Decisions to Disclose: When and Why One Group of Ex-Felons in Higher Education “Outed” Themselves

• In Event: Roundtable: Reentry and Support

Abstract

Research concerning offenders in higher education is virtually non-existent, at least when those individuals have attempted that higher education post-release. This presentation is based on a portion of my dissertation research conducted with Colson Scholars, that is, ex-felons who were scholarship recipients of the Chuck Colson Scholarship at Wheaton College. In this roundtable section, we'll discuss the reasons these ex-offenders disclosed their identities to others, factors that influenced such disclosures, and positive and negative experiences they had when they chose to disclose this information about themselves.

Author

• Judith A. Leary, Bowling Green State University