Abstract
There are numerous individual and social benefits of increasing prisoners’ educational motivation and their level of education. During incarceration they can be motivated to consider education because of the value of education, their own resettlement, future job prospects, to break free from prison routines, or simply to be around others. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between prisoners’ educational motives and their participation in education or desires to start an education in prison. The participants were 750 prisoners who attended prison education in Norwegian prisons in 2009, plus 898 other prisoners. Three motive categories were identified: “Future planning”, “Social reasons and escapism”, and “Competence building” (learning for the sake of learning). The first factor explained more than twice of the variance of the sum of the two others. Prisoners with high scores in the competence building category were significantly more prone to participate in education in prison, also when other commonly used background variables were controlled for statistically. Among those who did not participate, high scores in competence building also predicted that they desired to start an education while incarcerated. Prisoners with high scores in the future planning category were less likely to participate in prison education. We then discuss why this latter somewhat surprising negative effect occurred.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Batchelder, J. S., & Prippert, J. M. (2002). Hard time or idle time: factors affecting inmate choices between participation in prison work and education programs. Prison Journal, 82, 269–280.
Cattell, R. B. (1966). The meaning and strategic use of factor analysis. In R. B. Catell (Ed.), Handbook of experimental multivariate psychology (pp. 174–244). Chicago: Rand McNally.
Chapell, C. A. (2004). Post-secondary correctional education and recidivism: a meta-analysis of research conducted 1990–1999. Journal of Correctional Education, 55, 148–167.
Chesney-Lind, M., & Sheldon, R. (1998). Girls, delinquency, and juvenile justice. Belmont: Wadsworth.
Christie, N. (1970). Modeller for fengselsorganisasjonen. I stedet for fengsel [Models for the prison organisation. Repl of prisons]. Oslo: Pax.
Cooper, C. (2002). Individual differences (2nd ed.). London: Arnold.
Costelloe, A. (2003). Third level education in Irish prisons: Who participates and why? Doctoral thesis. Milton Keynes: The Open University.
Diseth, Å., Eikeland, O.-J., Manger, T., & Hetland, H. (2008). Education of prison prisoners: course experience, motivation, and learning strategies as indicators of evaluation. Educational Research and Evaluation, 14, 201–214.
Eikeland, O.-J., & Manger, T. (2004). Innsette i norske fengsel: Utdanning og utdanningsønske [Prisoners in Norwegian prisons: Educational background and educational desires]. Bergen: Fylkesmannen i Hordaland, Utdanningsavdelinga.
Eikeland, O.-J., Manger, T., & Asbjørnsen, A. (Eds.). (2009). Education in Nordic prisons: Prisoners’ educational background, preferences and motivation. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers.
Ellis, J., McFadden, C., & Colaric, S. (2008). Factors influencing the design, establishment, administration, and governance of correctional education for females. Journal of Correctional Education, 59, 198–217.
Elster, J. (1979). Ulysses and the sirens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 2, 117–140.
Forster, W. (1990). The higher education of prisoners. In S. Duguid (Ed.), Yearbook of correctional education 1990 (pp. 3–43). Burnaby: Institute for the Humanities, Simon Fraser University.
Gambetta, D. (1987). Were they pushed or did they jump? Individual decision mechanisms in education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press/Oslo: Norwegian University Press.
Gorsuch, R. L. (1983). Factor analysis (2nd ed.). Hillsdale: LEA.
Hair, J. F., JR, Anderson, R. E., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black, W. C. (1995). Multivariate data analysis with readings (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Hetland, H., Eikeland, O.-J., Manger, T., Diseth, Å., & Asbjørnsen, A. (2007). Educational background in a prison population. Journal of Correctional Education, 58, 145–156.
Lochner, L., & Moretti, E. (2004). The effect of education on crime: evidence from prison inmates, arrests and self-reports. The American Economic Review, 94, 155–189.
Manger, T., & Eikeland, O.-J. (1997). The effect of social comparisons on mathematics self-concept. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 38, 237–241.
Manger, T., Eikeland, O.-J., Asbjørnsen, A., & Langelid, T. (2006). Educational intentions among prison prisoners. European Journal of Criminal Policy and Research, 12, 35–48.
Manger, T., Eikeland, O.-J., Diseth, Å., Hetland, H., & Asbjørnsen, A. (2010). Prison inmates’ educational motives: are they pushed or pulled? Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 54, 535–547.
Marsh, H. W. (1987). The big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 280–295.
Ministry of Justice. (2011). Prop. 1 S (2011–2012). Proposisjon til Stortinget [Prop. 1 S (2011–2012). Proposition to the Parlament]. Oslo: Ministry of Justice.
Nuttall, J., Hollmen, L., & Staley, E. M. (2003). The effect of earning a GED on recidivism rates. Journal of Correctional Education, 54, 90–94.
Parson, M., & Langenback, M. (1993). The reasons prisoners indicate they participate in prison education programs: another look at Boshier’s PEPS. Journal of Correctional Education, 44, 38–41.
Russel, D. (2002). In search of underlying dimensions: the use (and abuse) of factor analysis in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Personality and Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1629–1646.
Skaalvik, E. M., Finbak, L., & Pettersen, T. (2003). Undervisning i fengsel. På rett kjøl? [Prison education. On an even keel?]. Bergen: Fylkesmannen i Hordaland, Utdanningsavdelinga.
Statistics Norway. (2012). http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/04/02/40/utuvh_en/.
Steurer, S. J., & Smith, L. G. (2003). Education reduces crime. Lanham: Correctional Education Association & Management/Training Cooperation.
Tabachnick, B., & Fidell, L. (2007). Using multivariate statistics. Boston: Pearson.
Talbott, E., & Thiede, K. (1999). Pathways to antisocial behavior among adolescent girls. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorder, 7, 31–39.
Wells, R. E. (2000). Education as prison reform. A meta-analysis. Doctoral thesis. Lousiana State University.
Acknowledgments
The study was initiated and supported by the County Governor of Hordaland, the Department of Education, Norway. We would like to thank senior adviser Torfinn Langelid at the County Governor’s office, the headmasters of the prison schools, and the prison governors, who organized the data collection. Most important, we are also grateful to the prisoners who participated. We totally depended on their participation and collaboration in carrying out this research. Finally, we thank Robert A. Wicklund for helpful comments on the manuscript. A preliminary report of some of these results has been published by the County Governor of Hordaland in June, 2010.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Manger, T., Eikeland, OJ. & Asbjørnsen, A. Effects of Educational Motives on Prisoners’ Participation in Education and Educational Desires. Eur J Crim Policy Res 19, 245–257 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-012-9187-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-012-9187-x