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“You’re a product of your environment for sure”: Correctional educators on their perceptions of and contributions to prison social climate

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Abstract

Most criminal justice research pertaining to social climate in U.S. prisons has focused on the experiences of incarcerated people and correctional officers, with no studies to our knowledge that explore correctional educators’ significant contributions to prison social climate. Utilizing results from semi-structured interviews and participant observation with correctional educators in institutions managed by eight different state prison administrations, the present study fills this knowledge gap by examining two questions. First, how do correctional educators characterize the life experiences and motivations of incarcerated people who are pursuing an education? Second, how do correctional educators variously regard their respective professional roles as influencing and/or intervening in incarcerated individuals’ lives? Taken together, these findings offer insights into the nuanced ways that correctional educators interpret and understand compound disadvantage among incarcerated people, prison social climate, and motivations for engaging in correctional education. Our recommendations indicate the utility of fostering a collaborative, peer-driven learning environment by including current and former prisoners in education and programming initiatives, and prioritizing sustainable education in a humane institutional environment through recruitment of skilled professional staff willing to engage in cross-professional dialogue.

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  1. The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35475, USA

    Susan Dewey & Ariane Prohaska

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  1. Susan Dewey
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  2. Ariane Prohaska
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Correspondence to Susan Dewey.

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Dewey, S., Prohaska, A. “You’re a product of your environment for sure”: Correctional educators on their perceptions of and contributions to prison social climate. Crime Law Soc Change 77, 431–450 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-021-09999-2

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