The Educational and Developmental Needs of Uncredentialed, Young Men With a Criminal Record: Voices From the Field

• In Event: From Pitfalls to Pathways: Reexamining the Social Context of Learning in Nontraditional Spaces and Times

Abstract

Drawn from a participatory action research project, this paper examines the learning and developmental needs of young men without a secondary diploma and with a criminal record, in an urban community. It uses interview data from nineteen 18- to 24-year-old men facing these circumstances and five professionals who serve them. Guided by structure/cultural/agency and social distance theory, we examine participants’ perceptions and their implications for understanding and supporting uncredentialed young men involved in the adult criminal justice system. While these young men’s difficulties stem from the failures of K-12 schools, their plight is rarely addressed in the field of education. Considering these men as learners rather than “criminals,” we press the field to “accept educational responsibility” for this vulnerable population.

Authors

• Tara Marie Brown, University of Maryland - College Park

• Jennifer Burris, University of Maryland - College Park

• Edwin Alamo