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Suggested Resources

Education & Criminal Justice

This page looks at education - both inside and outside of the prison system.

On the School-to-Prison Pipeline:

The school-to-prison pipeline is defined as the use of policies and practices that push students from schools into the criminal juvenile justice system. This process mostly affects at-risk-students, who are predominantly African American, Latino, and Native American. This process is also used in poorer areas, where students are already struggling to attend and succeed at school, and schools do not have adequate resources for proper teaching or counseling.

- From African Americans at Risk: Issues in Education, Health, Community, and Justice
(linked & cited below)

On education in prison and the Bard Prison Initiative:

When you have an absence of any programs in prison that facilitate any kind of growth, individuals are becoming perhaps disillusioned because they're not being prepared for anything other than what they've already been doing, which is crime. (Saivey- Jones, BPI student)

For a generation college opportunity was a central part of criminal justice in the United States. It was the least expensive and best way to reduce violence, reduce recidivism, and increase public safety. And yet it became a lightning rod politically. There had been college opportunity in virtually every state and prison in the United States and it was eliminated overnight with the Clinton crime bill. (Max Kenner, founder and director BPI)

- From College Behind Bars (linked and cited below)

School-to-Prison Pipeline
A 2015 article from "African Americans at Risk: Issues in Education, Health, Community, and Justice"
School-to-Prison Pipeline
By Shannon Snapp from "The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies"
Prison Education Programs
A 2017 article from "Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia of Trends and Controversies in the Justice System"
How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where Do We Go from Here?
2016 comprehensive study on education in correctional facilities from the Rand Corporation
Education in Prison
A 2019 article from "American Prisons and Jails: An Encyclopedia of Controversies and Trends"
Getting Back on Course: Educational exclusion and attainment among formerly incarcerated people
2018 article with statistics from the Prison Policy Initiative

Source citation: Starks, Glenn L. "School-to-Prison Pipeline." African Americans at Risk: Issues in Education, Health, Community, and Justice, vol. 2, Greenwood, 2015, pp. 468-481. Gale eBooks, https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.greenriver.edu/apps/doc/CX6495200055/GVRL?u=aubu98092&sid=GVRL&xid=fd71ff8b. Accessed 18 Aug. 2020.

Organizations

Organizations, programs & local resources

Education Justice Project
With a mission to "model college-in-prison program that demonstrates the positive impacts of higher education upon incarcerated people..." this website has many helpful resources.
If Project
The IF Project is a collaboration of law enforcement, current and previously incarcerated adults and community partners focused on intervention, prevention and reduction in incarceration and recidivism. Our work is built upon–and inspired by–people sharing their personal experiences surrounding the issues of incarceration.
Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS)
"FEPPS provides a rigorous college program for incarcerated women, trans-identified and gender nonconforming people in Washington and creates pathways to higher education after students are released from prison."
Gateways for Incarcerated Youth
"Gateways connects incarcerated youth and the Evergreen Community to create change through education."
Vera Institute for Justice - Education
TEACH: Taking Education and Creating History
In prison education program created by the Black Prisoners Caucus with the mission of supporting the successful reentry of men from prison
Revolutionary Scholars
Underground Scholars Initiative
a peer-centered organization creating a pathway to education for the formerly incarcerated. They provide a useful language guide highlighting the preferred and appropriate language to discuss people and issues related to prison and incarceration.
Project Rebound

Books through Bars

Featured films & resources

Finding films

Search for full-length films and film segments in Films on Demand, one of the streaming databases at GRC. Or consider some of the other resources listed and linked below, including a short list of featured films.

Films on Demand
Search or browse for films on many topics, such as Anthropology, Biology, Business & Economics, Careers, and many more.

Prison Education - Search
A results list for a search for prison and education in Films on Demand
Inside Adult Prison Youth Unit: General Perspectives
A documentary looking at one cell block dedicated to youth at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility - shows the "day in the life of" these youth. Streaming on Films on Demand

TED Talks: Help for Kids the Education System Ignores
By Victor Rios
College Behind Bars (link to all parts)
Ken Burns and Lynn Novack Documentary: "Men and women in prison for serious crimes try to earn college degrees in this groundbreaking story of incarceration, injustice, race in America, and the transformative power of education."