Unlocking the Outcomes of Learning in Prison

Helen Nichols

Dr Bill Davies

• Raising Capital: the ‘business’ of education and change

• Why Think About ‘Soft Skills’?

• Thinking About Offender Learning Through Key Themes in Prison Sociology

• Connecting Prison Sociology and Outcomes of Education: The Evidence

• Identifying Change: Thoughts from Tutors

• A Convict Criminology perspective on education and desistance

Raising Capital: the ‘business’ of education and change

• One of the many rationales for prison education addresses the combination of economic, social and moral capital

• Schuller (2009) noted that human, social and identity capital can all be gained through education and that these attributes are significantly lacking amongst the prison population

• ‘Shortages of all of these forms of capital combine to reduce the chances of successful desistance’ (Schuller, 2009: 10)

• With high rates of marriage and relationship loss occurring during imprisonment, the social capital that was once the potential vehicle for social integration is removed, serving only to decrease a sense of self-worth creating low identity capital

• The combination of low capital of these kinds is ‘toxic’

• Education and skills – the very attribute required by the inmate population to build up personal capital to reduce the risk of reoffending Schuller (2009: 16)

Schuller, T. (2009) Crime and Lifelong Learning: IFLL Thematic Paper 5. Leicester: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education

Why Think About ‘Soft Skills’?

• confidence, self-actualization, communication skills, socially acceptable behaviour, the ability to follow instruction, time-keeping, meeting deadlines, coping skills, organization, self control, respect for others

• All are important in enabling individuals to function positively in society

• Warner’s (2014) - make the important measurable rather than the measureable important – ascribe a value to soft skills rather than focus on those purely

relating to employability

Thinking About Offender Learning Through Key Themes in Prison Sociology

• Masculinity– ‘Nowhere are the tensions between conscious and unconscious drives, private and social identities, and acceptable or

unacceptable masculinities more evident than in the predominantly male locale of the prison’ (p.46) – ‘Fear is a constant factor in the daily lives of many prisoners’ and not all prisoners are ‘…fearless, manipulative and

violent hard-men’ (Sim, 1994: 111)

• Identity– Goffman (1959) argued that the way we present ourselves is dependent on our audience. He likened it to a

performance and suggested that we have both front and backstage ‘selves’. – A failure to experience significant life events can pose a serious challenge to an individual’s self-identity (Jewkes, 2005) – In the same way that adopting a ‘student’ or ‘bricklayer’ identity allows a prisoner to temporarily escape the real struggle

posed by being a ‘prisoner’, one could argue that adopting an overtly masculine identity allows prisoners to temporarily escape the vulnerability and emotional weakness that can form part of the experience of imprisonment.

• Time– ‘Prison distorts time, it deprives it of its use-value while riddling it with an institutional, alienated and amorphous rhythm.

Stress, tension, nervous and psychosomatic diseases all derive from this institutional imposition of time’ (Ruggerio, 1991:74; cited in Jewkes, 2002: 10).

– During a prison sentence the present is placed in suspension, the ability to link the past to the future is limited as the meaning of time is ‘lost’ (Matthews, 2009)

• Coping with ‘the pains of imprisonment’– Deprivations experienced by prisoners can induce a struggle to maintain a perception of self – Prisoners face challenges to cope and to manage constructions of identity and masculinity

Connecting prison sociology and outcomes of education: the evidence

Masculinity“They might come in big and muscly but then

they don't have to show that side of their character to me. They do change and the way

they portray themselves becomes different”

(Tutor)

Identity“I want the identity of having a good life, not

being a criminal”

(Prisoner)

Time“Education has to be stimulating and

interesting to occupy prisoners' time and maintain their mental health and wellbeing”

“The value in education is that they need something to keep their brain exercising, it

stimulates their thought process. It will hopefully make them a better citizen on

release and a better prisoner on the wings”

(Tutors)

Coping“I see prisoners who are 40 and 50 years old who still act 20 years old because they don’t know any better, because they haven’t learnt

anything new”

(Prisoner)

Identifying Change: Thoughts from Tutors

“We had a guy who went on a bit of a

downward spiral and he changed from

mains to VP. I gave him some CDs he'd like and he's come off the VP wing and

started coming to the library. It's about

knowing the prisoners and making the effort if you know they've had a tough

time”

“it can be anything from personality…it

could be a confidence issue, once they get their

head into the regularity of going to prison I've seen people going out the other end a

different person…the inmates

recognize their own development and they'll talk about

their increasing self confidence”

“I'm proud when they achieve

something and I see them improve. Some prisoners will

leave education completely different

people - some won't admit it

though but I can see it”

“A guy with a travelling

background had no self esteem and

he's got his level 2 now. There's

always people who start to want to

respond to you, I enjoy turning their attitude around”

“One of the changes I've seen

is the way they come to the

reading group and some will argue with each other - they learn to wait for someone to finish and they

learn that it's alright to disagree with

people. There's a social thing going

on”

Data from:Nichols, H. (n.d.). An Inquiry into Adult Male Prisoners' Experiences of Education. PhD. University of Hull.

Understanding prison education: A convict criminology perspective on education

and desistance

“Don’t worry Davies, the world will always need their bins emptied or windows cleaned.”

The only educational class I was offered was a drug course run by an officer - with a flip chart

Successes ; in spite of, or because of?

Everybody is responsible because it impacts everybody!

Discourse - avoid flippant comments

Listen to prisonersOne size does not fit all -

desistance is the thing that differentiates prisoners the most

Deprivation of opportunities

A final thought…

“The only measurable thing you can get is a certificate - but what it's done for them spiritually, subconsciously, and psychologically -

you can't measure that can you”(Tutor – Category A prison)

“The basics are so important, how to get to somewhere on time for instance. There needs to be more acknowledgement of the soft skills - social skills that enable them to fit back into society. Then

employability comes after”(Education Manager – Category A prion)