Prison Education Programs Research Articles

Minding the Gap: Building Equitable, Accessible, and Sustainable Prison Education Programs in Pennsylvania

Minding the Gap: Building Equitable, Accessible, and Sustainable Prison Education Programs in Pennsylvania

Prison education and its intersections with the reintegration process and regional development in the state of Goiás

This article aims to investigate and comprehend the extent and effectiveness of the prison education program in the state of Goiás, analyzing how this program influences the rehabilitation process of inmates, with a focus on reducing criminal recidivism and improving integration for regional development. It involves a qualitative bibliographical and documentary research that seeks to answer the following question: How does the prison education program in the state of Goiás contribute to the rehabilitation of incarcerated individuals and what are the reflections on regional development? Challenges such as the scarcity of resources, qualified personnel, adequate infrastructure, and insufficient capacity are identified as barriers to the effectiveness of the Goianian penitentiary education program. The study concludes that, despite the challenges, prison education in Goiás plays a crucial role in rehabilitation, reducing recidivism, and contributing to regional development. However, there are still substantial challenges that need to be overcome to maximize the potential of these initiatives for the development of a more just and equal society.

Inmates education as a function of developing socio-emotional competences

Imprisonment is a means of depriving a person of his freedom due to behavior that has been assessed as socially harmful and dangerous. The prison sentence should re-educate the inmate so that he no longer behaves in a way that endangers society. However, the prison environment itself has a negative impact on inmates, and education is proposed as a way of influencing inmates to increase the likelihood of positive behavior. Of the various forms of education, the one focused on the development of socio-emotional competencies is particularly effective. Taking into account the theoretical models and research results of the education of inmates, especially socio-emotional education in this work, we will provide a framework for the implementation of socio-emotional education programs in prison.

Why Developing Re-entry Support Matters for Prison Education Programs

Rates of incarceration in the United States are among the highest in the world. Research suggests, however, that corrections education reduces the likelihood of someone returning to prison and peer support is an effective best practice to assist the justice-impacted population to transition from incarceration to the community. 
 This reflective essay explores challenges incarcerated persons face in accessing prison education programs, as well as challenges faced by incarcerated and re-entry populations in completing their educational and career goals pre- and post-release. As a practitioner with lived experience, Ms. Good-Collins will describe critical supports for addressing corrections education barriers and meeting the criminogenic needs of individuals transitioning from incarceration to their community. Moreover, we will discuss how to best support students involved with corrections education pre- and post-release through basic needs acquisition, viable access to education and employment services, and ongoing peer support and mentoring. 
 Finally, we will discuss the logic for higher education institutions currently providing prison education programs to integrate Re-Entry Centers onto their campuses, as well as the importance of staffing them with persons directly impacted by the justice system. Supporting evidence for this essay is gleaned from first-hand experience by the director for the largest on-campus Re-Entry Center in the United States, and its success in effectively supporting corrections education students in transitioning to the community, remaining engaged in the program, and receiving support to achieve their goals. Evidence will include contributions from formerly incarcerated facilitators, coordinators, and administrators of the Re-Entry Center.

Examining the Black Box of Prison Education Programs: A Descriptive Study of Statewide Correctional Education Practices

About half of incarcerated individuals housed in state prisons reported participation in educational or vocational programming (Harlow, 2003). These programs serve as a way to fill a disparity gap since the prison population tends to have literacy, education, and employment needs. Participation in education programs can result in positive impacts on reentry outcomes (e.g., reduced recidivism, increased employment outcomes) (Bozick et al., 2018). However, the characteristics of effective education programs remains a “black box” in terms of instructional strategies and classroom practices. This study examined the characteristics of over 200 literacy, general education, vocation/apprenticeship, and college courses across 28 prisons in one state. Interviews, observations, and staff surveys were used to gather data related to leadership, classroom management, and quality assurance practices in prison-based education departments. The results revealed substantial differences across programs and facilities. Implications for future research and opportunities to reduce social disparity through prison education are discussed.

Are Schools in Prison Worth It? The Effects and Economic Returns of Prison Education

Recent expansions in prison school offerings and the re-introduction of the Second Chance Pell Grant have heightened the need for a better understanding of the effectiveness of prison education programs on policy-relevant outcomes. We estimate the effects of various forms of prison education on recidivism, post-release employment, and post-release wages. Using a sample of 152 estimates drawn from 79 papers, we conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the effect of four forms of prison education (adult basic education, secondary, vocational, and college). We find that prison education decreases recidivism and increases post-release employment and wages. The largest effects are experienced by prisoners participating in vocational or college education programs. We also calculate the economic returns on educational investment for prisons and prisoners. We find that each form of education yields large, positive returns due primarily to the high costs of incarceration and, therefore, high benefits to crime avoidance. The returns vary across education types, with vocational education having the highest return per dollar spent ($3.05) and college having the highest positive impact per student participating ($16,908).

Students in Correctional Education: Developmental Education’s Forgotten Population

ABSTRACT The Office of Correctional Education was created through an Act of Congress in 1991 to oversee and coordinate prison education programs as a way to reduce recidivism (Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, 1990). However, correctional education completion rates are extremely low. Therefore, we used secondary data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies survey to show that students in prison would benefit from developmental and student supports. Survey data represented 1,319 prisoners and 8,670 from the household population. We used descriptive analysis, chi-square tests, and Welch’s t-tests to analyze survey data. We conclude that those in the prison sample had a greater potential need for student support programs than the household sample and would benefit from increased developmental and student supports.

‘There is nothing for me’: A qualitative analysis of the views towards prison education of adult male prisoners convicted of a sexual offence

AbstractThis current study examined the perceptions and lived experiences of prisoners (n = 24) who do not engage with prison education. United Kingdom and international research highlights that prisoners who attend prison education programmes have lower recidivism rates and increased employment opportunities upon release (Abeling‐Judge, 2019; Bozick et al., 2018). This qualitative study interviewed adult males who are serving a custodial sentence for a sexual offence in England and Wales. The data were analysed thematically with two key themes emerging from the rich dataset: (i) ‘Poor quality education’, highlighting the limitations of prison education and lack of quality provision; (ii) ‘We are sex offenders’, explored non‐engagement with prison education due to their ‘sex offender’ label. The findings highlight how current prison education provision needs to focus on a programme of study relevant to an individual.

‘Education changes a person’: exploring student development in a college-in-prison program through critical andragogy

ABSTRACT This phenomenological study investigates the educational experiences formerly incarcerated students identify as being important developmentally as part of their participation in a college-in-prison program. It does so by exploring the experiences of 21 formerly incarcerated students who participated in the Boston University Prison Education Program, the longest continuously-running college-in-prison program in the Northeast US. The study is contextualized within a critical andragogical framework, one which prioritizes developing agency and self-direction in learning, as well the capacity to critique ideological norms and develop deeper understandings of social contexts. Findings indicate program participation helped disrupt unhealthy personal and interpersonal dynamics within the prison environment. Participants developed confidence, pride, healthier self-conceptions, greater empathy, and a desire to positively impact others. This study’s implications can help inform instructors and program administrators in the development of effective curricula aimed at being responsive to the developmental needs and goals of students.

Beyond Recidivism: Exploring Formerly Incarcerated Student Perspectives on the Value of Higher Education in Prison

A primary focus within the field of higher education in prison is to ensure that federal, state, and institution-level polices helping to develop and sustain programs remain durable. Current justifications for policies in support of programs often rely on a predominantly recidivist lens, advocating for programs on the grounds of their likelihood to lower rates of reincarceration and save taxpayers money. However, many advocates argue that such an instrumental approach does not fully capture—and, in fact, might obscure— more foundational civic principles in support of access to higher education in prison. The present article seeks to address the question of how best to justify and defend programs by investigating the perspectives of students themselves, exploring how they articulate the value of their own experiences within a higher education in prison program. Employing interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the study explores the experiences of 21 formerly incarcerated students who participated in the Boston University Prison Education Program (BUPEP), one of the longest running higher education in prison programs in the country. Participants noted that the program offered a much-needed space to participate in a community of mutual respect and mentorship, develop skills and explore personal interests, and regularly engage in noncoercive, nonprescriptive practices of self-reflection and inquiry. The program provided a space unique within prison contexts, helping to break cycles of both literal and figurative imprisonment. Such findings have important implications for both policy and curricula development within higher education in prison.

Board Member Editorial: Increasing Educational Opportunities for Incarcerated Persons

Board Member Editorial:Increasing Educational Opportunities for Incarcerated Persons Heidi Coleman The United States has been grappling with mass incarceration for decades, and more intensely in the last few years as explicit and implicit police support of white supremacy and structural racism have become more visible. The United States (U.S.) has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with state prison populations often out-ranking entire countries (Prison Policy, 2021). And people of color are disproportionally represented in this population (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2022). Beckett and Francis (2020) argue that incarceration cannot be separated from racial politics in the U.S. I would argue that incarceration also cannot be separated from education, given that students of color have the lowest cohort graduation rates and highest high school dropout rates (NCES, 2020). The United States crafted the "American Dream" by holding dear to the myth that if you work hard, you can achieve anything—that meritocracy works. But it simply isn't true. Marginalized groups have been structurally and systematically shut out of opportunities, including education, and subsequently a living wage, since our earliest colonial times. Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous males have the highest high school dropout rates across the country (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020). Of those who graduate, about 50% of Black students, 60% of Hispanic students, and 20% of Indigenous students go on to college compared with nearly 70% of white students (Education Data Initiative, 2021). Given that nearly three-quarters of all jobs require some sort of college credential, this creates an opportunity gap for employment which is compounded by the systemic racism of hiring practices. The result is the school-to-prison pipeline experienced in secondary education across the nation. When we fail to educate those most vulnerable in high school, we facilitate situations in which people have limited choices to support themselves and their loved ones. This pipeline helps explain a report from The Pew Charitable Trusts in 2010 which shows that the U.S. inmate population is higher than the top 35 European countries combined (Collateral Costs, 2010). And the incarceration rate for Black people is 5x higher, the rate for Latinx is 2x higher, and the Native American rate is 3x higher than White, non-Latinx Americans. Over 90% of currently incarcerated individuals will be released. Consider the opportunity gap now created for a marginalized person with a criminal record and no education (high school or college) when they are released from prison. Is it any wonder that nearly 80% of previously incarcerated people will be re-arrested within 9 years of release (BJS, 2018)? This is particularly concerning given the low number of college courses/programs offered in carceral environments. In a national survey of postsecondary education in state prisons, Gorgol and Sponsler (2011) found that only 35% of state prisons offered [End Page 87] college courses and that these programs serve only 6% of the total state prison population nation-wide. This is partly due to funding, but also partly due to structural barriers inside of prisons. Most facilities have few rooms dedicated to education. Gatekeeping actions like placement tests and time served also restrict participation. For example, a school that requires incarcerated students to have less than ten years and more than one year on their sentence to participate. This alone removes options for those who are serving long sentences. Another barrier is state law barring incarcerated students from earning a degree in some states. They can take courses, and may be able to get some level of certification, but cannot earn bachelor's degrees. And these barriers don't consider the interaction of individual bias and power originating from the administrators making decisions about who can participate. In 1994, President Clinton signed the Violent Crimes Act which prohibited incarcerated people from obtaining Pell Grants. Up until that time, higher education programs in prisons were gaining traction and finding that recidivism rates for those who participated in higher education programs in prison were 43% lower than those who did not. A recent study funded by the RAND corporation (Bozick, et al., 2018) found that education programs in prisons saved $5 for every dollar spent due to...

From Prison to Researcher

In the course of a group discussion, five student members of New York University’s Prison Education Program (PEP) reflect on their transition from prison inmates and students to their training as peer researchers in the PEP Research Lab. They trade their experiences of life on the inside, debunking a variety of public myths about the welfare and treatment of those caught within the prison system. Discussing their postcarceral roles as students and researchers, they analyze the differences between the two, drawing particular attention to the social status accorded to researchers. Building on the independence and resources offered by PEP’s Research Lab, they describe the initiatives they have taken to launch new paths of inquiry into carceral life and the financial and social burdens that continue to afflict the formerly incarcerated upon reentry.

Lessons on Pedagogy in the Carceral System and Teacher Education

Background/Context: Prison settings present some of the deepest democratic contradictions in the United States. Purpose/Objective: In this study, we investigate how and what teacher education programs can learn from and support teaching practices in prison settings and pre-K–12 contexts. Population/Participants: This study draws from interview data collected from two experienced directors of prison education programs in the United States. Research Design: This study employs in-depth qualitative interviews. Data Collection: Participants were asked questions related to ideals and mindsets they have observed as most effective for teachers to adopt when working in prison settings. Findings/Results: Analytic induction of interviews reveals both similarities and differences between “free world” and prison educational settings. Such findings provide nuanced understandings of the types of knowledge, understanding, and skills teacher education programs might support in prison settings as well as teaching experiences within prison settings from which teacher educators could learn. Conclusions/Recommendations: Teachers in prison settings tend to have rich content knowledge but not robust pedagogical knowledge and skill. Teacher education programs have a chance to not only support teachers in prison education as they build pedagogical knowledge and skills but also be front and center in the fight to dismantle an unjust carceral system.

"Hold onto your snowboots in Ithaca today, baby!"

"Hold onto your snowboots in Ithaca today, baby!" Alex Chertok (bio) Last night Dad emailed me my city's next-day forecast.I wake early to the skullcap of snow he's knit the lamppost.He's rubbed our sun raw with steel wool cloudand placed the back of his handagainst my windshield veined and tendinous with frost. "You'll get 2 inches at least!" he wrote, meteorologistwho can see every city's tempestcoming, their weather's every dark mood, snow- melt and moonset, can copy and pastemy zip code's every wind gustthrough every Lexapro'd wind chime excepthis own. His radar looks only out. Notin, where his own winter is long and most- ly downhill. Black ice. Snowbanks. A bockety, bald-tired past. [End Page 154] Alex Chertok Alex Chertok has poems published in The Kenyon Review Online, The Missouri Review, The Massachusetts Review, The Cincinnati Review, Copper Nickel, and Best New Poets 2016, among others, and essays on his prison teaching published in Ploughshares and forthcoming from Alaska Quarterly Review. He was runner-up in the North American Review's 2019, and finalist in the 2021 James Hearst Poetry Prize, as well as finalists in the 2020 Third Coast Poetry Contest and 2021 Tupelo Quarterly Poetry Open Prize. He currently teaches through the Cornell Prison Education Program. Copyright © 2022 Pleiades and Pleiades Press

Organic Intellectuals in the Prison: Reports from the Flying University on Philosophy as Public Practice

The Flying University, a prison education and reentry program that brings university students inside the prison for mutual and collaborative study, convenes with the assumed understanding that incarcerated peoples bear rich critical perspectives on the state of our communities as well as a philosophical potential to muster the resources necessary to heal communities in the wake of historical violence and transgenerational trauma. Rather than bringing incarcerated students into the purview of academic philosophy, the Flying University reverses these roles by recognizing that incarcerated peoples engage in daily philosophical scrutiny about a whole range of topics that traditional academic philosophy too often fails to comprehend with any depth. The Flying University enacts precollege philosophy as public practice by facilitating semester-long seminars that bring professional philosophers and university students into the prison—not so they can teach prisoners but listen to them. The guiding critical assumption of this practice follows Antonio Gramsci’s argument that what distinguishes “philosophers” from their opposite has less to do with intellectual activity and perspective and more to do with social status and credentials. A genuinely restorative philosophical praxis must solicit, within our community dialogues, the stories and voices of our incarcerated neighbors as “organic intellectuals.”

Hospitality education in New Zealand prisons

Hospitality education in New Zealand prisons

“Moving the Rubble”: Reflection, Conscientization, and Transformative Learning With Men Incarcerated for Organized Crime in Mexico

While many scholars have examined transformative learning in different prison education programs, the field has only recently reached Latin America. This article presents a participatory action research project which has been operating in a prison for men accused of organized crime in Jalisco, Mexico, since 2018. The analysis is based on testimonies related to personal and collective transformation in a context of multifaceted oppression. It also explores the blurry lines between reflection, conscientization, and transformation, inviting us to consider how transformative education relates to social stigma and freedom.

Beyond the Gates: Teaching Race and Politics in Brazil in a Prison Education Program

The project of liberatory education is fraught with complications in a Small Liberal Arts College or SLAC environment. Authors bell hooks and Paulo Freire look to an ethics of care, love, and mutual restoration of humanity through teaching openly and freely. My initial teaching experiences as an assistant professor revealed that this liberatory aim could not be fulfilled at the college campus, so I taught in a prison college education program. The goals of this article are: 1) to elucidate the complicated relationship that a woman faculty of color at the intersections of multiple identities has in adjusting to the SLAC environment; 2) to expound upon my weekly exit from campus and entry into prison education as a vehicle to advance institutional goals for outreach and social justice; 3) to interrogate prison education epistemologies and describe the counternarratives and practical strategies developed in a course on Race and Politics in Brazil to decolonize the curriculum; and 4) to express the realities of teaching a Black-centered, intersectional course in an all-male maximum security prison setting. It was through this practical prison teaching experience that I stretched the limits of my practice of education and found a temporary home in which to do so.

Most Wanted

Most Wanted Quayshaun Bailey (bio) Most Wanted As I come out with my hands upMy past comes to me in flashes.If anyone asks it,All I can say is it was good while it lasted. Evading my capture,Fleeing—eluding, avoiding crashes.But now it's all past tense,Dust-to-dust; ashes-to-ashes. Part of me hates it when this happens,Cuz last time didn't end well.That shit knocked the wind out of meAnd it took me awhile to inhale. Cuz I fought so hard for it,So when I noticed that it failedIt forced me to runAnd I ended up breaking the bond and skipped bail. But "its well" is what's saidIn another part of my brain.Like "these are different times andCircumstances, it's hardly the same." Cuz this time its not a set-upFor some heartache or pain.It's a chance for new opportunities,A fresh start, and some change. It's just strangeGoing through all this again, my brain is buzzin'.My eyes are wideAnd it's a funny feeling inside my stomach. But in a way I am relievedCuz I always knew that my time was coming. [End Page 237] And it's 'bout time you brung it,Cuz deep down I'm tired of running. And I don't want to duck, hide, or nothing,But please trust me;I've still got memoriesOf how the last situation crushed me. Cut me, scarred me, bruised meAnd even scuffed me.So "don't handle me roughly"Is all that I say as I let you cuff me. It must be something wrong with meIs yelled from everyone that's close.Saying if they were me,They would've ran off as soon as you approached. And I used to be just like them,Preferring to see my face on a most wanted post.But now I see that all alongThis is what I wanted most. [End Page 238] Quayshaun Bailey Quayshaun Bailey is a poet and author from Preoria, IL. He currently resides at Stateville Correctional Center and is enrolled in the Northwestern Prison Education Program with Northwestern University. He was first introduced to poetry by his mother as a kid and credits her for his interest in creative writing. He is presently working on a book compiling some of his works. Copyright © 2020 Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University

Informal Technology Education for Women Transitioning from Incarceration

As society increasingly relies on digital technologies in many different aspects, those who lack relevant access and skills are lagging increasingly behind. Among the underserved groups disproportionately affected by the digital divide are women who are transitioning from incarceration and seeking to reenter the workforce outside the carceral system (women-in-transition). Women-in-transition rarely have been exposed to sound technology education, as they have generally been isolated from the digital environment while in incarceration. Furthermore, while women have become the fastest-growing segment of the incarcerated population in the United States in recent decades, prison education and reentry programs are still not well adjusted for them. Most programs are mainly designed for the dominant male population. Consequently, women-in-transition face significant post-incarceration challenges in accessing and using relevant digital technologies and thus have added difficulties in entering or reentering the workforce. Against this backdrop, our multi-disciplinary research team has conducted empirical research as part of technology education offered to women-in-transition in the Midwest. In this article, we report results from our interviews with 75 women-in-transition in the Midwest that were conducted to develop a tailored technology education program for the women. More than half of the participants in our study are women of color and face precarious housing and financial situations. Then, we discuss principles that we adopted in developing our education program for the marginalized women and participants’ feedback on the program. Our team launched in-person sessions with women-in-reentry at public libraries in February 2020 and had to move the sessions online in March due to COVID-19. Our research-informed educational program is designed primarily to support the women in enhancing their knowledge and comfort with technology and nurturing computational thinking. Our study shows that low self-efficacy and mental health challenges, as well as lack of resources for technology access and use, are some of the major issues that need to be addressed in supporting technology learning among women-in-transition. This research offers scholarly and practical implications for computing education for women-in-transition and other marginalized populations.