Objective: The present study describes the development of the Indiana Prison Writers Workshop (IPWW), a creative writing workshop, based in group theory and designed for incarcerated settings. Methods: Quantitative evaluation data from IPWW workshops conducted from 2023-2024 were analyzed using IBM SPSS V. 29. Prior to the workshop, 149 men…

This article introduces an innovative model of social work course development, teaching, and implementation. Using the principles of antioppressive education and community-engaged learning, the authors (a former student and faculty member) codeveloped and subsequently taught a course that explored writing, voice, social justice, and the…

While the social, political, economic, educational, and cultural consequences of high rates of incarceration have been well documented, the social psychological dynamics have not received as much discussion. I offer here a first person narrative reflection on the connections between a writing workshops and raising social awareness of the realities…

Entering jail is an assault on the senses. While volunteers and inmates might share visceral experiences of entering the institution, to enter "into" jail is not the same as being "in" jail. To be "in" is to be monitored--watched and listened to without exception or reprieve. To be in jail is to follow unwritten laws…

This qualitative study traces different articulations of the public, emotional honesty, and economic advantage in the literacy sponsorship of detained writer Lil' Purp by "The Beat Within," a publication for incarcerated youth and adults. Findings are compared to "The Beat"'s own account of Purp's progress, revealing a set of…

In the course of an initiative to provide higher education to adults in prison, incarcerated men enrolled in an undergraduate degree programme were offered the opportunity to participate in a series of writing workshops. This article examines the products of these workshops, specifically the ways that language chosen by the writers serves as a…

Rhetorical theorists have argued that agency is a communal experience, but material conditions in jail "and" society often prevent prisoners and college students from experiencing it in meaningful ways that embrace difference. Challenging those conditions by bringing both groups together in a writing workshop enables everyone to resist…

Students' cognitive ability, the learning environment, and the relevance of the writing assignment influence their writing abilities and engagement in writing instruction. Currently there is a limited amount of knowledge about youths' dispositions to and experiences with writing instruction in juvenile detention centers. The purpose of this study…

In his poem entitled "Privacy", Alberto, an inmate in the state prison of Oaxaca, Mexico, vividly evokes the conflictive dynamics of space and time within his living quarters. This is his way of dealing with the sadness, trauma, and mundanity of his incarceration. Alberto's poem has emerged from our ongoing ethnographic project based on…

When the author came to prison, he signed up for poetry classes. He had never read or pondered any poetry before, nor did he think he would like it. He had mistakenly thought that poetry was beyond him, and only for women, squares, nerds, weirdoes, professors, and high-brows: people caught up in some unreal academic world. In this article, the…

Research on incarceration and educational access continues to reveal the stark reality for many adjudicated youth: without access to educational opportunities recidivism is probable. Yet conventional methods of teaching critical reading, writing, and thinking skills are not always successful for juveniles who have found little success (or hope) in…

In this article, the author shares her experience of participating in "The Novel Process" workshop, given by Roz Morris in Hoover, Alabama, for her seventh grade advanced reading class at Robert F. Bumpus Middle School. "The Novel Process" is a year-long writing project that culminates in the publication of a novel that…