Date of Award

2024-08-31

Degree Name

PhD Education for Social Justice

Dissertation Committee

Suzanne Stolz, Ed.D., Chairperson; Emily Nusbaum, Ph.D., Member

Keywords

incarcerated women, jails, correctional education, autoethnography

Abstract

ABSTRACT The incarceration of women has increased 93% in the last fifty years. This impacts marginalized communities at disproportionate rates. Although the provision of education in corrections became federal law in 1952 as a means to rehabilitate inmates, women’s facilities currently do not receive equitable resources to support education, which puts additional pressure on the educational staff. The legal requirement for education includes county jails, the transitory facilities that house inmates while they await court or transfer to prison. The jail educational system is volatile, making it difficult to engage students when there are constant interruptions, unexpected incidents, lockdowns, and releases. Teachers in county jails have limited time to gain the trust of students and to engage them for in-depth learning about topics relevant to their reentry. Without proper training teachers are left to learn through experience. Although a growing body of literature addresses correctional education, there is little capturing the experience of teachers who work in county jails. With autoethnography, a method in which the researcher examines the meanings derived from a cultural experience, this study highlights the challenges and opportunities that can arise for a teacher who wants to provide students with an equitable opportunity for transformative learning. With this study, I examined academic literature about correctional education as well as my journals, notes, poetry, and stories written while working in corrections. My analysis highlights the experience of teaching in this volatile environment, emotional strains, realizations about resources, and the unique needs of incarcerated women.

Document Type

Dissertation: Open Access

Department

Leadership Studies

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