The Florida State University (FSU)/Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) Art Therapy in Prisons Program is contractually required to conduct an annual art exhibition of the participants' work. Originally to be held inside the institutions, it evolved into a single art exhibition at an annual state-wide conference for prison educators. This…

Although the visitation-recidivism relationship has been studied extensively among adult correctional populations, it has received little attention among incarcerated juveniles. In this study, we use a diverse sample of youth released from confinement in Florida (N = 7,296) to examine the effects of visitation and visitation consistency on two…

To lower recidivism, a private rehabilitation and correctional facility (PRCF) in South Florida provides educational and therapeutic programs to inmates; however, the facility reported increased recidivism rates for several successive years. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the association between 12 vocational training…

Across the United States a significant number of individuals find themselves incarcerated each year. For the state of Florida, this number represents one of the highest in the country (Carson, 2021). Prior research has indicated that incarcerated populations across the country tend to have a lower literacy level and less education experience than…

In January 2020, a new state-wide art therapy in prisons program was established to bring art therapy to youth offenders in four prisons to help mitigate obstacles to their education, such as emotional dysregulation, behavioral issues, and cognitive difficulties. Shortly thereafter COVID-19 halted regular programming. In a system where…

Using public information from birth certificates and prison records from Florida, we adopt a reduced-form approach to estimate the effect of relative age on the probability of incarceration in adulthood (until age 30-40). We use a Regression Discontinuity Design around the cutoff date for Kindergarten enrollment (Sept. 1). We find strong evidence…

This essay describes a prison-university writing exchange that culminated in the collection of audio and written essays "Why I Write" (http://www.why-i-write.com) and offers "writing to listen" as a strategy for communicating and listening across institutional and social boundaries. I argue that sound reveals the material…

On a given day, more than 43,000 youths who largely identify as students of color and are disproportionately male are held in residential placement facilities as a result of involvement with the juvenile justice system. More than two-thirds of youths living in placement facilities who participated in a national survey shared aspirations to…

Youth in the juvenile justice system need access to high-quality educational services and supports in order to reduce their risk of reoffending and increase their likelihood of further participation in education and the workforce. However, states have historically struggled to provide effective educational services to youth who are incarcerated.…

In the United States, involvement with the juvenile justice system can have a long-lasting negative impact on one's life. Young people who are placed in detention facilities are removed from their homes, their families, and their communities. Their education, their ties to society, and their lives are disrupted. Involvement with the justice system…

The Marion County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) utilizes inmate labor to operate a 125-acre farm to reduce the tax burden in feeding approximately 2,000 inmates per day. Agricultural products from the farm include vegetables, poultry, and dairy contributing over $500,000 annually to the facility's operation.

Although previous research has examined factors related to gang membership and offending, research on the relationship between gangs and victimization is limited. The present study builds on previous research and examines gang membership, victimization, and self-control among 2,414 jail inmates. Results from self-report surveys indicate that gang…

Research has linked the role of education to delinquency, but much of the focus has been on general population samples and with little attention to demographic differences. Employing a cumulative disadvantage framework that integrates elements of informal social control and labeling theories, this article examines whether academic achievement…

The characteristics of, and 2003 disciplinary data on, 51,527 inmates in the Florida Department of Corrections, including 9,586 inmates who had been convicted of some degree of homicide, were examined for rates and correlates of prison misconduct and violence. Disciplinary misconduct and institutional acts of violence committed by an admissions…

The authors use administrative data from Florida to determine the extent to which prison-based adult basic education (ABE) improves inmate's postrelease labor market outcomes, such as earnings and employment. Using two nonexperimental comparison groups, the authors find evidence that ABE participation is associated with higher postrelease earnings…