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Latest update: November 5, 2000.
jeannecurran@habermas.org.

This Multiple Interpretation Practice is based on lectures on frequency distributions and artwork, Newskin, by Michael Witkofski, of the University of Wisconsin at Parkside.

On Monday, November 6, 2000, Cheryl Wilson and Lola H. Ephform wrote:

Hi Jeanne, Cheryl Wilson and Lola H. Ephform worked on the "Interpretation of New Skin, or why Rehabilitation Doesn't Work" article. We would like to share what we learned from this article.

The flabby, formless shoulders with outstreched opened hands represents:

• a crimminal poorly represented in court
• poor and unemployed
• iunskilled and uneducated
• reaching for the mercy of a system not willing to yeild..

The muscular defined figure with arms upward with both fist closed represents:

• years of confinement in the prison system.
• limited job skills acquired
• money earned while in prison
• G.E.D. certificate
• self assurance

Rehabilitation Does't Work

Good paying jobs--no felons allowed

Theory:

Economic failure for the ex-con reduces him back into the prison system.

Question:

Could we use the frequency distribution to prove our theory?

On Monday, November 6, 2000, jeanne responded:

What a wonderful practice piece, Cheryl and Lola. "A" for creative application of theory and statistics. I would give you an "A" for seeking material that stimulates the imaginary, for making a very detailed and well thought-out effort to conceptually link that imaginary back to your studies. You actually tried to identify a theory, some variables, and link all that back to frequency distributions, which are often as far as we can go with social science research. (Here you might want to take a look at Noam Chomsky's and Ailbhe Smith's complaints about the arrogance of some social science expertise and theory. Now, unfortunately, it's not that simple. What you have done is make an intellectual leap, from the feelings generated by a piece of art to proof of theory! We're going to slow down and take this one step at a time. jeanne November 6, 2000.

Click on the BACK button of your browser to go back to the practice.

1. Cheryl and Lola, can we situate your question in terms of theory, policy, practice?

   jeanne's lecture notes

   I think you've muddled the three together in that giant intellectual leap. The artist seems to have concentrated on how the failure of rehabilitation made him feel. Both potentially powerful? But needing a new presentation of self (Goffman), which was constrained by the dominant discourse (Henry and Milovanovic). That's complex stuff. I threw in two theory references in this short space. And that's just one perspective.

   Remember that the theory on which we base our view of the world affects the way we see problems. For example, I took the position that rehabilitation was our goal, then looked at the conflict created in the structural context between the prisoner's attempt to reconstruct his identity and the constraints of the policies that affect that ability to present a new identity.

   The theory is the underlying belief system on which we build our policies. And practice is the actual human interaction in carrying out those policies. It's easy to theorize a solution, to design policies that follow through logically from the theorized solution. But once real people begin to interact, the variables increase exponentially. That's the problem with social science research. To some extent, we must cope with chaos. (TR Young's chaos theory.)

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