Date of Award
8-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctorate of Public Policy and Management
Department
Public Policy and Management
First Advisor
Andrea Stairs-Davenport, PhD, Chair
Second Advisor
Rachel Casey, PhD
Third Advisor
Ellen Taylor, PhD
Keywords
Muskie, Public Policy, formerly incarcerated students, postsecondary prison education, reentry education
Abstract
The benefits of postsecondary degrees are striking for populations who have experienced incarceration, yet little is understood about how this population succeeds with educational attainment upon release from incarceration. This qualitative collective case study examined to what extent and how six formerly incarcerated individuals who started educational programming while incarcerated successfully persisted with postsecondary degrees after being released back into Maine communities. This study found that participants related education to self-care or treatment, described their own education journeys as different, or taking a different path, and felt motivated to persist with education despite external expectations, which one participant labeled “transformational resentment.” All participants also identified a need for more individualized reentry supports to help formerly incarcerated students persist with education.
Keywords: formerly incarcerated students, postsecondary prison education, reentry education
Recommended Citation
Sanchez, Mara MPPM, "CARCERAL DEGREES: Successful Postsecondary Educational Pathways for Students Impacted by the Criminal Justice System in Maine" (2024). Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations. 182.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/muskie_capstones/182
