College-in-prison access, financial aid, and importance: what do Arizonans think?

Seeger, Rebecca Nanette (2022) College-in-prison access, financial aid, and importance: what do Arizonans think? Doctoral thesis, Northern Arizona University.

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Abstract

The United States, with just 5% of the world’s population, imprisons almost 25% of the world’s incarcerated people. Furthermore, the vast majority of people released from prison will recidivate. Research has shown that earning a college degree while incarcerated significantly reduces recidivism rates. This study considered the opinions of adults living in Arizona regarding college-in-prison access, financial aid, and importance. The study was designed to determine what demographic factors influenced opinions and if a particular intervention, exposure to incarceration and recidivism facts and narrative regarding the value and benefits of college in prison programs, also influenced people’s opinions. The study was accomplished in two phases: a quantitative research phase that employed surveys and interventions and a qualitative phase that used interviews to better understand the quantitative results. Based on the data collected, a Pearson Chi-square analysis was conducted and themes and sub-themes were developed and coded. The results showed that the people who identified as liberal had favorable views of college-in-prison programs, those who identified as moderate had moderate views, and those who identified as conservative had a more unfavorable view. Exposure to relevant information in the form of a fact sheet and peer-reviewed positional article did influence participants opinions in general. However, for several participants this was tempered by a self-identified position of skepticism towards college-in-prison programs.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Publisher’s Statement:	© Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords:	college-in-prison; public opinion; Arizona; Recidivism;
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status:	Student
Department/Unit:	Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations College of Education > Teaching and Learning
Date Deposited:	14 Jun 2023 16:14
Last Modified:	14 Jun 2023 16:14
URI:	https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/6018

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