Author: Carlos Gonzalez, an incarcerated tutor in Lee College. A graduate of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, formerly known as UTPA, with a college degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the College of Science and Engineering. Additionally, a ten-year disabled Army veteran. 

Keywords: Higher Education, tutor, Pell Grants, Bias 

Manuscript Type: A firsthand observation of the obstacles which plague higher education in prison. 

Manuscript Background: 
With the over-incarceration of its population, the government on one hand has started initiatives to educate the disenfranchised population in prison. However, on the other hand, skewed legislation, prison policies towards education, prison punitive philosophy towards people under their care, and community stigmas and bias continue to counteract these educational programs and enslave the metacognitive development of those behind bars. 

Additional Information: Please include my TDCJ #1857854 in any correspondence. 
All ground mail should be sent to: 
Wynne Unit 
810 FM 2821 
Huntsville, TX 77349 

Lee College's supervisor and POC: Mrs. A Devore at devore@lee.edu. 

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The Uphill Road to Higher Education and Self-Redemption in Prison 

It should be pointed out this manuscript could not be possible without the assistance of my Lee College's supervisor, Mrs. A. Devore, and her colleagues. Perhaps intentionally, perhaps inadvertently, Mrs. Devore has taught me a lesson where a good mood can enhance the ability to think flexibly and with more complexity, thus it is easier to learn from others. Her room is always filled with her smile and laughter. In every class or meeting, we are reminded we are worthy individuals. Lastly but by no means least, to all those inmates, especially Mr. Bell, who told me to stay in the positive lane, thanks. 

Review Preference: Unmask 

Abstract: 
The manuscript identifies through firsthand experience and available correctional data, the obstacles which plague higher education for the marginalized population in prison, such as prison philosophies, policies, and biased legislation which continue to impact heavily on people of color. Moreover, the obstacles also sunder the psychological human need of a healthy self-esteem. 

Methods: 
The manuscript's goal is to shine a humanistic light, with authoritative data and personal experience and insight, on the debilitating impact of prison policies, community deprecating views towards citizens who are behind bars, and political counterproductive policies in providing quality higher education in prison. Moreover, my secondary goal is to add to the narrative the importance of self-esteem in the prison population as a tool to rehabilitate individuals going out of prison. 

As a Texas prison resident, I am not allowed internet access; therefore, the initial research and selection of empirical published studies was done with the assistance of my Lee College supervisor, Mrs. Devore, and the college's librarian. I requested recent and relevant manuscripts that fall under the category of the combination of search terms: prison, education, obstacles, tutors, and recidivism. Three manuscripts were printed and sent to my cell. 

With the complication of Covid-19 in 2020, requested additional manuscripts were misplaced for a time and later found and delivered. Updated pertinent data to the scope of this paper was provided by the Journal of Higher Education in Prison's staff. 

The criteria used to select research among the provided data for this study was whether or not the research provided empirical data or current information to identify obstacles in educating individuals behind bars with a focus on college education. Many of the manuscripts I obtained cited data collected a decade or more ago. Perhaps it is an indicator of the need to obtain more recent data. Nevertheless, sadly, the provided data still reflected the situation of higher education as it is today. Moreover, I used the unit library for self-help books focusing on self-esteem, an area I believe has been overlooked by researchers. 

Limitations: 
The scope of this study is limited to my access to scholarly databases and the unit library's vast but limited available selection. Nevertheless, all provided empirical data fall within the comprehensive national review of existing information for prison higher education in the ASHE-NITE (Association for the Study of Higher Education and National Institute for Transformation and Equity). 

The positive correlation between the authoritative narrative and my anecdotal narrative provides a comprehensive, insightful, and meaningful contribution to the question of what obstacles exist for individuals who sit behind bars on their road to a higher education degree. 

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The Uphill Road to Higher Education and Self-Redemption in Prison 

Introduction: 
The pursuit of fairness in society's institutions prompted me to write this manuscript. My name is Carlos Gonzalez, a combat-disabled veteran who resides at Wynne Unit, a Texas prison. Born from the union of an American citizen father and Mexican national, in Mexico, I came to the United States at the early age of ten years old. 

Through a minor degree in History, I learned the disparities between what was taught in school and what the fact was. My narrative, in my view, was confirmed when I was confronted with the legal system, which I believed above reproach and balance. 

The pursuit of truth is not the monarch of the justice courts but the tally of convictions to feed the correctional industry. 

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The Uphill Road to Higher Education and Self-Redemption in Prison 

Like the tale behind the journey of a prison resident's life, the higher education road, where a learning institution provides meaningful credit-bearing transfer and degree opportunities, is littered with socio-political, economic, and ingrained community punitive prejudice. 

Reliable unbiased data is not available to quantify the impact of higher education in prisons. Consider Castro & Zamani's (2018) findings where they found the demanding task in "engaging empirical" statistics "in part because there are no systematic mandatory federal reporting of currently and formally incarcerated students enrolled at Title IV eligible institutions" ("Setting the context"). Although this fact may seem trivial, it is just a sample of the Federal and State government disorganized approach to enfranchise a growing segment of its population. This crucial information is one of many underlined obstacles in prison education. 

However, from a personal perspective, one who has sat on both sides of the fence, as a prison employed instructor and as a member of Texas prison population, the obstacles are clear and tangible. 

I taught GED classes to federal prison residents in the Bureau of Prison (BOP) installation in Raymondville, Texas. At present, now living inside Wynne Unit, a Texas prison, I serve as tutor to the Lee College program. Through the years, in both capacities, I have seen the same recurring obstacles to college students in prison: lack of funds in critical basic areas (like proper classroom settings), prison policies toward secular education, societal stigmas towards individuals behind bars and its effect on self-esteem, and prison punitive philosophy towards the people under their care. These are barriers to brightening the future not only for individuals behind bars and their families but for the nation's social compact. 

Accordingly, without Pell Grant availability, individuals behind bars cannot access higher education, which is one of the possible bridges to close the gap found in the social ladder. Those individuals, belonging in large part to disenfranchised groups, non-white and lower-income communities, are also seen as enemies of society. Moreover, racial legislation and judicial administration keep these individuals under what could be considered Jim Crow era discrimination, where denial of employment, housing, voting rights (even after post-release from prison), and until recently, educational opportunity, just for having lived behind bars. 

Despite the original intent of the Pell Grant to aid incarcerated individuals to access education, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (Pub L no. 103-322) of 1994 partly states that no federal funds will be available "to any individual who is incarcerated in any Federal or State Penal Institution (Pub L. 89-329)" (Castro & Zamani, "4-Federal Student aid," 2018). 

Six years later, the Pell Grant program took another deviation from individuals behind bars. Castro & Zamani (2018) illustrate that any criminal statistic circa 2000-2004 showed minorities being incarcerated for drug offenses at a higher rate than white individuals. Despite this disparity, the Bush administration added "restrictions to Federal student's aid regarding concerning drug convictions." In fact, not only persons behind bars suffered the consequences as post-secondary institutions were unable to operate in prisons, but also those persons with convictions who sought a second opportunity to obtain skills for self-actualization (a human need), and better job opportunities were denied educational opportunities after paying their debt to society. 

Although it is true the Pell Grant has been restored to those individuals with conviction, inside and outside prison, history demonstrated that no matter who sits in the White House (Clinton in 1993, Bush in 2001), the Pell Grant will be targeted in the future as it is an expense towards disenfranchised minorities who cannot vote or are unable to vote because of restricted laws like in the states of Georgia and Texas, among other states. In short, the plantation-minded South. 

Without a federal mandate to collect, like the data mentioned at the start of this manuscript, on the impact of higher education on prison population, advocates for education in prison will not have evidence to defend the educational programs. Similarly, state and local governments do not address all the educational needs in their prisons. 

Castro & Zamani report a difference of 81% between state and local spending on higher education versus prison institutions, with the latter being the higher expenditure. Most students will tell you that a classroom is an important part of the learning process. It follows then, prison officials should invest in creating classrooms to scaffold the educational process. However, this is not the case as classrooms are inadequate. For example, in my unit, despite having a dehumidifier and an industrial floor fan to aid the air condition, the classrooms, for the past five years, remain hot enough for someone to sweat during the summer months. Moreover, the heat affects the technology hardware and the educators. While there are exemptions, most classrooms need some investments towards creating a proper environment to teach. Indeed, state and prison officials undermine their own educational programs with their own inaction. 

Another example is the failure to use available classrooms when classes are not in session despite the critical need for educational supplemental support. In 2012, Palmer points to Erisman & Contardo's report published in 2005 in which they acknowledge that prison education is complicated "with a large number of" students with "some form of learning disability" (p. 166). Sixteen years later, in 2021, I can attest the fact has not changed. When approached, prison officials state lack of available college employees to oversee tutoring. Nevertheless, there is precedence to the contrary, where qualified individuals behind bars facilitated classes in Texas among other programs. 

Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) safe prison initiatives include, in intake centers called "transfer units" in Texas, a classroom is provided for "peer to peer" instruction on rape prevention and other prison crimes. No immediate overseer is present other than area security. Usually, the facilitator is someone who has been in prison for most of his life. I believe the reason behind this initiative has many aspects; the most obvious to me is that officials do not know well that "prosocial behavior is encouraged through participation in post-secondary correctional education," which advances community behavior "such as working and paying taxes" (Palmer, 2012, p. 165). 

I once met a student who had never had a bill or seen one in his 30 years of life, or knew the definition of a mortgage. At present, I find most college students talking about positive endeavors once in the free world, a contrast to other persons behind bars' dreams of mischief. Moreover, this affirms also the findings of Gorgol & Sponsler (2011), where people behind bars who attend "post-secondary education report a greater ability to judge and evaluate their actions indicating an increased motivation to avoid conflict" (Palmer, 2012, p. 165). 

The identity shift from criminal to a valuable citizen with potential to excel not only benefits the recipients of post-secondary education but the change encompasses the prison staff and officials. For example, in my capacity as an educator in prison, I have never seen a fight between students or an assault on the instructors. Moreover, students attempt to keep in mind their goal to graduate. Depending on the offense, a student can be barred from school for a semester, six months, a whole year, or outright banned from taking courses. 

As a history college instructor, McCarthy, who taught students in San Joaquin's prison, saw students make "connections" to higher education (p. 93) to the world and to their metacognitive self, thus setting a new set of possibilities. Although this "connection" may seem important only to a small group of educators, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about our nation. 

According to Castro & Zamani, "approximately 2.3 million individuals" are living behind bars (2018, Introduction). In other words, there are 2.3 million broken homes without a father, mother, brother, or sister. However, do not assume some sectors of society are not affected. Do not fall under the proverbial "not me" pitfall. Let us remember that individuals with no prior criminal record have been swept up in the fever that swept Congress on January 6, 2021, or those famous rich Hollywood individuals who were caught cheating in the name of the welfare of their children in the university admission scandal. I am sure those individuals, among many more not mentioned, could have said they could never step into a prison or jail. Moreover, as you read this manuscript, more laws are passing with prison or jail penalties. Alas, here in Texas, you cannot even offer water in a voting line. 

Depending on the family, it is likely another family member will follow the wrong steps and end up in prison as well; this is called generational imprisonment. It is not uncommon to find two or more family members behind bars. The Sentencing Project in 2015 reported that "1 in every 3 U.S. adults had been arrested by age 23 and has a criminal record" (Castro & Zamani, 2018, setting the context). 

Most of these adults may have an impoverished sense of self as there is a correlation between crimes and low self-esteem (such as individuals with learning disabilities) like substance abuse, spouse and people of color battering, sexual crimes, among others. 

If society wants to save the nation from falling apart, society must act to have a comprehensive approach to higher education access in prison. Otherwise, the building blocks of society, families, will continue to crumble away to prison. Higher education can help in making that "connection" to a better future. Furthermore, prison punitive culture must be changed to a humanistic rehabilitation, where the population in prison are not considered second-class citizens and overall, they are still humans. 

Failure to do so will only ensure the continuation of the enslavement of the metacognitive of people who are not only underserved but politically voiceless. 

For instance, in my experience as an educator of adults and children in a diverse student population, I have seen firsthand the deteriorating effects of stigmas on human metacognitive health. Racism, cognitive disabilities, socioeconomic status, among many other stigmas, decay the person's view of themselves, which is a major factor in succeeding in life; add a felony and the road to achievement and self-fulfillment, a human natural need, is a more daunting experience to overcome. 

Not only are the individuals with a felony burdened with the aforementioned stigmas but also with deprecating community stigma for those who have broken the law. As Batchelder et al. (2017) argue, "The key to achievement is self-confidence" (p. 4). Consequently, the stigma attached to a felony limits access to housing and employment, erodes self-confidence, and enslaves the newly released individuals to a mediocre future at best. 

Furthermore, the enslavement manifests on the individual as a passive mind rather than active where self-responsibility, purposefulness, and integrity is compromised. 

Not only prison and community culture create enslavement environment obstacles but higher education is sometimes an unaware culprit as well. Usually, this culpability begins with free world encounters with individuals who have been to prison. These citizens, who obtain a diploma from a prison college, may find themselves unable to obtain good employment. 

As a consequence, they may question their own self-worth and possibly, like a cancer, spread the narrative that education does not have any visible benefits to the sacrifices made to obtain a college diploma. Those affected could be family, friends, and/or community in which the discouraged citizen lives. 

Worse, if the former prison resident returns to behind bars, he will become a living obstacle for higher education projects. In my time as a tutor in prison, I have met such individuals whose narratives identify learning institutions as swindling organizations. Their stories are reinforced when vocational prison instructors fall short of being capable educators. 

While it is true higher education is a different institution, to the untrusting person behind bars it is a confirmation of the narrative. Another person, who returned to prison, described an employer smirk at his formal education and experience behind bars. 

It is necessary for higher education institutions not only to police their own industry but to address the apathy towards folks who have been or are behind bars. For one, the very existence of the industry is at play, as the effect would be cumulative with returning ex-resident prisoners. Secondly, any educational efforts could be undermined by this unhappy citizenry. 

Perhaps more in their research, Castro & Zamani (2018) believe in the idea. They acknowledge several grassroots groups whose main goal is to dismiss the fable of a monster behind every person who has lived behind bars. One of these groups is the "Formerly Incarcerated College Graduate Network" who, through a website, networks "people who have been to prison and either received a college degree in prison" or after. 

Moreover, higher education institutions' marketing should start with a handful of tutors. Today, we have twenty plus members. However, until late 2018, TDCJ secondary school system, Windham, has only employed inmate tutors from the ranks of TDCJ's field ministers, a non-secular program. 

Even though the tutors from Lee College have facilitated many educational tasks, the position is not a full-time job and it does not exempt individuals from a job in the infrastructure of the prison. Priority, as addressed beforehand, is to provide a net zero overhead to prison industries. 

A person behind bars can work all day (sometimes all night), go to school, return to the cell about 10 p.m., and then wake five hours later, at 3 a.m., for breakfast. Indeed the cycle repeats again the next day. In some cases, when returning from school or work, the individual will find their block locked up in their cells for mass punishment. With no fault of his own, the individual may likely miss his next day class. 

Under the view, deprecating at best, of first line supervisors, education is not a priority, not even when the inmate is paying for his own education. Incidentally, Batchelder & Pippert (2001) underline the situation in their report by pointing out a skewed "competition for" people's behind bars' time "as demand increases" for their labor (i.e., large industries orders, harvesting time in produce fields) "competes with instruction time" (Batchelder et al., 2017, p. 3) or even the health of the population in prison. 

For example, during the 2019 Covid-19 epidemic, many of the safety guidelines applied outside prison walls were not applied to prison industries. Among many oversights, workers were not advised of civilian supervisor's sickness until the virus took hold of the population inside. If not for prison advocates and letters, like mayday calls to newspapers from individuals behind bars, the industries could not have made accommodations for the virus. 

When everyone was being ordered to stay home across the nation, the industries in prison were at work and sometimes working overtime to complete orders before the fiscal deadline while everything else in prison, like education and church programs, was closed. Ultimately, the integral part of identifying tutors' work position as not a purposeful full-time employment whereas a janitorial... 

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The Uphill Road to Higher Education and Self-Redemption in Prison 

Reference: 

Branden, Nathaniel (1994, March). The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem. Bantam 

Batchelder, J. S., Oneil, A., Rodriguez, A. D., & Tibbs (2017, January). Overcoming the Barriers to Successful Completion of GED Programs among Prison and Jail Inmates. International Journal of Social Science Studies. Vol. 6, No. 1; https://www.ijsss.redfame.com 

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