High rates of recidivism and prison overcrowding are urgent critical issues that demand to be explored and managed, possible solutions are then worthy of attention. Correctional education is associated with a reduction of recidivism rates, as well as with other personal benefits, both from individual and social standpoint; it is then necessary to understand which factors promote its success. The main purposes of this research were to describe the study experience of 28 students from the penitentiary center of the Milano-Bicocca University and to identify some factors of their academic success. A questionnaire has been administered, which includes both ad hoc descriptive questions related to personal and academic experiences and psychometric scales measuring Academic Self-Efficacy, Academic Motivation and Academic Resilience; the original scales have been modified to fit the correctional context. Descriptive results picture an extremely complex situation regarding participants’ current and past academic experiences. Despite this complexity, some aspects yielding better academic and social outcomes have been found, especially high social support as well as recent participation in correctional education programs. Regarding the analysis of the psychometric scales, there were just few significant correlations, among which the ones between Academic Resilience and two of the academic outcomes, i.e. Dropout Intentions and Academic Satisfaction. It is then necessary to deepen the exploration of both the theoretical models and the academic success indicators to be used. The detained university students who participated in this study show some different characteristics from the general inmate population in Italy; this suggests that university study could affect prison experience. It is then important to further explore this type of education and its success factors in order to promote a positive prison experience and the reduction of recidivism.
Traversa, T., Magrin, M. (2023). DETAINED UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: AN EXPLORATORY SURVEY ON THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS FACTORS. In Impact 2023 Book of Abstracts and Proceedings (pp.542-546). InScience Press [10.36315/2023inpact121].
DETAINED UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: AN EXPLORATORY SURVEY ON THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS FACTORS
Traversa, T
;Magrin, ME
2023
Abstract
High rates of recidivism and prison overcrowding are urgent critical issues that demand to be explored and managed, possible solutions are then worthy of attention. Correctional education is associated with a reduction of recidivism rates, as well as with other personal benefits, both from individual and social standpoint; it is then necessary to understand which factors promote its success. The main purposes of this research were to describe the study experience of 28 students from the penitentiary center of the Milano-Bicocca University and to identify some factors of their academic success. A questionnaire has been administered, which includes both ad hoc descriptive questions related to personal and academic experiences and psychometric scales measuring Academic Self-Efficacy, Academic Motivation and Academic Resilience; the original scales have been modified to fit the correctional context. Descriptive results picture an extremely complex situation regarding participants’ current and past academic experiences. Despite this complexity, some aspects yielding better academic and social outcomes have been found, especially high social support as well as recent participation in correctional education programs. Regarding the analysis of the psychometric scales, there were just few significant correlations, among which the ones between Academic Resilience and two of the academic outcomes, i.e. Dropout Intentions and Academic Satisfaction. It is then necessary to deepen the exploration of both the theoretical models and the academic success indicators to be used. The detained university students who participated in this study show some different characteristics from the general inmate population in Italy; this suggests that university study could affect prison experience. It is then important to further explore this type of education and its success factors in order to promote a positive prison experience and the reduction of recidivism.
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