Self-Efficacy and Agency: Positive Outcomes Associated with an Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program

• In Event: Teaching Behind Bars: Evaluating Impact, Self-Efficacy and Critical Perspectives on Carceral Education

Abstract

Various types of education have been provided in U.S. carceral settings as a strategy to support offender rehabilitation dating back to the 1780s. There have been fluctuations in the types of education available in jails and prisons, but the research indicates that education in carceral settings is associated with benefits for confined people, their families, and the communities to which they return. Most of this research focuses on metrics such as employment or recidivism, and detained or incarcerated students are not significant contributors to the research or discourse on education and programs in jails and prisons. The project aims to address this limitation in the institutional education literature by actively integrating the experiences of inside and outside students who participated in a course based on the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program instructional model and highlighting educational benefits beyond employment and recidivism.

Author

• Jennifer Lanterman, University of Nevada, Reno