Harassment, Discouragement, and Intimidation of College Students in Prison: A Qualitative Study on the Prevalence of Disciplinary Power in Prison Higher Education

Abstract

In this descriptive research study, Caisa Elizabeth Royer, Erin L. Castro, and Estefanie Aguilar Padilla explore the experiences of prison stakeholders in higher education with prison disciplinary power. Based on interviews with nineteen prison education stakeholders, including program directors, instructors, family members of incarcerated students, and program alumni, the authors’ findings indicate that officer-initiated discipline interferes with the aims of college-in-prison programs and incarcerated students’ ability to be successful. The analysis provides rich insight into the ordinary ways prison officers discourage, disrupt, intimidate, and deliberately obstruct student engagement with prison higher education and those programs’ ability to provide coursework.