Making Good One Semester at a Time: Formerly Incarcerated Students (and their Professor) Consider the Redemptive Power of Inclusive Education

• In Event: Roundtable: Problems of Reentry

Abstract

Research suggests that community immersion and engagement are essential precursors to the successful reintegration of former offenders. Along those lines, many former offenders have found hope and direction through higher education. The inclusion of former offenders in the world of higher education facilitates their successful reentry by bolstering self-esteem, corroborating reformation, and giving a space to those who were once outcasts. This presentation chronicles the lives of three students at Long Beach State University who founded a student organization - Rising Scholars - dedicated to bringing together criminal justice system impacted.

Authors

• James M. Binnall, California State University, Long Beach

• Irene Sotelo, California State University, Long Beach

• Joe Louis Hernandez, Long Beach State University

• Adrian Vasquez, Long Beach State University

• Bridget Cervelli, Long Beach State University