite task) and
by donating the food to the local community. An
African American man in the San Francisco County
Jail explained, “We figure we take a lot out of our
community and this is a way of giving back to our
community… and we take pride in what we do. Yeah,
so we grow the best and we give the best food to the
people” (Wellington, 1992). This shows how the
offenders are improving their prosocial mindsets and
taking pride in giving back to the community they
came from. Another criminogenic need that HT’s
vocational programming helps with is substance abuse.
Horticulture provides a hobby to fill leisure time with,
which is an essential component of substance abuse
treatment. It also provides users with a new way
to understand their substance abuse. One African
American man explains:
Weeding is something that we do to give plants room to
grow because the weeds, they tend to choke plants in
a way… we apply that to our lives as though drugs and
alcohol are like a weed in some of our lives that we have
to weed out, that we have to cut at the roots in order
to grow as a healthy human being and be productive in
society. (Wellington, 1992)
This shows how offenders are able to reconceptualize
their substance abuse and apply that insight to their
lives. Finally, just as HT can help with vocational
goals and needs, it also can help with mental health
goals and needs, which is fitting given that the origin of
counseling psychology was vocational psychology. In the
SSCT model, these person influences and background
contextual affordances then influence people’s learning
experiences.
Learning Experiences
The learning experiences people have are similar
to the neck of an hourglass. They’re influenced by
a multitude of personal influences and background
contextual affordances and they fan out to influence
a variety of self-efficacy and outcome expectations
(Varghese & Cummings, 2012). Horticultural therapy
helps to broaden learning experiences by proving new,
yet familiar and non-threatening, learning experiences.
By increasing exposure to different experiences and
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learning from them, a person can improve upon the
next step of the SCCT model: self-efficacy and outcome
expectations.
Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is essential for offenders to have, yet
rare for them to experience. Studies show that
people perform better when they have self-efficacy
for the task. Self-efficacy also relates to employment
outcomes. Offenders are more likely to keep their
jobs when they are confident that they can deal with
work challenges, and they experience better outcomes
with their substance abuse treatments when their selfefficacy for coping is increased. However, offenders
often lack confidence in employee roles and end
up feeling hopeless (Varghese & Cummings, 2012;
Cummings, 2008). A study of a vocational program
done by Fitzgerald et al. (2012) was able to improve
career search self-efficacy, perceived problem solving
abilities, and hopefulness. This demonstrated that
brief, group career counseling interventions can help
prepare offenders for release and help them with their
career concerns (Fitzgerald et al., 2012). Finally,
outcome expectations for non-criminal behavior are
influenced by self-efficacy and can be improved with
psychoeducational classes (Varghese & Cummings,
2012). Self-efficacy and outcome expectations are highly
influential in affecting the career interests, goals, and
actions of offenders, and therefore it is important to
improve them with vocational interventions.
Horticultural therapy is able to increase self-efficacy,
control, success, and hope. By doing various activities
and creating personal performance accomplishments
(the most influential of the four sources of self-efficacy),
offenders are able to learn new skills and successfully
complete them. One offender in the San Francisco
County Jail explained, “If I can take care of this… why
can’t I take care of myself?” (Wellington, 1992). This
contemplation indicates that he is beginning to increase
his self-efficacy for self-care after seeing the benefits of
his hard work in the garden. Another offender more
explicitly demonstrated his increasing self-efficacy
for his work: “[I have] the belief that what I plant is
going to grow” (Wellington, 1992). These offenders
are experiencing increased self-efficacy not only for
the horticulture activities they are doing, but also for
their overall competence at successful living outside
of prison. The HT program also increases offenders’
sense of control and success, feelings they rarely are
25
able to find in a prison setting. Because plants respond
to the care they are given and involve work, planning,
skill, and understanding, offenders are able to see the
direct results of their care. They develop a sense of
accomplishment and pride in the work they did and
are able to feel an increase in self-efficacy and outcome
expectations as a result (Jiler, 2006, p. 35). The HT
program also develops hope within the offenders, which
is essential to increasing outcome expectations. The
founder of the program, Catherine Sneed, explains the
effects she has seen on offenders’ hope:
I’ve seen [the program] make people who have no hope
have hope, which is a tremendously powerful thing. I
don’t think it’s because of me or because of the staff
here, I do think that it is what they’re doing… because
of the work, they’re giving themselves to people who
don’t have anything, food for people, but also trees to
streets where there aren’t trees, flowers where there are
no flowers, which is as important as giving vegetables
or food to people without food … Working with these
green things gives them a sense of life and most of them
have never had it from anywhere else. (Wellington,
1992)
The jail’s program fosters hope and a sense of vitality
within its residents that they often had not experienced
before. This hope carries through and provides intrinsic
motivation, which helps offenders to work through the
last component of SCCT’s model: their goals, interests,
and actions.
Interests, Goals, and Actions
Offender’s interests, goals, and actions are the results
of their self-efficacy and outcome expectations, yet
can still be a targeted improvement within a vocational
horticultural therapy program. Varghese & Cummings
(2012) explained that goals are essential to organizing
and sustaining behavior, especially when external
reinforcement is absent. However, many offenders
struggle with goal setting (Varghese & Cummings,
2012). HT can help with all three components by
promoting new interests through exposure to new work
and leisure involvements, promoting new goals naturally
by providing the offenders with achievements in the
garden, and by using a plethora of metaphors to explain
offenders’ actions. Metaphors are especially helpful
because they illustrate points in a simple, tangible way.
For example, one metaphor used is that the garden is
the offender. Chemicals and fertilizers may produce
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JOURNAL OF THERAPEUTIC HORTICULTURE
high yields initially, but eventually they harm the garden
and the surrounding land (Jiler, 2006). Offenders are
able to apply metaphors like this to their own lives and
situations in order to gain increased understanding about
themselves. Through use of vocational horticultural
therapy, offenders are able to change and improve their
interests, goals, and actions.
Conclusion
Horticultural therapy is a vocational intervention that is
underutilized in offender populations. Social Cognitive
Career Theory is the most popular and studied
theory to explain offender’s vocational trajectories,
and horticultural therapy is able to act an effective
intervention at all stages of SCCT. Notably, vocational
horticultural therapy is able to reduce recidivism. By
continuing to use horticultural therapy as a unique
vocational intervention for offenders, offenders’ lives
will be dramatically improved, allowing them to better
themselves and their communities.
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2018: VOLUME XXVIII | ISSUE I
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(2012). OPTIONS for Preparing Inmates for Community
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Wellington, N. (Director). (1992). Growing Season (Motion
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JOURNAL OF THERAPEUTIC HORTICULTURE
BIOGRAPHY
Jaime Ascencio is a PhD Counseling Psychology
student at Colorado State University. She researches
horticultural therapy, climate justice education, and
authenticity. Jaime’s career goals include teaching at
a small university and having a horticultural therapy
practice. She has a certificate in horticultural therapy, is
completing a teaching certificate, and enjoys mentoring
undergraduate students.
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2018: VOLUME XXVIII | ISSUE I