Dr. Beth Wiersma
associate professor of criminal justice, 308.865.8775
The University of Nebraska at Kearney Department of Criminal Justice received a $20,000 grant from the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services to conduct the evaluation and assessment of the McCook Work Ethic Camp beginning in January 2003.
“We will be evaluating the McCook Work Ethic Camp to see if it is meeting its original objectives,” said Dr. Beth Wiersma, lead researcher of this evaluation. Collaborating on this project with Wiersma are Drs. Kurt Siedschlaw and Scott Sasse.
“We will be looking to see if the people who have been in the camp are reoffending after release,” said Wiersma. “Since one purpose of the camp is to teach the ethics of good work and to produce productive taxpaying citizens, we will be surveying employers on how responsible and dependable these offenders are after going through the camps program.”
This evaluation will give numbers from the first year of the camp that will establish a baseline for other camps that may be modeled after the McCook Work Ethic Camp.
