Prison to School to Redemption: A Full Circle Channel to the Complete ‘School-to-Prison Pipeline’

The purpose of this study was to investigate education and self-efficacy for incarcerated men who have chosen to pursue post-secondary educations despite being in the confinement of the PIC. A narrative inquiry design was used. This is where the story of a real life problem or situation is used to provide sufficient background data in order to analyze and solve a problem. It was important to share the stories of the participants so that readers could understand the overall effects of education and religion in this culture. The study data was collected through participant letters, face-to-face discussion, PASCI survey, artifacts, and researcher’s notebook. The process of triangulation, where the sources were verified, validating or disconfirming, was used. The findings in the study revealed six themes: K-12 Education Issues that Contributed to Incarceration and the School-to-Prison Pipeline where the participants repeatedly discussed how their lack of interest in school led their dropouts; Impact of Earning a Degree While Incarcerated on Self-Esteem where the participants overwhelming noted that their presently high sense of self and self-worth was not enhanced by their experience, but their purpose and drive, as well as their need to spread the word of God was enhanced; Background Issues that Contributed to Incarceration where the issues of parental involvement, age and brain development at the age of incarceration, and discipline were repeatedly noted; NOBTS Experience that Led to Growth and Positive Reintegration into Society where personal growth, enhanced religious conviction, teaching, and sharing were discussed by the currently incarcerated men, and the success of reintegration was discussed by the returning citizen; Mechanisms that Led to the Culture Shift within the Prison where the cultural shift was attributed more so to the administrative changes, the new system of privileges and morality, and the individual inmate personal changes within that led to the decrease in violence and calmed environment; and Participant Self-Evaluation of Their Path through the School-to-Prison Pipeline where the participants reported factors that impacted their experience as youth that contributed to their eventual imprisonment such as poverty, dropping out of school, street life, and their K-12 environment