NCJ Number
74028
Date Published
1980
Length
96 pages
Annotation
This is a report on a followup study conducted to evaluate long-term effects of the University of Victoria Program in Canada, which offers university level courses to prisoners.
Abstract
The program offers mainly humanities and the social science courses to prisoners at the Matsqui and Kent Institutions. This liberal arts approach is used to promote congnitive and moral development rather than simply providing a general education or job skills. The evaluation is based on data on the former participants' background and present life situation, their statements concerning the program and its effectiveness, and statistical inferences drawn from both these sources. The research on postsecondary prison education programs is reviewed, and the University of Victoria Program at Abbotsford and Agassiz/New Westminster and its special characteristics are described. The procedures employed in the course of the study are given a detailed explanation. The evidence for actual social change displayed by the men in the study is also examined, with the emphasis on their employment records and further education, their living situation and their degree of success at avoiding reincarceration or further contact with the law. Over 25 references are included. The report concludes that participants experienced considerable cognitive growth and increasing sophistication of thought attributable to the education program. Only 14 percent were found to have recidivated. The appendices contain the interviewer's report, a sample of the questionnaire for participants in the program, a sample interview, and several case studies.