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                   Research Topic

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                   Research Topic

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African American Men Speak: Unheard Perspectives Of The Self-Paced In Class Education (SPICE) Program & Reentry In The 21st Century

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                    Introduction

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                    Introduction

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This study aims to obtain the perspectives of African American men's experiences with correctional education as a means to According to Redcross, Bloom, Manno, Muller-Ravett, Seefeldt, and Zweig (2010), in 2010, there were over 2 million offenders in U.S. prisons and jails. Incarceration is heavily concentrated among racial and ethnic minorities aged twenty to thirty. Among men the highest rate is black males aged twenty to thirty-four (Kennedy et al., 2011).

The likelihood of these individuals returning to criminal activity is high: within three years of release, 68% of people released from state and federal prison are rearrested and over half return to prison (Langan & Levin, 2002).

Identifying effective strategies for reintegrating the thousands of men and women who return home from prison and jail each year is critical not only for them, but also for the health and stability of their families and the safety and wellbeing of their communities (Brazzell, Crayton, Mukamal, & Lindahl, 2009).

Reentry education programs dedicated to addressing the socio-educational struggles, in addition to the vocational or job skills training, of formerly incarcerated African American men attempting to re-adjust in their respective communities could result in a decrease of recidivism.

This research is currently in progress...

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Pilot Study Complete
Interviews will be conducted
Data Analyzed using Nvivo Software
Findings...writing of Chapters 4 & 5
Final Defense

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Correctional Education: Educational classes and/or training within the penal institution

(West, 2011).

Prisoner: An individual sentenced to a penitentiary/prison/correctional institution as punishment for the commission of a crime (West, 2011).

Recidivism: refers to a person's relapse into criminal behavior,

often after receiving

sanctions or undergoing intervention for a previous crime      (Beck & Shipley, 1989).

Reentry: refers to the transition of offenders from prisons or

jails back into the community (Council of State Governments Justice Center, 2014).

Criminal Rehabilitation: a science of reeducating the criminal with the values, attitudes, and skills necessary to live lawfully (Smith, 2014).

Self-Paced In Class Education (SPICE) Program: is an inmate education and employment initiative providing meaningful educational opportunities (vocational training, life skill training, spiritual awareness and career readiness training (South Carolina Department of

Corrections, 2015).

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The following limitations are:

(a) the researcher will not be observing the participants applying the contents of the SPICE program to their lives,

(b) the researcher will not be interviewing any of the SPICE program employees to ask their perspectives of how engaged the participants were, and

(c) the researcher will not be able to follow up with the participants to ask how they are doing once the study has been done.

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RESEARCH DESIGN & RATIONALE

● A qualitative phenomenological study was chosen because it is most appropriate to guide the current study.

● Obtaining subjective data on the feelings, experiences, and opinions of the subjects is the goal of using the qualitative approach.
Information seeking should be from a specific group in the population sample (Hancock, 2002).

● It is important to develop a clear picture of the concept of reentry programs such as SPICE, as a resource for preparing inmates prior to their release from prison. These programs are intended to give these individuals the necessary skills to successfully reintegrate and limit chances of recidivism.

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1. What barriers to societal reentry do formerly incarcerated African American males perceive when they exit prison?

2. How do the participants in the Self-Paced In Class Education program describe utilizing the contents of the program outside of prison?

3. How do the participants in the Self-Paced In Class Education program describe their engagement with allied agencies that support their transition to life beyond prison walls?

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There is a need to understand the experiences of formerly incarcerated African American men participating in the Self-Paced In Class Education (SPICE) program in order to understand the perceived barriers to re-entry and how the program has supported their transition back into society.

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The significance of this research is to hear the unheard voices of African American men’s experiences while enrolled in correctional education programming.

This research will specifically explore the SPICE program in South Carolina and seek to understand those experiences from the individual assessment of the offender perspective.

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The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand the experiences of formerly incarcerated African American men who are participating in the Self-Paced In Class Education (SPICE) program.

Specifically, this dissertation seeks to understand perceived barriers to re-entry and how the program supports reentry into society.

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Pia Scott EdD Candidate                Email: pls64@drexel.edu

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Pia Scott EdD Candidate                Email: pls64@drexel.edu