Points of (Necessary) Contention: A Carceral Analysis of Higher Education in Prison (Poster 3): Division G - Section 4: Policies, Mattering, and Praxis, 8:11

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Abstract

There are roughly 400 institutions of higher education offering academic programming to select incarcerated individuals, a number poised to grow with Pell Grant expansion for eligible incarcerated people attending an approved prison education program. Higher education in prison (HEP) is a proven mechanism for reduced recidivism, social and personal benefit, and testament to liberatory and transformative education. Still, HEP’s community of scholarship and practice remains contentious over its propensity for situating the carceral system as legitimate, and even necessary. This paper draws from HEP research and Second Chance Pell policy to conduct a carceral analysis of HEP praxis, aimed at critiquing HEP as a de/carceral practice, and how carcerality represents a point of critique and growth for HEP.

Author

• Cydney Y. Caradonna, University of Utah