Addressing Disparities & Institutionalizationthrough College Education Programs

1. Addressing Disparities & Institutionalization
through College Education Programs
Christopher R. Beasley, Ph.D
Department of Psychology
Washington College
APA 2014
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2. engagementresearch.org/presentations
Slides
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3. • Incarceration
• Education
• Employment
• Reentry Challenges
• Prison Education
• Reentry Education
• Integrated Programming
• Future Directions
Overview
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4. US Incarceration Prevalence1
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5. Incarceration Trend2
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6. Ethnic Disparities3
4.8%0.7% 1.9%
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7. Felons & Ex-Felons4
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8. • Psychological
– Trauma & Clinical Illness5
– Institutionalization6
• Dependence on structure and contingencies
• Hyper vigilance, distrust, and suspicion
• Emotional over-control, alienation, psychological distancing
• Social withdrawal and isolation
• Incorporation of exploitive norms of prison culture
• Diminished self-worth
• Post-traumatic stress reactions
Incarceration Consequences
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9. • Collateral7
– Legal restrictions
– Stigma & discrimination
– Careers
– Housing
– Education
– Public benefits
– Financial credit
– Immigration
– Parental rights
– Travel
– Volunteer opportunities
Incarceration Consequences
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10. • Unemployment
– National figures notoriously absent
– Incarceration reduces employment 10-20%8
– 10-30% lesser earnings9
Incarceration Consequences
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11. • Employers not very willing to hire ex-offenders
– 40% would probably or definitely11
– Small Lower in smaller, financial, service, & customer
contact10
– Persists in tight labor markets11
• Employer Concerns12
– Lack of skills & experience
– Untrustworthiness
– Fear of negligent hiring
– Sympathetic but protective
Employment Barriers
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12. • Factors in Marketability12
– Post prison experiences taken into account11
• Work experience11
• Training and hard skills help
• College education
– Willingness to hire ex-offenders increased 3x13
– Desire for soft skills
• Communication skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Work ethic
Employment Barriers
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13. • Education
Education
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0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
General Formerly
Incarcerated
White Black Hispanic
Postsecondary Educational Attainment14
Some College No College
8.411.411.448.4 5.5

14. • Recidivism
Reentry Challenges
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0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Any Multiple
5-Year Recidivism Rates15
Yes No
76.6 42.3

15. • Recidivism
Reentry Challenges
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0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
White Hispanic Black Other
3-Year Recidivism Disparity15
Arrests No Arrests
68.8 70.7 74.0 76.6

16. • Immediate Needs16
– Employment
– Substance Abuse Treatment
– Mental Health
– Housing
– Transportation
• Challenges
– Institutionalization
– Identity
– Self-Concept
– Environmental Adaptation
• Built
• Technical
• Cultural
Reentry
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17. • Programs
– Community Colleges
– Bard Prison Initiative17
– Education Justice Project18
• Outcomes
– 51% lower odds of recidivating19
Prison Postsecondary Education
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18. • Challenges
– Security
– Administrative Resources
– Prison policies and shifting priorities
– Qualified educators
• Limitations
– Often do not address transition
– Institutionalization still present
– Federal funding not available
Prison Postsecondary Education
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19. • Programs
– College & Community Fellowship20
– College Initiative21
– Post Prison Education Program22
– Project Rebound23
– Returning Student Support Group24
Reentry Education
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20. • Outcomes
– College Initiative25
• 20x less likely to go back to prison compared to national
average
• 5x more likely to graduate than CUNY GED students
– Post Prison Education Program26
• 0% 1-year recidivism for clients
• 35% for overflow controls
Reentry Education
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21. • Challenges
– Student Preparation
• Educational attainment
• Recent educational experience
• Familiarity with systems and technology
– Criminal background checks
– Continuance of contacts with prison programs
• Limitations
– Often little coordination with prison programs
• Recruitment
• Student transition
Reentry Education
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22. • Pathways from Prison to Postsecondary
Education27
– 5-year Demonstration Project
• Michigan
• New Jersey
• North Carolina
– Funding and Technical Assistance
• Ford Foundation
• Sunshine Lady Foundation
• Open Society Foundations
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Prison & Reentry Integration
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23. • Pathways from Prison to Postsecondary
Education27
– Postsecondary education and supportive reentry
• Links to local employment
• 2 Years prerelease
• 2 Years postrelease
• RAND Corporation evaluation
Prison & Reentry Integration
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24. • Housing considerations
– Living & learning communities
• Stigma
– College recovery communities
• Alumni components
– Faces of hope
• Hope is related to lesser odds of reincarceration28
Future Directions
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25. • Communicating alternative narratives to
prisoners and greater society
– Written stories
– Video stories
– Spoken stories
– Policy briefs and statements
Future Directions
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26. • Research
– Outcomes
– Processes
• Deinstitutionalization
– Incarceration conditions, policies, & procedures
» Rehabilitation
» Replication of outside structure and routine
» Opportunities for autonomy
» Psychologically and safe settings
» Contact with outside world
» Alternatives to prison culture and norms
– Preparation for community release
– Services to facilitate reintegration
Future Directions
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27. • Incarceration
• Education
• Employment
• Reentry Challenges
• Prison Education
• Reentry Education
• Integrated Programming
• Future Directions
Conclusion
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28. 1. International Cenre for Prison Studies. (2010). World Prison Population List
2. USDOJ (2011). Correctional Populations in the United States, 2010
3. U.S. Census. (2010). Correctional Population in the United States
4. Shannon, S.K.S., Uggen, C., Schnittker, J.,Thompson, M.,Wakefield, S., & Massoglia, M.. (In Progress). Growth in the U.S. Ex-Felon and Ex-
Prisoner Population, 1948-2010.
5. Haney, C. (1997). Psychology and the limits to prison pain: Confronting the coming crisis in Eighth Amendment law.
6. Haney, C. (2001). The Psychological Impact of Incarceration: Implications for Post-Prison Adjustment
7. NACDL (2014). Collateral Damage: America’s Failure to Forgive or Forget in the War on Crime
8. CEPR (2010). Ex-Offenders and the Labor Market
9. Kling, J. Weiman, D., & Western, B. (2000). “The Effects of Mass Incarceration on the Labor Market
10. Holzer, H. J., Raphael, S., Stoll, M. A. (2002). Will Employers Hire Ex-Offenders? Employer Preferences, Background Checks, and Their
Determinants
11. Holzer, H. J. (2007). Collateral costs: The effects of Incarceration on the employment and earnings of young workers
12. Fahey, J., Roberts, C., & Engel, L. (2006). Employment of Ex-Offenders: Employer Perspectives
13. Albright, S. & Denq, F. (1996). Employer Attitudes Toward Hiring Ex-Offenders
14. Harlow, C. (2003). Education and Correctional Populations
15. Cooper, A. D., Durose, M. R., & Snyder, H. (2014). Recidivism Of Prisoners Released In 30 States In 2005: Patterns From 2005 To 2010
16. James, N. (2014). Offender Reentry: Correctional Statistics, Reintegration into the Community, and Recidivism
17. www.bpi.bard.edu
18. www.educationjustice.net
19. Davis, L. M., Bozick, R., Steele, J. L., Saunders, J., & Miles, J. N. V. (2013). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Eduction: A Meta-Analysis
of Programs That Provide Education to Incarcerated Adults.
20. www.collegeandcommunity.org
21. www.collegeinitiative.org
22. www.postprisonedu.org
23. www. asi.sfsu.edu/asi/.../proj_rebound
24. www.rssgchicago.org
25. College Initiative (2013). Fact Sheet.
26. Lovell, D., Walch, J., & Rhodes, L. A. (n.d.). Preliminary Evaluation: Post-Prison Education Program
27. VERA (n.d.). Pathways from Prison to Postsecondary Education Project
28. Dekhtyar, M., Beasley, C. R., Jason, L. A., Ferrari, J. R. (2012). Hope as a Predictor of Reincarceration Among Mutual-Help
References
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29. engagementresearch.org/presentations
Slides
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