When social institutions collide:
The intersection of post-secondary correctional education and civic engagement in higher education through the creative arts
Abstract
With the United States’ incarceration rate increasing at an alarming rate over the past 30
years, the punitive “tough on crime” approach of politicians being celebrated, and a large percent
of every state’s budget spent on “corrections,” programming in prison has significantly
dwindled. In my study, I focus on two existing university-based programs, Inside-Out Prison
Exchange Program and the Prison Creative Arts Program. Both programs have not only
survived the current state of adversarial policy without the help of public scholarship, but have
thrived in spite of it. This leads me to question, what has caused these programs to pursue this
field in the face of such opposition?
My study centered on understanding the relationships between institutions of higher
education and institutions of corrections, especially through the creative arts. I sought to identify
the values and beliefs that guide both programs and analyze how these have impacted their
participants. My process of reflexive micro-ethnographies relied on the compilation of nine
semi-structured in-depth interviews as primary data sources to gain an understanding about the
university-based programs’ structures and processes. In order to maintain epistemic integrity, I
examined multiple perspectives from several participants in each program: the founders of the
university-based program, their full-time administrative staff, and other researchers with whom
the programs interact.
Through the process of data collection, I found that both programs had similar
philosophies to Paulo Freire and Myles Horton, who encouraged people to take an active role in
their education. Both programs have a strong foundational belief in the process of facilitation
over traditional teacher/student dynamics. However, the different structures the programs
established to make these experiences possible for participants are intriguing.
The information gathered would be greatly beneficial for new and expanding incorrections
programs to consider. The data and analysis offered make a case for in-corrections
programming to not only continue, but to link up with higher education institutions. This study
provides a conceptual framework that introduces how these partnerships could be materialized. It
allows both the educational institution and corrections to adopt and adapt what would work best
within their facilities. I argue that these partnerships not only meet the needs of the institutions,
but also benefit the social bodies with whom they interact.
With the United States’ incarceration rate increasing at an alarming rate over the past 30
years, the punitive “tough on crime” approach of politicians being celebrated, and a large percent
of every state’s budget spent on “corrections,” programming in prison has significantly
dwindled. In my study, I focus on two existing university-based programs, Inside-Out Prison
Exchange Program and the Prison Creative Arts Program. Both programs have not only
survived the current state of adversarial policy without the help of public scholarship, but have
thrived in spite of it. This leads me to question, what has caused these programs to pursue this
field in the face of such opposition?
My study centered on understanding the relationships between institutions of higher
education and institutions of corrections, especially through the creative arts. I sought to identify
the values and beliefs that guide both programs and analyze how these have impacted their
participants. My process of reflexive micro-ethnographies relied on the compilation of nine
semi-structured in-depth interviews as primary data sources to gain an understanding about the
university-based programs’ structures and processes. In order to maintain epistemic integrity, I
examined multiple perspectives from several participants in each program: the founders of the
university-based program, their full-time administrative staff, and other researchers with whom
the programs interact.
Through the process of data collection, I found that both programs had similar
philosophies to Paulo Freire and Myles Horton, who encouraged people to take an active role in
their education. Both programs have a strong foundational belief in the process of facilitation
over traditional teacher/student dynamics. However, the different structures the programs
established to make these experiences possible for participants are intriguing.
The information gathered would be greatly beneficial for new and expanding incorrections
programs to consider. The data and analysis offered make a case for in-corrections
programming to not only continue, but to link up with higher education institutions. This study
provides a conceptual framework that introduces how these partnerships could be materialized. It
allows both the educational institution and corrections to adopt and adapt what would work best
within their facilities. I argue that these partnerships not only meet the needs of the institutions,
but also benefit the social bodies with whom they interact.
