The research examines the revised Offender Learning and Skills Service in women's prisons in England; this may appear an ambitious study, but of the total 139 jails only 13 are female establishments. I wanted to hear from staff their perceptions of what constituted a successful service, and how this compared across establishments. I wanted to know what the women themselves thought, and whether the service now met their needs not just as learners, but as female offender learners. A survey of practitioners experienced in setting up and working within the OLASS context formed the basis of the study, and responded to a questionnaire, or met with me to consider the same questions. I also facilitated two focus groups in prisons, of six women who regularly attended 'education' and six who didn't. The baseline for the sample size was therefore decided by being able to engage the right people; and the research questions, although the number of respondents (13 staff and 12 prisoners) is typical for similar studies. Chapter 1 provides the background to the project and the research questions. Chapter 2 reviews and discusses the relevant literature and papers, and the methodology and design of the research framework. Chapter 3 presents the arguments for the methodology selected, and outlines ethical considerations. Chapter 4 describes the data produced from the questionnaires, meetings, and focus groups, and draws together my interpretations of the themes that emerged. Chapter 5 draws conclusions from the study, and makes recommendations in the light of the analysis of the data. I
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:580382 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | McCaffery, Trudy |
| Publisher | University of Nottingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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