Prison Education and Reentry Commons^™

Lead Editor's Welcome, Cormac Behan

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

Lead Editor's Welcome, Volume 6 Issue 3.

An Ecological Approach To Improving Reentry Programs For Justice-Involved African American Men, Precious Skinner-Osei, Peter Claudius Osei

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This article is a re-analysis of a previous study (please see https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2017.1402724). Considering the previous findings, in addition to the recent discussions around criminal justice reform, race, policing, and mental health in the United States, the data were reanalyzed using an updated version of QSR NVivo. The new findings revealed that reintegrating justice-involved African American men back into society requires reentry programs to utilize a different approach. Reentry programs must be constructed under the notion that the process involves multiple interrelated components that interact with larger systems outside the individual or organization's immediate control or organization advocating for them. …

Early Prison Releases And Hotel Placements Produce Unexpected Outcomes During The Pandemic, Buzz Von Ornsteiner

Capstones

The transition from prison to the harsh realities of New York City is seldom easy. Finding employment and housing is always a huge challenge but in 2020 COVID-19 has shadowed the incarcerated. As returning New Yorkers, their stories are unique. Ironically, the added obstacles they face have also brought them benefits in the form of the housing they need to survive during a deadly pandemic.

Early Prison Releases And Hotel Placements Produce Unexpected Outcomes During The Pandemic, Buzz Von Ornsteiner

Capstones

The transition from prison to the harsh realities of New York City is seldom easy. Finding employment and housing is always a huge challenge but in 2020 COVID-19 has shadowed the incarcerated. As returning New Yorkers, their stories are unique. Ironically, the added obstacles they face have also brought them benefits in the form of the housing they need to survive during a deadly pandemic.

Norwegian Prison Officers´ Perspectives On Professionalism And Professional Development Opportunities In Their Occupation, Helene Marie K. Eide, Kariane G. Westrheim

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

Despite increasing attention towards education as a quality measure for correctional services, little research attention has been paid to the qualification and training of prison officers. This article investigates how Norwegian prison officers understand their own professionalism and opportunities for professional development in their occupation. The analysis reveals that prison officers regard professionalism in line with a core value of loyalty, and guiding principles of humanity and equality for incarcerated persons. Further, the analysis shows that prison officers express pride and job satisfaction in their profession, and satisfaction with their education. Still, several of the officers highlight the need for …

Centro De Rearmonización Penitenciario Bosques De Sibaté, Natalia Franco Sánchez, Sebastián Orlando Reina Rubio

Arquitectura

El proyecto parte de una problemática que tiene repercusiones a nivel Social, cultural y económico para el país. el sistema penitenciario fue concebido entre los siglos XV y XIX, con el único fin de castigar Actualmente el 92.5% de la infraestructura tiene un rango de edad entre 14 a 406 años de antigüedad, convirtiéndose en espacios deshumanizantes, lúgubres y monótonos que promueve el resentimiento y la agresividad de personas que de por sí ya presentan conductas y actitudes problemáticas, generando así un circulo de resentimiento social, según las estadísticas en Colombia el promedio de condena es 8 de años, además …

Learning From The Outcomes Of Existing Prison Parenting Education Programs For Women Experiencing Incarceration: A Scoping Review, Belinda J. Lovell, Angela Brown, Adrian Esterman, Mary Steen

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This scoping review addresses the question, what are the outcomes of existing prison parenting education programs for women experiencing incarceration and what can we learn? The framework used was based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Significant positive changes were identified after attending prison parenting programs and women generally provided positive feedback about their experiences however, there were also insights into the distress caused. The content covered in the programs is also explored. In conclusion, prison can be an opportunity for parenting education and support although currently the best way to …

Relationships Between Racial Slavery, Incarceration, And Policing, Part I, Thom Gehring

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

Relationships Between Racial Slavery, Incarceration, and Policing, Part I

A Note About The Cover Art, Tom Shortt

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

MYVIEWOFTHEWORLDISOBSCUREDBYSTEELBARSOFINCARCERATION

Artist: Anonymous

Acrylics on card

This artist’s work is the product of a process he engaged in, to develop a language to express himself as a means of coping with imprisonment. Aged in his mid-fifties and serving a sentence at the Midlands Prison, he engages with education and is determined that his first experience of prison will also be his last. He has adopted an approach regarding his sentence as an “art school” rather than a “prison” experience and his development is supported by contact with teachers and participation in art classes and exhibitions. He works in his cell, …

Teaching Humanities Research In Under-Resourced Carceral Environments, Kevin J. Windhauser

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

Humanities courses make up a large portion of higher education courses offered in United States carceral facilities. However, many of these facilities lack the academic resources necessary to support the research assignments traditionally assigned in a humanities course, from research papers common in introductory courses to the undergraduate theses completed by many humanities majors. This paper outlines a case study in adapting a humanities research assignment to function in a prison lacking digital and physical research resources, with particular attention to the assignment’s potential to promote student confidence, independent learning, and autonomy. The author surveys the instructor’s role in promoting …

“Walls Are Put Up When Curiosity Ends”: Transformative Education In The Canadian Carceral Context, Samantha Mcaleese, Jennifer M. Kilty

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

Prison education is often cited as the only redeeming experience in an otherwise cruel environment. While educational programs are found in prisons across Canada, they are often guided by philosophies of punishment, risk, and security rather than more transformative frameworks. In addition to prison staff and management who struggle to find value in education for education’s sake, the physical spaces in which learning takes place in prison also interfere with efforts at promoting agency and autonomy amongst incarcerated students. In this paper, we conceptualize the prison classroom as a performative space and demonstrate ways in which prison classrooms can become …

Grassroots Tales: Journeys Of Inward Healing And Outward Movement Building – “A Story Of Youth Development And Healing”, Andrew Cory Greene

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Rooted in Liberation Psychology epistemology, this dissertation was engaged to liberate myself as well as psychology. Positing Healing Justice and Sociopolitical Development as theoretical guides, this dissertation explored a community specific approach of radical healing to develop urban youth’s abilities to sustain (build) spirit and collective hope for grassroot movement building. This dissertation asks, what are the possibilities of bringing urban youth (n=9) together who shared similar realities, dared to dream together (i.e., think tank), and turn those dreams into a Grassroot Movement Building?

The methodological praxis of this dissertation project was politically and theoretically situated to study learnings at …

Volume 6 #2 Full Issue, Kristina L. H. Lee

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

Full issue

“I Missed A Lot Of Childhood Memories”: Trauma And Its Impact On Learning For Formerly Incarcerated Adolescents In The Age Of Zero Tolerance Policies, Alberto Guerrero

Doctoral Dissertations

The literature makes abundantly clear that trauma has a detrimental impact on students’ academic and behavioral efforts. It also challenges the notion of zero tolerance disciplinary practices being effective in redirecting student behaviors, making schools safer, and creating an environment that is conducive to learning. Yet, our current school climate consists of educators who have not been exposed to trauma-informed learning, while also incorporating disciplinary practices that are both draconian in nature and push students out of their learning spaces. This unfortunate reality is felt even more harshly by students who return to schools following an incarceration. This phenomenological study …

National Novel Writing Month Behind Bars: A Road Map For Nanowrimo At Fci-Elkton, Jason Kahler

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

Writers and students at Federal Correctional Institution-Elkton use low-tech strategies to participate in National Novel Writing Month. Prisoners reflect on the challenges and power of participating in an entirely prisoner-led event. Over the span of a six-week course, students earn programming credit by responding to prompts, working on their novels, and reporting word totals and goals. The author positions himself as a researcher, practitioner, scholar, and prisoner, who balanced the needs of good teaching and positive educational experiences with the realities of working in a prison as a prisoner.

“You’Re Almost In This Place That Doesn’T Exist”: The Impact Of College In Prison As Understood By Formerly Incarcerated Students From The Northeastern United States, Hilary Binda, Jill D. Weinberg, Nora Maetzener, Carolyn Rubin

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This qualitative study examines the immediate and lasting impact of liberal arts higher education in prison from the perspective of former college-in-prison students from the Northeastern United States. Findings obtained through semi-structured interviews with formerly incarcerated people are presented in the following three areas: self-confidence and agency, interpersonal relationships, and capacity for civic leadership. This study further examines former students’ reflections on the relationship between education and human transformation and begins to benchmark college programming with attention to the potential for such transformation. The authors identify four characteristics critical to a program’s success: academic rigor, the professor's respect for students, …

Assessing The Aspirations And Fears Of Costa Rican Youth In Long-Term Correctional Confinement, Theresa A. Ochoa, Yanúa Ovares Fernández, Ana Estrella Meza Rodríguez, Claire De Mezerville López

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This study used the Possible Selves Questionnaire (PSQ) with 30 incarcerated youth in a long term juvenile correctional facility in Costa Rica. The PSQ is a self-administered survey that measures a person’s aspirations and fears for the future and strategies to achieve who they wish to become and avoid becoming. Results showed that while participants reported having Expected and Feared Selves, they struggled to identify concrete strategies to reach their goals. This vulnerable, incarcerated, population faces a variety of social challenges that may hinder their ability to avoid the behavior that led to their initial incarceration once they are …

Gaps In The Mental Health System,Justice System And The Transition To Adulthood: An Analysis Of Unmet Needs, Maria Gremli Sanders

Dissertations

ABSTRACT More than two million adolescents and young adults are interconnected with the justice system every year. An alarming number of transitional age young adults (ages 17-25 years) in the United States justice system suffer with serious emotional problems that have at least one diagnosable mental health illness. The multiple needs for rehabilitation among these young adults have often gone unmet, and thus, they have become an extremely vulnerable subgroup in the justice system. The purpose of this study was to explore issues of disparity within mental health services, the justice system, and the unmet needs of transitional age young …

Factors Contributing To Young Men Of Color Dropping Out Of High School And Experiencing Incarceration: What Influenced Their Decision To Return To School And Graduate?, Justina C. Montoya

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Dropping out of high school is an issue that disproportionately affects the lives of young men of color in New Mexico and across the country. While there are multiple reasons that impact a student's decision to drop out of school, it is often compounded by other factors that also lead to incarceration.

This study focused on young men of color who dropped out of school, experienced incarceration, and through this process made the decision to return to school and earn a high school diploma. This study was performed at a charter high school in a southwestern state. The mission of …

A Study Of Incarcerated Youth: How Does Interest Affect Comprehension And Engagement, Grace Mutti

Honors Projects

Current research explores the relationship between high-interest reading material and comprehension in classrooms as well as the impact of literacy on recidivism; however, there is a shortage of research on effective instructional reading practices for incarcerated youth. This qualitative study examines the experience of five white, male incarcerated youth as they experience one-on-one reading instruction from five of BGSU’s pre-service teachers. Instructional strategies used in the study were modeled off of an online program called A-Z Reading and focused on developing students’ fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension skills. The study initially aimed to examine the impact of high-interest materials on the …

See, Judge, Act: Restorative Justice And Catholic Social Teaching’S Impact On American Incarceration, Maxim Caron

Montserrat Annual Writing Prize

No abstract provided.

Finding Voice From The Inside: How Postsecondary Education Impacted Perceptions Of Higher Education For Long-Term Incarcerated Juveniles, Gregory Barraza

Education (PhD) Dissertations

There is a gap in the literature with regard to postsecondary opportunities for incarcerated youth. Minimal research and curriculum design are rarely available for the purpose of improving juvenile postsecondary correctional education thereby limiting recidivism rates of students in the juvenile justice system. The pilot program in this study attempted to provide a complete and comprehensive university program for long-term incarcerated juveniles to get them on track to obtain a bachelor’s degree. This dissertation addresses the high school experiences, including the School to Prison Pipeline and the academic experience to provide background information, justifying the importance of creating postsecondary academic …

Teaching In A Total Institution: Toward A Pedagogy Of Care In Prison Classrooms, Lauren J. Wolf

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This paper argues that a pedagogy of care can help reduce some of the human damage caused by incarceration. Rather than casting incarcerated men and women outside of the moral community and turning prisoners into a “them,” a pedagogy of care promotes inclusion and the creation of human connections. Recognizing prisoners’ humanity helps to dissolve some of the effects of institutionalization and may foster rehabilitation. Instead of limiting teachers to providers of information, as a traditional classroom expects, a pedagogy of care elevates teachers to human constituents of a learning community. This paper outlines a pedagogy of care in the …

The Prison Education Project In Scotland, Renford Reese

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

The Prison Education Project (PEP) is the largest prison education program of its kind in the United States. With the assistance of 2,400 university student and faculty volunteers, PEP has served approximately 7,000 inmates in 14 correctional facilities in California since 2011. By providing academic, life skills, and career development programming, PEP aims to educate, empower, and transform the lives of incarcerated individuals. Since 2014, this program has taken a group of veteran volunteers to an international destination to teach courses in prisons in Uganda, England, and Scotland. This article will focus on the PEP-Scotland experience. Eleven PEP instructors traveled …

Public-School Systems Are Criminalizing Our Young People: Giving Voice To The Marganilized, Carrie Stoltzfus

Graduate Theses & Dissertations

A phenomenological qualitative study using Critical Race Theory and counter-storytelling was completed to investigate what K-12 public schools should be doing to keep young people out of the school-to-prison pipeline (STPP). This study took place in a large city in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Interviews were completed with former students of the researcher who were previously incarcerated, educational professionals, and justice system professionals. Additionally, observations of the court systems and document reviews were completed in order to triangulate findings. Themes emerged around factors that lead to incarceration and the preferred practices to support young people to avoid …

Dr. Larry Brewster And California Arts-In-Corrections: A Case Study In Correctional Arts Research, Amanda Gardner Phd

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

The correctional arts field is strong on supporting anecdotes but light on evidence-based research. In other words, it has more stories than numbers. One exception is the long-running California Arts-in-Corrections program. Not only does AIC have more studies demonstrating benefit, all but one of those studies were conducted by Dr. Larry Brewster, currently of the University of San Francisco. This case study tells the story of how that body of research came to exist. It juxtaposes the importance of having evidence-based research on correctional arts programs with the challenges of conducting such research. Readers will gain an understanding of how …

Correctional Landscape Studies: Improving The Restorative Potential, Allyson Fairweather

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration with 2.2 million people currently in the nation’s prisons and jails. On average, one-third of former offenders will return to prison for re-offence within three years of their release (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2018). This cycle is known as recidivism, and demonstrates a major reflection of the criminal justice system’s failure to provide rehabilitation that meets the needs of the incarcerated population. However, horticultural therapy in prison may offer a sliver of hope. Also referred to as Green Prison Programs (GPPs), studies indicate that participants in these programs gain valuable job …

Innovative Phone-In Radio Program For Prisoners Enrolled As Students At Indira Gandhi National Open University, Sivaswaroop Pathaneni Dr

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

Providing education to prisoners while in jail is a win-win situation for both prisoners and society. For prisoners, the educational experiences in jail reduce their mental strain, isolation, and stress due to incarceration and simultaneously make them employment ready after their release from prison. Education helps prisoners become fit to earn on their own, and thereby reduces the chances of returning to jail (recidivism). Therefore, through educational experiences, the government saves money on prisoners' maintenance and earns taxes from their later employment. Providing education to prisoners, especially increasing efforts to provide quality education, such as is available to common students, …

“The Feeling Of Fear Was Not From My Student, But From Myself”: A Pre-Service Teacher’S Shift From Traditional To Problem-Posing Second Language Pedagogy In A Mexican Youth Prison, G. Sue Kasun, Abigail Santos, Gyewon Jang, Zurisaray Espinosa

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This era of globalization, capitalism, and economic progress has given rise to mass incarceration, as a considerable number of youths in developing and developed countries live behind bars in detention facilities without appropriate educational support. Educators in these facilities deposit knowledge, through traditional pedagogical approaches, under systemic oppression and surveillance deemed necessary for safety and security. This study investigated implementations of Freire’s (2000) problem-posing pedagogy using a participatory action research (PAR) approach through the lens of critical theory. Two of the co-authors helped develop a Freirean language teaching program in an urban youth prison in Mexico, centering student teachers’ critical …

Georgia Department Of Juvenile Justice - Education And Reentry Collaborative Programming, Zane Shelfer, Cathy Smith-Curry

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Many youth experience barriers reentering their local school system once released from confinement. The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice's Office of Reentry Services and School System work collaboratively to remove these barriers by building partnerships with school systems state-wide. This presentation will provide participants a programmatic overview and framework used to reduce barriers.