Finding Voice from the Inside: How Postsecondary Education Impacted Perceptions of Higher Education for Long-Term Incarcerated Juveniles

<p>There is a gap in the literature with regard to postsecondary opportunities for incarcerated youth. Minimal research and curriculum design are rarely available for the purpose of improving juvenile postsecondary correctional education thereby limiting recidivism rates of students in the juvenile justice system. The pilot program in this study attempted to provide a complete and comprehensive university program for long-term incarcerated juveniles to get them on track to obtain a bachelor’s degree. This dissertation addresses the high school experiences, including the School to Prison Pipeline and the academic experience to provide background information, justifying the importance of creating postsecondary academic opportunities for the incarcerated juveniles. Then, the dissertation analyzes interviews with students of juvenile justice and university interns who participated in the pilot educational program and gives insight into secondary and post-secondary correctional education and analyzes artistic representations of their experience, giving a closer look at secondary and postsecondary educational experiences through the voices of the participants. Themes that emerged during the qualitative analysis include the 1) educational experience, 2) life experiences, 3) relationships, and 4) voice. The findings lead to a potential direction and recommendations on how incarcerated youth can be prepared for life after incarceration. Last, this dissertation attempts to analyze the students’ experience, allowing the reader to understand and improve the educational experience of the incarcerated student.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Year dc:date.available

2020

Author dc:creator

• Barraza, Gregory

Contributors dc:contributor

• Anaida Colon-Muniz
• Peter McLaren
• Victoria Carty

• juvenile justice education
• arts based research
• education
• critical race
• narrative inquiry
• poetic inquiry
• Humane Education
• Other Education
• Prison Education and Reentry

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/education_dissertations/16

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.chapman.edu:education_dissertations-1015