On the weekend before the Fourth of July 1966, the U.S. Office of Education quietly released a 737-page report that summarized one of the most comprehensive studies of American education ever conducted. Encompassing some 3,000 schools, nearly 600,000 students, and thousands of teachers, and produced by a team led by Johns Hopkins University…

The third edition of the National Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Neglected or Delinquent Children and Youth's (NDTAC's) "Transition Toolkit" provides updated information on existing policies, practices, strategies, and resources for transition that build on field experience and research. The "Toolkit" offers…

The current study examined program outcomes for an understudied population of Relationship Education (RE) participants: incarcerated men and women. In addition to relationship functioning, we examined a number of individual and parenting outcomes which had not previously been explored. In a sample of 453 adult inmates, we found improvements in (a)…

This article responds to a "what-if" question regarding education, raised by a woman inmate. Emerging in the midst of a research project with women in prison, the unexpected question haunts the two authors, both educational researchers, who in turn reconsider education's role in difficult circumstances. For guidance, the authors turn to…

In this article, Aislinn O'Donnell offers a set of reflections on the relation between therapy and education. In the first section, she examines criticisms of therapeutic education, mobilizing the example of prison education to highlight the difficulties that arise from imposing prescriptive modes of subjectification and socialization in…

The effectiveness of group psychotherapy has been empirically studied and supported over several decades; however, there remains much to understand regarding the specific factors contributing to effective group psychotherapy. The current study uses Kashy and Kenny's (2000) actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) to examine the relationship…

A phenomenological approach was used with this study to give a voice to individuals who are incarcerated for the purpose of understanding their past educational experiences in the areas of academics, personal/social, and career exploration. The study included interviews with 25 individuals who are incarcerated and who were purposefully selected to…

From March through July 2011, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), in collaboration with the Campaign for Youth Justice and the Education Development Center, convened four listening sessions with families and youth who had direct experiences with the juvenile justice system at the local and state levels. The…

The United States has more people in prison than any other country, and more than half of those incarcerated are parents. This article reviews the challenges to parenting while in prison and considers how parental attachment experiences and difficult life trajectories have an impact on parent-child relationships. The authors provide examples of…

The Prisoners' Education Trust is working on a "learner voice" initiative that seeks to involve learners more in the development of prison education, helping them to express their views and helping providers to respond to them. Evaluation is an issue of increasing importance, for charities as well as public funders. Everyone agrees it's…

Many educators view the process of education as transformative. This transformation is important in all classrooms, but it takes on added importance in prison classrooms. The education that inmates receive in prison can mean the difference between the doorway of freedom with a productive future and the revolving door of recidivism. For many prison…

Although prisoner reentry has taken center stage in correctional research and policy discussions, there has been little emphasis on reentry among jail populations. This paper examines a jail-based reentry program in New York City that begins while individuals are incarcerated and includes 90 days of postrelease services. This article explores…

Definitions vary on what constitutes sexual and/or physical abuse, and scholars have debated on which methods might yield the most accurate response rates for capturing this sensitive information. Although some studies suggest respondents prefer methods that provide anonymity, previous studies have not utilized high-risk or stigmatized…

The article examines the processes involved in the integration of the USSR's secret places into mainstream rural society in the Russian Federation. Taking the example of one rural district in the Volga-Ural region that has been the site of a large prison complex over a period of ninety years, the article examines how economic changes and local…

In this essay, I examine the concept of thinking in Hannah Arendt's writings. Arendt's interest in the experience of thinking allowed her to develop a concept of thinking that is distinct from other forms of mental activity such as cognition and problem solving. For her, thinking is an unending, unpredictable and destructive activity without fixed…