The 35,882 former offenders released by Virginia's Department of Corrections during the period of July 1, 1998, through June 30, 2002, are profiled using data provided by Virginia's Department of Corrections and Department of Correctional Education as well as the Virginia Employment Commission. Demographic characteristics of recidivating and non-recidivating former offenders released during this period, with sub-groupings to include gender, race, age, employment status, earnings, employment stability, and educational completion, as defined in the operational definitions of the study, are detailed, and the researcher's observations are noted. / Ph. D.

Approximately two million men and women are currently incarcerated in the nation's penitentiaries. Ninety percent of these inmates will eventually be released from prison. There is a need for prisons to provide services that will prepare these men and women for successful reentry into society. These services include education and vocational training. To determine the effectiveness of education/training, the perspective of the prisoner student is key to the field of correctional education. The voice of the prisoner student, however, is absent from the literature on prisoner education. This qualitative study examined the thoughts, feelings, experiences, and plans/goals of prisoner students at Southern State Penitentiary (pseudonym used). Oneon- one interviews with prisoner students were used, as well as brief observations of the classroom setting and operation. Surveys were completed by two corrections administrators to gain the perspective of the administrator in relation to the correctional education experience. Three emergent themes indicated a need to further study the prisoner student from this intimate perspective: student perceptions of success, regret of prior decisions, and rethinking the correctional education experience. The findings of this study have implications for the fields of elementary and secondary education, higher education, and correctional education.

This study attempted to capture and describe the lived experiences of correctional academic teachers who provide educational services in facilities in the northeastern region of the United States through qualitative phenomenological inquiry. This study strove to provide a deeper understanding of correctional teachers’ perceptions concerning the mission, value, efficacy, and importance of the work that they perform, as well as the resulting approaches they take, in their academic classrooms. Through phenomenological data analysis, the study assessed teachers’ perceptions of the rehabilitative ideal, as well as the role of correctional education program offerings within a rehabilitative framework.

This thesis explores the structure and delivery of education programs to justice-involved adults in Canadian federal prisons and in the community. A series of semi-structured interviews as well as three volumes of the Journal for Prisoners on Prisons were analyzed using a qualitative approach to determine whether or not principles of adult education and components of performative space are present in current correctional education strategies. The findings suggest that while there are occurrences of both elements in the education that is provided to prisoners, the programs in the community are much more reflective of these adult learning standards. This project highlights the need for research into the area of adult correctional education, increased collaboration between the fields of criminology and education, and provides a framework from which future research can continue.

All school systems throughout the country serve students referred to as at risk. Research documents that these students are at a greater risk of dropping out of school due to characteristics that contribute to school disengagement. By exploring the perspectives of male inmates aged 18-30 regarding their educational experiences, this study's data illuminated how school personnel and the schooling process may theoretically contribute to negative outcomes such as incarceration. The focus of the study was to identify commonalities and phenomena in relation to educational experiences, school engagement levels, deviant behavior, and school staff-student interactions as related to the at-risk student population. Interviews of a sample group of prisoners were utilized to gather rich data from their experiences. A qualitative/phenomenological research method was employed. This study introduced a revised and expanded term to replace the at-risk term when describing students who are at risk of school failure. This new term is COPE (Children Of Promise in Education). The acronym COPEr will be used when referring to the individual student who is at promise for academic success. COPErs will be used when referring to multiple students of promise for academic success. Six themes emerged from the data analysis. The six themes were as follows: characteristics of the respondents as k-12 students, student-staff interaction, engagement, disengagement, negative outcomes, and reflection and advice. An analysis of the themes is represented by quotes from the study's participants. This analysis allowed for the emergence of data that substantively contributes to the gap in the literature pertaining to a continued need for qualitative research examining the schooling experiences of at-risk youth, juvenile delinquents, high school dropouts, and, as in this study, inmates. Few studies have examined the perspectives of inmates regarding their schooling experiences. Most research regarding inmates has examined correctional education within the prison system. After the findings of the study are revealed, the implications of the study are presented. Implications for school staff and student development through communication and positive interaction are addressed. Suggestions for future research related to positive academic and social development of COPErs in the educational system are suggested.

This thesis explores the structure and delivery of education programs to justice-involved adults in Canadian federal prisons and in the community. A series of semi-structured interviews as well as three volumes of the Journal for Prisoners on Prisons were analyzed using a qualitative approach to determine whether or not principles of adult education and components of performative space are present in current correctional education strategies. The findings suggest that while there are occurrences of both elements in the education that is provided to prisoners, the programs in the community are much more reflective of these adult learning standards. This project highlights the need for research into the area of adult correctional education, increased collaboration between the fields of criminology and education, and provides a framework from which future research can continue.

This thesis explores the structure and delivery of education programs to justice-involved adults in Canadian federal prisons and in the community. A series of semi-structured interviews as well as three volumes of the Journal for Prisoners on Prisons were analyzed using a qualitative approach to determine whether or not principles of adult education and components of performative space are present in current correctional education strategies. The findings suggest that while there are occurrences of both elements in the education that is provided to prisoners, the programs in the community are much more reflective of these adult learning standards. This project highlights the need for research into the area of adult correctional education, increased collaboration between the fields of criminology and education, and provides a framework from which future research can continue.

No description available.

This study employed convergent parallel mixed methods design to examine the transformative effect of education programmes as perceived by ex-offenders within the South African Department of Correctional Services (DCS). The DCS delivers education programmes to incarcerated people in compliance with Section 29 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The theoretical framework which underpins this study is the Good Lives Model (GLM) of offender rehabilitation.This research was influenced by John Dewey’s Pragmatic Paradigm. Inquiry was conducted in two Regions; Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal. A convergent parallel mixed methods approach was adopted throughout this study. In-depth interviews and questionnaires were utilized as data collection instruments in the research field. Pilot testing of a questionnaire form was conducted to five (5) exoffenders with demographic characteristics similar to the research sample. A total of fifty-two (52) ex-offenders who attended education programmes in the DCS; forty (40) questionnaires and twelve (12) in-depth interviews) were involved in this study. Both data types; quantitative and qualitative were collected concurrently or parallel and given equal status during data collection (Molina-Azorin & Cameron, 2010, Small, 2011, Creswell, 2013, Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007). Analysis of questionnaires and in-depth interviews data were performed independently. Data integration was performed at design, methods, results and discussion levels (Fetters & Freshwater, 2015, Ivankova, 2015). The main research findings demonstrate that education programmes promote offender transformation, reduce recidivism rate, improve quality of life, improve literacy levels and a criminal record is a barrier to ex-offenders’ employment in communities. Based on the research findings, this study concludes that education programmes enhance offender transformation, reduce recidivism rate, improve quality of life, improve literacy levels and ex-offenders struggle to secure employment opportunities in communities due to a criminal record. This study recommends further research on the transformative effect of education programmes in other Regions, the DCS should prioritize implementation of technical, vocational and entrepreneurial education programmes and a policy which facilitates ex-offenders’ employment to reduce recidivism rate should be developed. Finally, this study proposes a Student Transformation Model for guiding implementation of education programmes within the South African Department of Correctional Services. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The United States of America incarcerates more of its citizens than any other industrialized nation. Moreover, African American males are disproportionately targeted for incarceration in a system reminiscent of the system of slavery abolished after the civil war. As the cycle of recidivism plays itself out in this nation, this research examines the experiences of Black males who have broken the cycle to reestablish themselves within society through educating themselves in our nation's colleges and universities. This work is a phenomenological multiple case study that examines the experiences of five men who were incarcerated for a felony offense and successfully obtained bachelor's degree upon release. This research asks the questions: what motivated the pursuit of a degree, how did they pay for it, what resources were utilized, what challenges were overcome, and what impact this achievement had on their lives? Additionally, this research examines current correctional and educational policies and their impact on the Black community and concludes by making recommendations grounded in the research on how the nation can reduce recidivism rates and better serve African American communities.