Literacy, Motivation and Education among Prison Populations

Dear Colleagues,

We are planning a Special Issue for the journal Education Sciences to be titled Literacy, motivation and education among prison populations. Adequate reading and spelling skills are pivotal for mastering education and an important part of the right to education is the opportunity to acquire and develop literacy skills throughout life. A common understanding of literacy is that it is a set of tangible skills, particularly the cognitive skills of reading and writing (UNESCO, 2006). According to the United Nations (2002), literacy is crucial to the acquisition of essential life skills that enable every child, youth, and adult to address the challenges they may face in life. Thus, research‐based knowledge on, for example, a vulnerable population such as prisoners’ basic reading and writing levels is important, because it determines the starting point for an education that can benefit both the individual and society. Across nations, a high proportion of prisoners have a low level of literacy skills (e.g., Morgan and Kett, 2003; Rampey et al., 2016) and  also a large body of evidence exists on the prevalence of reading and writing difficulties among prisoners across various countries. (e.g., Moody et al., 2000; Asbjørnsen, Jones, Eikeland, and Manger, 2016;  Svensson, 2011; Elbeheri, Everatt, & Al Malki, 2009). Many prisoners’ motives for education are formed through reflections about the future and a desire to be better able to cope with life after release (Manger, Eikeland, Diseth, Hetland, and Asbjørnsen, 2010). Callan and Gardner (2005) found highly motivated prisoners engaging in and completing vocational education and training programmes that developed their technical skills, self-esteem and broader sets of generic skills.

References

Asbjørnsen, A. E., Jones, L. Ø., Eikeland, O. J., & Manger, T. (2016). Spørreskjema om voksnes lesing (SLV) som screeninginstrument for leseferdigheter: Erfaringer fra bruk i en survey blant norske innsatte [Questionnaire about adults reading as a screening instrument for reading skills: Experiences from a survey among Norwegian prisoners]. Norsk Tidsskrift for logopedi, 62, 14–25.

Callan & Gardner (2005). Vocational education and training provision and recidivism in Queensland correctional institutions. National Centre for Vocational Education Research. Australia

Elbeheri, G., Everatt, J., & Al Malki, M. (2009). The incidence of dyslexia among young offenders in Kuwait. Dyslexia, 15, 86–104. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.361

Manger, T., Eikeland, O.J., Diseth, Å., Hetland, H., & Asbjørnsen, A.E. (2010). Prison inmates’ educational motives: Are they pushed or pulled? Scandinavian Journal of Eductional Research, 54, 535-547

Moody, K. C., Holzer, C. E., Roman, M. J., Paulsen, K. A., Freeman, D. H., Haynes, M., & James, T. N. (2000). Prevalence of dyslexia among Texas prison inmates. Texas Medicine, 96, 69–75.

Morgan, M., & Kett, M. (2003). The prison adult literacy survey. Results and implications. Dublin, Ireland: Irish Prison Service.

Rampey, B. D., Keiper, T., Mohadjer, L., Krenzke, T., Li, J., Thornton, N., & Hogan, J. (2016). Highlights from the U.S. PIAAC survey of incarcerated adults: Their skills, work experience, education, and training. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Educational Statistics.

Svensson, I., Lundberg, I., & Jacobson, C. (2001). The prevalence of reading and spelling difficulties among inmates of institutions for compulsory care of juvenile delinquents. Dyslexia, 7, 62–76. https://doi.org/10.1002/dys.178

UNESCO (2006). Education for All Global Monitoring Report. Retrieved from http://www. unesco.org/education/GMR2006/full/chapt6_eng.pdf

United Nations (2002). United Nations Literacy Decade: Education for all. Retrieved September 30, 2017, from http://www.un‐documents.net/a56r116.htm

Assoc. Prof. Lise Øen Jones
Prof. Emiritus Terje Manger
Guest Editors

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• Prison population
• Literacy
• Education
• Motivation