University education in prison and Convict Criminology

Abstract

This chapter is the result of a research conducted on university education at several Italian prisons. 1 Specifically, it takes into account the initial results of a medium-long–term ethnographic study conducted “undercover” from 2008–2018 at the Prison University Campus (PUC) of Tuscany. This experience allowed for the direct observation of several prison dynamics, supplemented by ethnographic interviews with prisoners, listening to their life stories, and conversations with educational staff, prison officers and volunteers. Overall, the research aims to investigate the value and importance of university education in prisons in order to develop a critical sociological understanding of the penitentiary from the convicts’ perspective, beyond any rhetoric regarding their re-education. Its goal is to bring greater value to the knowledge offered by the life stories of prisoners engaged in university studies. In view of these factors, drawing greater attention to university education in prisons can be seen as a particularly useful analytical and critical exercise. For example, it allows us to call into question the gap between prison and society, the stereotypes of convicts and ex-convicts, and the stereotypes of the prisons themselves. Furthermore, it allows us to fully appreciate the transformational effects of university education in prison on the individual and the system.