‘There is nothing for me’: A qualitative analysis of the views towards prison education of adult male prisoners convicted of a sexual offence

Abstract

This current study examined the perceptions and lived experiences of prisoners (n = 24) who do not engage with prison education. United Kingdom and international research highlights that prisoners who attend prison education programmes have lower recidivism rates and increased employment opportunities upon release (Abeling-Judge, 2019; Bozick et al., 2018). This qualitative study interviewed adult males who are serving a custodial sentence for a sexual offence in England and Wales. The data were analysed thematically with two key themes emerging from the rich dataset: (i) ‘Poor quality education’, highlighting the limitations of prison education and lack of quality provision; (ii) ‘We are sex offenders’, explored non-engagement with prison education due to their ‘sex offender’ label. The findings highlight how current prison education provision needs to focus on a programme of study relevant to an individual.