What about the women? : addressing the educational needs of female inmates at Corradino correctional facility

Abstract

Inmates’ own perception of education during incarceration remains largely unexplored. That of female inmates even more so. The aim of this dissertation is to explore and understand the perceptions of female inmates’ educational experiences during incarceration at CCF. Through this study, the issue of whether female inmates feel that prison education is effective and meeting their needs whilst preparing them for successful re-entry is researched. It seeks female inmates’ opinion about the correctional education programmes offered. By means of conversations with these women, the research explores how female inmates make sense of their learning experience in prison. This research suggests what elements should constitute an education programme for female inmates. It delves into inmates’ motivations and challenges to prison education. All women interviewed believe that they have found prison programmes intrinsically and extrinsically useful to a certain degree. They all agreed that lately efforts are in motion to offer a wider range of programmes to women. However, efforts are in their initial stages, there is still vast room for improvement to meet the specific needs of this prison population and the challenges they face are numerous. It is the hope of this study to give women inmates a voice and to render women’s educational experience in prison more meaningful by providing them with experiences and skills that they feel they can apply both during and after incarceration.