Corrections_Today_Fall_2025_Vol.87_No.3

Ultimately, students learned how to respectively inter act with people they disagree with, which teaches them perspective taking skills and positive social interactions. Furthermore, students could recognize their ability to influence others through education. Through the expe riences of working on a prisoner newspaper, students had the opportunity to strengthen their basic literacy skills as well as life skills. Prison facilities that include a prisoner newspaper may be beneficial for prisoners upon release, as the skills learned can set them apart and make them more desirable for employment (Novek 11). This is just one of many examples of how prison literacy programs can help set students up for success. Another approach that can expand the development of prisoner literacy past reading and writing compre hension is emotional literacy. Emotional literacy is described as the ability to understand and communicate feelings and understand others’ emotions (Pelin 42). The concept and application of emotional literacy brings self-awareness and the awareness of others (Pelin 41). A meta-analysis by Petrosino et al. looked at prison pro gramming that focused on emotional literacy across the United States, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands (263). Specifically, they were interested in seeing the outcomes of these programs, recognizing the three main outcomes of emotional literacy: empathy, mindfulness and self-regulation. Fifteen studies were included in the meta-analysis. All programs included in the analy sis showed students had improved levels of all three outcomes after participating in the emotional literacy programs. These results can indicate evidence that emo tional literacy programs in correctional environments can be a viable and necessary form of rehabilitation for prisoners beyond reading and writing comprehension (Petrosino et al. 280). As is evident by the span of countries included in the meta-analysis, literacy programming within prisons can have positive results in other places besides the United States. At the Pusat Kegiatan Belajar Masyarakat (PKBM) Pengayman in Gorontalo City Penitentiary, Indonesia, a condensed “shortcut” literacy program is offered to prisoners (Rahman 105). The program is specifically designed for prisoners who are considered illiterate. Facilitators of the program focused on teach ing skills to students using visual media (word gallery exhibition). Pre- and post-tests were collected to see

the change in literacy skills from participation in the program. Students showed increased levels in reading, reading competence, and writing skills. Students also showed increased skills such as motivation, curiosity, independence and communication (Rahaman, 2021) for participating in this prison literacy program. Another approach to literacy includes a program offered in Western Australia (WA) utilized to increase literacy skills in both the prisoners and their children. The program was created through bridged efforts between a program called Better Beginnings, the WA Corrective services and the support services offered in the prisons (Jones 2). The literacy program offered was based on family-literacy practices. While prisoners learned their own literacy skills, they were also taught developmentally appropriate activities for their chil dren. The program’s goal was to have the prisoners help share their literacy skills with their children, helping create education pathways for their children. Illiteracy and incarceration are both intergenerational, perennial issues (Burgess 255; Chaney 31; Foley et al. 8; Halsey & De Vel-Palumbo 1; Sticht and McDonald 3). Overall, Better Beginnings is an example of how efficient combat ting generational illiteracy and incarceration can be while providing post-release opportunities for prisoners and essential literacy skills for their children. Prisoner-run literacy programs A unique and advantageous form of prison literacy programs that is often overlooked are those run by prisoners. In these programs, prisoners are taught, by a trained professional, the materials and facilitation skills needed to implement the program to their fellow prisoners. Prisoners may deliver programming through different kinds of tutoring, acting as facilitators, or managing projects. Besides literacy skills, prisoner-run literacy programs offer opportunities and potential benefits that may not be present in other forms of programming. A popular form of prisoner-run literacy program ming is the use of one-on-one tutoring or mentoring. Prisoners are trained to be tutors or mentors, then paired up with fellow prisoners to whom they teach the program materials. Texas’ Help Others Pursue Educa tion (HOPE) program utilizes this form of prisoner-run

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