The educational background and work history of adult incarcerated males who were 90 days or less from release were examined in the present study. The Vocational and Educational History Questionnaire (VEHQ), the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests Revised/Normative Update, and the Basic Achievement of Common Knowledge and Skills were given to offenders…

The study assessed the effectiveness of the Preparing Inmates for Re-Entry through Assistance, Training, and Employment Skills (PIRATES) group, which focused on improving dysfunctional career thoughts. Participants were male offenders (n = 14) enrolled in a re-entry training class. Results showed a statistically significant decrease in…

Educational achievement has been shown to be negatively correlated with recidivism among those released from prison (Nuttall, Hollmen, and Staley, 2003). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a prison art rehabilitation program, Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), on inmate participation in voluntary educational programs. RTA…

This study examined the effects of an expressive writing intervention on male, juvenile offenders' (n=25) psychological and emotional well being. Using a quasi-experimental design, participants were assigned to one of three writing conditions and were instructed to write for 15 minutes for five consecutive days about one of the following topics:…

The educational experience for an inmate is part of an ethos of personal restriction. Within the social and physical restriction of prison, the research assessed the extent to which andragogical treatment could influence inmate mood and behavior in the classroom. The need to improve inmate readiness for the Federal Bureau of Prisons mandatory GED…

Given the histories of employment instability of the offenders entering correctional systems, enhancing an offender's vocational skills is an important need to address prior to their reintegration into the community. The purpose of the current research was to examine offender perceptions of the value of employment and crime, obtained as part of a…

The National Adult Literacy Survey, conducted by the U.S. Department of Education in 1992 and 2003, included federal and state prisoners. One finding of the 2003 survey was that prisoners with a GED scored higher in reading skills than persons in the general population with the equivalent education. In an attempt to explain that unexpected…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the writing skills of incarcerated males and to examine differences in these skills based on age and race. All participants (n=115) were male, so gender was not analyzed. Data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics as well as a Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). Results indicated wide…

Strength-based approaches, originating in juvenile justice as early as the late 1800s, situate the work of juvenile correctional facilities as assisting youth in utilizing their strengths and competencies to understand how they can be applied their lives to affect change and growth. While strengths-based approaches might have originated…

The purpose of these two experiments was to compare well-being measurements between a group of prison inmates singing in a choir and prison inmates not singing in a choir. Using the Friedman Well-Being Scale (FWBS) as the dependent measure, measurements were taken before and after performances of two prison-based choirs: (a) an inmate only choir…

The objective of this qualitative study was to establish the existing positive factors in the lives of 18 juvenile males living in a low-security correctional facility in order to determine approaches which foster resiliency. Urie Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory, an approach to understanding human development within the context of the…

The purpose of this study was to measure whether Christian programs had a positive influence on the academic achievement of low-literate male inmates. The sample consisted of 124 male inmates in a closed security prison in the southeastern United States who were participating in an Adult Basic Education (ABE) program. The researcher grouped the…

Because of the disproportionate number of violent males in American society (particularly in the juvenile justice system), teachers and researchers should afford greater scrutiny to the relationship between masculinity and violence. Incarcerated male youth have unique issues not only because of their incarceration, but also because of their…

This study examined the prevalence of reading problems and self-reported symptoms of attentional deficits in a sample of adjudicated adolescent males (N = 101) aged 12 to 18 years who were residing in an alternative sentencing residential program. Thirty-four percent of the youth had reading problems while only 9% of the boys had self-reported…

The aim of the present study was to explore the educational background of the total population of inmates in Norwegian prisons. The sample consisted of all 3 289 inmates over 18 years of age in Norwegian prisons. The response rate was 71.1 percent. Ninety four percent of the participants were men and mean age was 35 years. A questionnaire…