Discussing Policy with Prisoners

PS: Political Science & Politics, 2018

Shecaira, S.S. et al. (eds.) Criminologoa: Estudos em Homenagem ao Alvino Augusto de Sá (pp.475-498), Belo Horizonte: D'Placido

Convict Criminology is an international research-activist movement of which the first two named authors are leading figures in the UK. It started in North America in the 1990s and has more recently emerged in Europe and, most lately South America. It focuses on collaborative teaching and learning. More generally, Convict Criminology aims to produce critical research that is grounded in first-hand accounts of prison life, as well as current and former prisoner-led academic engagement with prison authorities and activists: to bridge the gap between universities and prisoners through developing insider (in this case prisoner and former prisoner) perspectives in the discipline of Criminology. This chapter outlines the authors' efforts to develop such a collabora-tive research activist agenda between social scientists, prisoners, and former prisoners, and to support prisoners and former prisoners through higher education and into academic and criminal justice positions. It demonstrates further that participation in prison education not only also has the potential to transform Criminology, but also has the potential for significant institutional and societal impact. The projects described in this chapter provide prisoners with qualifications, opening up a range of opportunities and pro-social life choices. They are also specifically designed to engage prisoners in reflecting upon their experiences of crime and punishment, demonstrated in critical pedagogical and desistance-from-crime literature to be an effective means of challenging offenders' perceptions of themselves as antisocial citizens and figures of authority (such as prison staff) as enemies. Keywords Convict Criminology; research activism; collaborative knowledge production; prison education. Resumo A Criminologia dos Condenados é um movimento internacional de pesquisa ativismo do qual os dois primeiros autores são figuras de destaque no Reino Unido. Começou na América do Norte nos anos 90 e emergiu mais recentemente na Europa e ultimamante na América do Sul. Ele se concentra no ensino e aprendizagem colaborativo. De forma geral, a Convict Criminology tem como objetivo pesquisas críticas baseadas em contas da primeira mão da vida nas prisões, bem como envolvimento com autoridades penitenciários e ativistas de prisão liderado por prisioneiros e egressos: para preencher a lacuna entre universidades e prisioneiros através do desenvolvimento de perspectivas privilegiadas (neste caso, prisioneiro e ex-prisioneiro) na disciplina de Criminologia. Este capítulo descreve os esforços dos autores para desenvolver uma agenda ativista de pesquisa colaborativa entre cientistas sociais, prisioneiros e ex-prisioneiros, e apoiar prisioneiros e ex-prisioneiros através do ensino superior e entrar em cargos acadêmicos e de justiça criminal. Demonstra ainda que a participação na educação prisional não apenas tem o potencial de transformar a Criminologia, mas também o potencial de um impacto institucional e social significativo. Os projetos descritos neste capítulo fornecem aos presos qualificações, abrindo uma gama de oportunidades e opções de vida pró-sociais. Eles também são

Contested Space: Higher Education Programming in Prisons, 2022

While academic freedom is considered a birthright in higher education, the current hysteria surrounding teaching critical race theory in K-12 schools and at universities demonstrates an ongoing resistance to teaching theories that deconstruct and challenge white dominant norms. In prison education spaces, where censorship is common, tailoring education to the needs of those in power in prisons is wrought with ethical grievances. As federal funding for incarcerated students increases, how should higher education institutions navigate topics such as race and racism, when this content is challenged by prison officials? This article explores conceptually the role that higher education programming should have in prison spaces and discusses what is at stake when censorship of race and racism are not actively challenged. A framework is employed, through Ladson-Billings work, that names the ways in which an accrued educational debt is owed to incarcerated students of color that can begin to be repaid through student-centered higher education in prison programming. Additionally, the response of a college in prison organization when faced with prison censorship is highlighted as a path forward to engaging and responding to a growing anti-CRT movement, intended to obscure history and the inequity that people of color face in the United States. Without interrogating the role of college in prison programs, universities without careful consideration of how to address these racialized censorship issues can become a part of the repressive institution that is our current carceral state.

2021

This research was inspired by allegations of censorship of college curricula in an Illinois state penitentiary. This example highlights the confusion and controversy that may ensue when disagreements arise over what students in prison-based college programs are permitted to read and learn. Following this, my research considers these relevant questions: First, do many programs and prisons encounter disagreements over certain instructional materials? Next, to what extent are these rooted in clashing institutional values and priorities? And finally, what can be done to quell controversy, reduce confusion, and strengthen relationships between colleges and prisons? To shed light on these questions, I surveyed over forty practitioners from Higher Education in Prison (HEP) programs based in state penitentiaries across the United States. In particular, I asked about security clearance protocols for instructional materials, as well as institution-specific restrictions on modality and content. I report and discuss the findings and implications of this survey in the analysis that follows. As such, the intended audience for this report includes stakeholders in both academia and corrections, and others interested in strengthening relations between colleges and prisons that partner to educate incarcerated students.

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry, 2019

Special Issue Journal of Prison Education and Reentry 2019, Vol 6 No. 1

v.29 n.supl, 2020

The risk of biological contagion from the new coronavirus pandemic presented unforeseen challenges for fieldwork. This article is based on the reflections of my ethnographic field in the penitentiary system of Ceará, in Brazil, seeking to access the relationships and the effects of the growth of the penitentiary archipelago. One of the objectives is to contribute to comparative studies, considering that each federative unit presents substantial differences in the administrative procedures of its local prison system. The report was written due to the need to discuss the contexts of the prisons, but also to reflect on anthropological ethnography and the uncertainty about life and death in the face of suffocating realities. keywords Ethnography. Prisons. Pandemic. Fieldwork.

Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 2014

This article presents how unconventional teaching environments, such as the prison system, can participate in the elaboration of new pedagogical methods and, in the process, reveal the diverse responses of marginalized groups to the study of the law. Over the course of this article I provide valuable insight about underexplored teaching techniques to academics seeking to open up their approach beyond traditional methods. Through this partially reflective piece I relay my experience as a law instructor in a maximum security prison, and demonstrate how those who have bore the brunt of the law can still think critically about legal topics. I also support the idea that by taking in the perspectives of peripheral groups, legal educators will be led to use innovative methods to deliver legal knowledge. Essentially this article explores the intersection between legal pedagogy and the prison system to uncover a site previously neglected by conventional work on criminology and education. Pointing out how experiencing the law differently can ] Prison-Based Education And Its New Pedagogical Perspective [2013 2 shape individual interpretations of legal knowledge, I hope to situate learning within a larger criminological process.

2013

The Learning Prison, Correctional Education in the 21st Century Conference Venues and Breakout Rooms MESSAGE FROM THE CONVENOR On behalf of the Australasian Corrections Education Association (ACEA) and the Correctional Industries Association of Australasia (CIAA) I would like to welcome all our delegates to the 11th Biennial ACEA International Conference: 'The Learning Prison, Correctional Education in the 21st Century'. It has been 12 years since NSW hosted the 5th Biennial ACEA International Conference. In 2001 the conference was located in the regional city of Bathurst which is a contrast to this year's location in the beautiful coastal village of Coogee. The organising committee has worked vigorously to ensure that the 2013 conference meets the high standard set in 2001 and at previous conferences. The partnership between corrections industries and education and training has consolidated and grown in many jurisdictions since the co-joined ACEA & CIAA Conference held on the Gold Coast in 2011. This year again members of the CIAA will participate in this integrated industries, education and training conference. The conference theme of 'The Learning Prison-Correctional Education in the 21st Century' is forward looking and places prisoner education at the centre of the prison and the correctional system. A number of workshops on the use of digital technology and prison education building design directly address this theme. I am delighted to welcome Rachel O'Brien from the UK who has put forward a vision for a 21st Century prison in her Transitions paper and surveyed the state of learning and skills provision training in UK prisons under the Learning Prison Project. I would like to thank all our keynote speakers who have committed their time to participate in the conference and to present information on new correctional education and training practice, research and modelling, which will add to the dialogue in Australia and beyond. I would like to thank those practitioners and researchers who will be sharing their experience, knowledge and ideas in the conference workshops. Delegates from each Australian state and territory as well as from New Zealand, Hong Kong, the United States and for the first time South Africa, will make this a truly international conference. Over the two days of the conference I hope you will be engaged, stimulated, perhaps challenged and inspired. The conference organisers have provided a number of social and networking opportunities outside of the scheduled sessions. A welcoming reception will take place on Sunday evening on the Conference Terrace and a gala dinner is scheduled for Monday evening in the Oceanic Ballroom. I hope that you leave the conference with new ideas to apply to your work and a network of new colleagues with whom to share future challenges and solutions.

University Development and Administration, 2018

Postgraduate students who are attempting to complete their study while being incarcerated, face a unique set of administrative, social and academic challenges which can significantly impact their progress. University educators are very often unaware of the particular circumstances of these incarcerated postgraduate students and fail to provide adequate support. As prisons are designed with the purpose of maintaining public security, they generally are inadequate learning environments and are staffed by officers with little familiarity with university processes and academic demands. This chapter describes the very specific research and learning environment of a prison and details how the prison culture can support or inhibit higher level learning. It highlights the significant benefits of higher education for incarcerated students, prisons, universities and society as a whole. However, the chapter also explores the many difficulties of access and support for any form of higher education in the prison environment; and specifically, the difficulties for postgraduate students undertaking research and for their supervisors. The chapter concludes with a series of recommendations for both universities and prisons, concluding that many of the challenges to postgraduate teaching and learning in prison can be at least partially addressed through better communication, a whole-of-prison approach to learning and the development of a learning culture. Prison conditions vary hugely across jurisdictions and so it is not possible to provide a model for study which works for all incarcerated students but this chapter suggests changes which could improve conditions for many.