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Literacy behind bars : successful reading and writing strategies for use with incarcerated youth and adults
\"A practical resource for teachers, librarians, administrators, and community stakeholders who work with incarcerated youth and adults. This book includes examples of literacy practices that have been successfully used with those incarcerated around the nation, including creating graphic novels, starting book clubs, writing about gang life, having reading buddies, reading urban literature, developing a writing workshop, [and] establishing a school library\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Reading Prisoners
Shining new light on early American prison literature-from its origins in last words, dying warnings, and gallows literature to its later works of autobiography, exposé, and imaginative literature-Reading Prisonersweaves together insights about the rise of the early American penitentiary, the history of early American literacy instruction, and the transformation of crime writing in the \"long\" eighteenth century.
Looking first at colonial America-an era often said to devalue jailhouse literacy-Jodi Schorb reveals that in fact this era launched the literate prisoner into public prominence. Criminal confessions published between 1700 and 1740, she shows, were crucial \"literacy events\" that sparked widespread public fascination with the reading habits of the condemned, consistent with the evangelical revivalism that culminated in the first Great Awakening. By century's end, narratives by condemned criminals helped an audience of new writers navigate the perils and promises of expanded literacy.
Schorb takes us off the scaffold and inside the private world of the first penitentiaries-such as Philadelphia's Walnut Street Prison and New York's Newgate, Auburn, and Sing Sing. She unveils the long and contentious struggle over the value of prisoner education that ultimately led to sporadic efforts to supply prisoners with books and education. Indeed, a new philosophy emerged, one that argued that prisoners were best served by silence and hard labor, not by reading and writing-a stance that a new generation of convict authors vociferously protested.
The staggering rise of mass incarceration in America since the 1970s has brought the issue of prisoner rehabilitation once again to the fore.Reading Prisonersoffers vital background to the ongoing, crucial debates over the benefits of prisoner education.
eBook
Disorders of Language and Literacy in the Prison Population: A Scoping Review
Language and literacy skills are essential for education, school achievements, work and social conditions. Some studies indicate an elevated incidence of problems with language and literacy in the prison population, potentially contributing to increased risks of maladjustment and recidivism. In general, the bulk of research on language and literacy has been directed towards children and adolescents. This study aimed to map the extent of the literature on language and literacy disorders in the adult prison population over the past 20 years, and what it reveals about the prevalence and nature of these disorders in prisoners. In total, 18 studies were identified. Of these, the majority (15) investigated literacy. The three studies investigating language all reported an elevated prevalence in the population. The literacy studies were altogether less clear, due to differences in theoretical approach and methods. In terms of the nature of the disorders, many studies assessed the behavioral level only. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical approaches, as well as recommendations for research, assessment, and intervention.
Journal Article
Impulsive and compulsive reading comprehension in the prison population
Background
Developmental dyslexia is characterized by reading and writing deficits that persist into adulthood. Dyslexia is strongly associated with academic underachievement, as well as impulsive, compulsive, and criminal behaviors.
The aims of this study were to investigate impulsive or compulsive reading comprehension, analyzing the differences in reading errors between two distinct groups —one with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and another with Obsessive–Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) and examine their correlation with criminal behavior within a prison population.
Methods
We gathered data from 194 participants: 81 with ASPD and 113 with OCPD from a prison center. Participants took part in interviews to gather data on demographic, criminal, and behavioral data. Additionally, the participants underwent various assessments, including the International Examination for Personality Disorders; Symptom Inventory, and Battery for the Assessment of Reading Processes in Secondary and High School – Revised.
Results
Our analysis revealed differences in reading skills between the ASPD and OCPD groups. Specifically, the OCPD group showed poorer performance on lexical selection, semantic categorization, grammar structures, grammatical judgements, and expository comprehension when compared with the ASPD group. Conversely, the OCPD group obtained higher scores on narrative comprehension relative to the ASPD group.
Conclusions
The OCPD group showed slow lexical-phonological coding and phonological activation.
Journal Article
Literacy behind bars
Literacy behind Bars: Successful Reading and Writing Strategies for Use with Incarcerated Youth and Adults is a practical resource for teachers, librarians, administrators, and community stakeholders who work with incarcerated youth and adults. The book includes examples of authentic literacy practices that have been successfully used with those incarcerated around the nation. These include: creating graphic novels, book clubs, writing about gang life, reading buddies, urban literature developing a writing workshop establishing a school library
eBook
Behind the Book – War Dog
An interview with author Tom Palmer is presented. Among other things, he discusses his inspiration, research, and creative collaboration behind his first picture book \"War Dog,\" the research he did for the book and the experience of working with illustrator Carolina Rabei.
Journal Article
The Effects of Therapeutic Writing on Juvenile Justice Populations
It is estimated that 70% of incarcerated youth struggle with mental health challenges (Karger & Currie-Rubin, 2013) in addition to other academic impairments which, in turn, substantially increases their likelihood to reoffend postrelease (Yampolskaya & Chuang, 2012). Consequently, these youth would likely benefit from therapeutic interventions aimed at emotional expression and academic improvement. More specifically, creative writing programs can empower and encourage youth to reflect on their traumatic experiences and provide alternative ways to express emotions and organize their thoughts. Academic programs that focus on literacy development also decrease the likelihood of recidivism (Drakeford, 2002; Schutt et al., 2013). Research suggests that expressive writing programs address academic, mental, and behavioral challenges, with demonstrated improvements in all three areas (Catterall et al., 2012; Moller, 2011). A further incentive for implementing these interventions is the economic impact, with the United States saving approximately $ 2 million for each successfully rehabilitated youth (Sullivan, 2018). This article provides an overview of arts-based therapeutic programs for incarcerated youth, with an emphasis on therapeutic writing interventions and corresponding research findings.
Journal Article
Making Interpretation Visible With an Affect-Based Strategy
Experienced readers of literature are more likely than novices to identify aspects of text that are salient to literary interpretation and to construct figurative meanings and thematic inferences from literary texts. This quasi-experimental study explores the hypothesis that novice readers can be supported in constructing literary interpretations by drawing on and applying everyday interpretive practices to their readings. Specifically, an everyday affect-based practice can serve as an interpretive heuristic to support the move from a local summary to a range of figurative interpretations. The affect-based interpretive heuristic involves identifying language in a literary text that a reader feels is particularly affect-laden, ascribing valence to that language, and then explaining or justifying those ascriptions. In a four-week, classroom-based instructional intervention, a 12th-grade class from a highpoverty, low-achieving, urban high school practiced this interpretive heuristic as they read literary texts. A comparative class also engaged in a unit of literary interpretation but did not use the heuristic. Analysis of a pre- and poststudy interpretive writing task and clinical think-aloud protocols from both groups showed that students receiving the intervention made gains in interpretive responses, whereas the comparison group did not. The results suggest that explicit instruction in affect-driven interpretive heuristics can support novice readers in constructing interpretive readings of literary texts.
Journal Article
The ‘one bright light’ of Life in a Dark Cell: Reading and Writing in Victorian and Edwardian English Prisons
In 2013, the Ministry of Justice’s ban on sending books to prisoners sparked a wave of protests. It was eventually declared illegal as books were deemed essential to rehabilitation. This heated debate is part of a long history of promoting—and restricting—reading practices in carceral institutions. Between the 1850s and the eve of the First World War, whether penal administrators favoured or hindered reading, prison libraries filled up and pens were put to paper. But how were the books selected? What were the prisoners allowed to read and write? What did they actually read and write? Studying the history of prison reading and writing from above and from below reveals tensions between the perception of prisoners and the reality of life behind bars. This article explores the production and consumption of a wide array of written works in the carceral world. It endeavours to show that, through the stories written and read in prison, the story and history of prisoners come to light. From escapism to protest, from moral elevation to fellowship, written words, authorised or clandestine, were (and still are) a ‘bright light’ in prisoners’ lives.
Journal Article
FROM LIBRARY SERVICES TO LITERACY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN NSUKKA PRISON LIBRARY: OUR EXPERIENCE
Prisons serve as a place where criminal behaviors are suppressed. The need for these set of individuals to gather skills which help them remain positive right in the four walls of the prison yard and after serving their jail terms cannot be overemphasized. It is for this reason that the team set out to develop a programme aimed at inculcating literacy and creative writing skills that will help them participate more effectively when they finish their jail term. The aim of the study was to explore the importance and contributions of library resources and services to the lives of prison inmates and an attempt by the team to take this to a higher level. The study also reports an ongoing project in Nsukka Prisons, Enugu State, Nigeria. The design used to elicit information about the effect of the programme was survey. The population of the study was 365 with a sample size of two groups of 15 inmates each totaling 30. The research methods used was observation and focus group discussion. The results showed an improved level of literacy, creative and comic writing skills of the participants. It was therefore recommended that literacy activities should be encouraged among inmates to equip them with skills which will enable them become independent learners and better individuals in the society.
Journal Article