Prison Education and Reentry Commons^™

Norway's Prison System: Investigating Recidivism And Reintegration, Meagan Denny

Bridges: A Journal of Student Research

Recidivism rates are high in most Western countries and, as prisons in these countries become overcrowded, the resources meant to enhance reintegration of inmates into society can be inadequate or nonexistent. On the other hand, Norway has one of the lowest recidivism rates among Western nations, at approximately 20 percent. Norway also has, along with other Scandinavian countries, a unique approach to its prison system. This paper discusses the exceptionalism associated with Norway's prison system and explores the reasons behind its low recidivism rates, with a focus on the encouragement of reintegration of inmates into society. With the educational opportunities …

Shared Spaces, Shared Learning: University/Corrections Partnerships That Transform Thinking, Deborah Smith Arthur, Amy Spring

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

By partnering with correctional facilities, institutions of higher education are well positioned to create shared learning communities that provide profound educational experiences. Portland State University offers several courses involving university/corrections partnerships; these courses meet inside carceral institutions. This article highlights three of these courses and the shared learning spaces they involve. We address the negotiating of these partnerships, development of the courses, and the creation, maintenance and outcomes of these complex learning environments.

The Interaction Effects Of Subjective And Structural Factors On Crime Among Formerly Incarcerated Males, Christopher Alvin Veeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The high rate of recidivism in the over 600,000 individuals who return from incarceration each year is an important social problem facing U.S. society and the criminal justice system. Efforts undertaken so far early in the 21st century to address the problem of recidivism in the formerly incarcerated, particularly prison reentry programs, have produced disappointing results at reducing the rate of recidivism. Therefore, there is a need to identify new ways for prison reentry programs to reduce recidivism among individuals recently returned from prison, and social work with its person-in-environment perspective can make an important contribution through conducting research to …

Voices From Inside: Preliminary Results Of A Transformational Justice Art Program For Incarcerated Youth, Karen Miner-Romanoff

Learning Showcase 2014

Few art programs for incarcerated juveniles exist; however, results of assessments indicate decreased recidivism and behavior problems for those involved in such programs. This paper reports on a preliminary study, part of a long term study based on the concept of restorative justice, of an ongoing art program for incarcerated adolescents with community exhibits and sale of their work, with proceeds to a youth-oriented foundation. The Voices from Inside project, a partnership between Franklin University and the Ohio Department of Youth Services, has sponsored two exhibits, in 2012 and 2013, with the third planned for fall 2014. From 18 youths’ …

Domestic Genocide, Ivan Kilgore

Writing Beyond the Prison Living Archive

Test

The Influences On Job Search Behaviors Among Convicted Felons With Substance Abuse Disorders, Anthony Raymond Saldana

Theses Digitization Project

This study examined job search intensity among felony-convicted, substance-abusing individuals who have been court mandated to attend community based treatment. Drug courts provide counseling and other services to help convicted felons become productive members of society. Studies show that if released prisoners become employed, they are less likely to return to prison.

The Inmate Code: The Stories Lived And The Stories Told Of Men Behind Bars, Pauline Matthey

Masters Theses

Using Coordinated Management of Meaning, this study links socialization and identification with the intricate levels of the inmate code that male prisoners live by, or live with anyway, while being incarcerated. In doing so, the research showed that the more highly identified to the inmate code a prisoner is, the less likely he is to have a desire to coordinate the meaning of his stories lived with the stories told of others. Furthermore, this project uncovered a characteristic of metamorphosis, the TRAP, or Temporary Relapse Alluding to the Past. TRAP takes place when prisoners who have developed the ability to …

Treating Detained Juveniles: Measuring Mental Health Traits And Gender Differences, Todd L. Grande, Janelle M. Hallman, Lee A. Underwood, Kellie M. Warren, Mark Rehfuss

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

An understanding of gender-specific differences between detained male and female youth and how these differences relate to mental health is fundamental to understanding, assessing, and treating this population. This study examined the prevalence of mental health symptoms among a sample of 4,015 incarcerated juveniles who were assessed at intake using the BASC-2, MAYSI-2, and Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children. Significant differences were found between males and females on many of the instruments’ clinical scales, the effect size, however, was small. The prevalence of mental health symptoms varied greatly based on the instrument used (12% and 70% for males; 18% and …

Examining Re-Entry Challenges And Needs Of Trinidad And Tobago Offenders, Kamhya M. Milan

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This research examines the challenges and needs that Trinidad and Tobago offenders face upon release from prison. The purpose of this research is to provide a foundation for policy recommendations to improve successful reintegration for prisoners corning home. Although there is a lack of re-entry literature based on Trinidad and Tobago offenders, the findings in this study show that Trinidad and Tobago offenders experience the same challenges and needs revealed by America research on offender re-entry. Study results show that policy intervention should be designed to ensure offenders returning home receive assistance with finding shelter, employment, educational resources, counseling and …

Activism And Pedagogies: Feminist Reflections, Patricia Ticineto Clough, Michelle Fine

Publications and Research

Together our two essays move between scenes of teaching and researching with women and men who are or have been in prison. Having written on ethnography, autoethnography, and participatory research, we both have sought a method that would allow us to abandon superficial identifications, mistaken for deep connection, with those who are or have been incarcerated. While we are conscious of the failures and successes of our attempts, we nonetheless write because what we have learned about the state's support for mass incarceration and the state's retreat from public higher education—particularly for persons of color—more than warrants it. With this …

'Science Of Trivalency', Kwaku L. Carlisle Woods Rn Md Metd1, Dr. Kwaku L Carlisle Woods Rn Md Metd1

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

Due to mine cross cultural living, (I was born in the U.S. but grew in Southeast Asia), I became very interested in the Anthological, Social and Scientific difference between cultures. This led to a historical meta evaluation of humanity in general. Using the principals of Noetic Science, this evaluation reviled the ignorance and down right absence of any educational opportunities to learn the true functional abilities of mankind.

A Space For Co-Constructing Counter Stories Under Surveillance, María Elena Torre, Michelle Fine, Kathy Boudin, Iris Bowen, Judith Clark, Donna Hylton, Migdalia Martinez, 'Missy', Rosemarie A. Roberts, Pamela Smart, Debora Upegui

Publications and Research

Using our experiences as members of a participatory action research committee (from the City University of New York Graduate Center and the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility) documenting the impact of college in a maximum security prison, this essay illustrates the power of Participatory Action Research in the construction of counter stories. We raise for discussion a set of theoretical, methodological and ethical challenges that emerged from the co-production of counter stories under surveillance: the creation of a critical space for producing 'counter knowledge'; the co-mingling of counter and dominant discourses, the negotiation of power over and within research in prison, …

Library Service In Iowa Juvenile Correctional Institutions Compared With National Standards Prepared By The American Correctional Association, Ellen Youds

Graduate Research Papers

This study was done to determine the extent to which the two juvenile correctional institution libraries in Iowa met selected standards from Library Standards for Juvenile Correctional Institutions, prepared by the American Correctional Association. The hypothesis of the study was that neither of the institutions would meet 50% or more of the selected standards.

The two librarians completed a questionnaire and were also interviewed. The library at Eldora met over 50% of the selected standards. The librarian is a member of the educational and planning team. This facilitates the meeting of many of the standards. The library at Toledo met …

A New Clinical Curriculum: Teaching Practical Law To High School Students And Inmates, Edward L. O'Brien, Lee P. Arbetman

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

The Prison Project: A Proposed Model For A Clinical Course, Nora Lafley Macey, Sarah Michael Singleton, Ann Curry Thompson, Douglas Boshkoff

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

0108: Ira Napier Papers, 1945-1946, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The Ira E. Napier Papers consists of photo-reproductions of nine letters, two unpublished manuscripts, and two historical accounts. The collection is contained in a single box and are separated into four folders. The first folder, entitled: “Correspondence, July 1945-January 1946,” contains five typed-letters from Napier to his superior officer at the Federal Reformatory at Chillicothe, Ohio, Thomas F. Joyce; John Chapman of Huntington, West Virginia, Mrs. Walter J. Spears; and members of the Tullidge Family of Staunton, Virginia. These letters contain information on Napier’s opinions on the Huntington Police Department, prison reform, and his experiences working with the inmates. Folder …

Factors Related To Postparole Outcomes Of Juvenile Offenders, Marcia Crigler

All Master's Theses

Using factor analysis, two sets of predictive variables were selected from each of two randomly selected groups of Washington juveniles (Total n= 579) discharged from parole in 1971. Both sets of predictors were cross-validated using discriminant functions, and each set discriminated recidivists from nonrecidivists significantly beyond the .01 level. The eight-item set of predictors was slightly more accurate (1%) than the three-item set of predictors in determining postparole outcomes.

The Effects Of A Varied, Short Term Art Program On The Attitudes Of Pupils In A Juvenile Detention Center, Sigrid B. Sowell

All Master's Theses

This study concerned 50 secondary students in a school art program in a juvenile detention institution. These students were administered a nine-item, five-choice pretest-posttest questionnaire to measure attitude changes toward art and school as a result of a varied, short term art program designed for their needs. The program was structured to be motivational and to insure success for reach individual student. Pupil attitudes toward art and school were found to be more positive in all areas.

Educational Opportunity Provided County Juvenile Facility Detainees In The State Of Washington, Theodore Robert Williams

All Master's Theses

This paper presents a study of educational opportunities for youth detained in county juvenile facilities. Selected public school districts, intermediate school districts, and detention facilities in the state of Washington were contacted to get both factual information and opinion.

Recommendations included suggestions that at least one teacher be provided for each facility, that school districts become more involved, and that additional study of actual detention schools be conducted in search of a model.

The Effects Of Contingency Management On Reading Achievement Of Institutionalized Offenders, Forest J. C. Hertlein

All Master's Theses

The hypotheses to be tested in this study are concerned with the use of contingency management. In general, the theory states that behavior normally occurring at a low rate may increase when it is followed by activities which are highly desirable to the student (Premack, 1965). Also suggested in the theory is that a response does not have a zero operant level (Bijou and Baer, 1961). It was assumed, then, that institutionalized offenders enrolled in remedial reading classes have an operant level of some degree for a specific response that could be strengthened by positively reinforcing that response. Because the …

An Analysis Of Selected Characteristics In Beginning Business Students: Young Adult Inmates And Male College Freshmen, Richard Godfrey Crowe Jr.

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Business Education at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Education by Richard Godfrey Crowe, Jr. in May of 1970.

Relationship Between Training Programs Being Offered In State And Federal Penal Institutions And The Unfilled Job Openings In The Major Occupations In The United States, John Thomas Torrence

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

The principal hypothesis of this study was that training programs in penal institutions were not related to unfilled job openings by major occupations in the United States. It was further hypothesized that training programs being reported would have a wide variety of titles rather than follow the Dictionary of Occupational Titles format. The design for this study was the questionnaire-survey method, since the scope of the research entailed a wide geographic area. A transmittal letter was compiled, as well as a check sheet which listed training areas being offered by the Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Department of Justice. Questionnaires were …

An Analysis Of The Educational Program At The West Virginia Forestry Camp For Youthful Male Offenders, Joseph Martin Hickman

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study revealed that the West Virginia Forestry Camp has in its legal machinery the purpose of rehabilitating male juvenile offenders between the ages of 16 and 21. However, no overt statements of educational objectives were found in the rehabilitative program.

Tests revealed both a low intelligence level and a low grade achievement level among the cases examined.

Questionnaires made known the desire of many of the commitals to take part in vocational training at camp. This means of inquiry also made known the reluctancy of several boys to participate in any portion of the camp program except the work …

Education In American Penal Institutions, Dolores Driscoll Britz

Bachelors’ Theses

The humanizing of penal incarceration has during the present century strode forward in an ever increasing upward trend. We no longer see our prisons merely as instruments of an avenging justice, but rather as a hospital instituted to attend the social ills and maladjustments of the individual. Coupled with and supplemented by this socializing process, has come a new emphasis on the importance of education in the penal institution. It is with this aspect of penology that the thesis is concerned.

Due to the youth of the subject, since education in prisons is still in its childhood, there is a …