Higher Education: The Experiences of Formerly Incarcerated Students in College

• In Event: Education and Prisoner Reentry: Processes and Impact

Abstract

The issue of “what works” when addressing successful ex-offender reintegration into the community is an on-going discussion. The strongest predictor of whether a person will return to prison is their formal education level. Those with higher education, or a college degree, are the least likely to recidivate. The purpose of this paper is to learn more about how education works to encourage an ex-offender's reintegration into the community, and to identify what part of the education process helps to transform the lives of individual ex-offenders. Theoretical perspectives of life-course transitions are examined focusing on turning points in the experiences of formerly incarcerated students in college and aims to identify if higher education promotes desistance from offending behavior. Several aspects of the participant’s college experiences are presented in an attempt to define social factors that play a significant role in sustaining a life free of crime. Peer groups and associations with peer-based organizations for formerly incarcerated students are credited with being crucial in maintaining the subjects’ desistance from offending.
Keywords: desistance, reintegration, re-entry, recidivism, education

Author

• Kevin Michael Gonzalez, California State University, Los Angeles