Transcending the prison walls through transformative learning: the Australian Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program

<p dir="ltr">Purpose </p><p dir="ltr">This paper aims to provide an evaluation on the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program in Victoria, Australia. This program was founded 30 years ago in Philadelphia and was based on uniting criminal justice degree students and incarcerated people to embark on a collaborative semester of higher education learning. This paper describes location-specific implementation, using interview data to explore the learning environment created through dialogic andragogy. In the first qualitative publication on the Australian Inside-Out program, this paper argues that it creates a transformative experience for both student cohorts when belief systems are challenged through open and respectful dialogue managed by a trained facilitator. </p><p dir="ltr">Design/methodology/approach </p><p dir="ltr">This is a qualitative study using interview data from four one-hour focus groups. Data was thematically analysed using the six-step procedure outlined by Braun and Clarke (2006) to generate themes. For the purpose of this study, “themes” are defined as patterns of collective meaning that are “underpinned by a central organising concept” (Braun and Clarke, 2019, p. 593). This methodology allowed for the rich human experience of study participants to come to the forefront in their own words. As the first Australian solely qualitative publication on this topic, this research delivers a more nuanced understanding of the subjective participant experiences. </p><p dir="ltr">Findings </p><p dir="ltr">The findings demonstrate multiple positive outcomes from the program. The first is the benefit of using a dialogic teaching approach instead of the traditional didactic approach most commonly seen at universities. The second finding shows the enhanced learning experience of the Inside-Out framework of blending student cohorts from higher education and prison. These factors combined produced critical thinking skills in the outside students, allowing analysis of preconceived notions. The final finding was the personal development expressed by the inside students who articulated how feeling heard and seen impacted self-esteem and confidence. </p><p dir="ltr">Research limitations/implications </p><p dir="ltr">A dearth of existing qualitative research is about Inside-Out worldwide. Data collected were from the participants of the inaugural delivery of Inside-Out in Australia, meaning recruitment and implementation were evolving frameworks at the time of the study. The final number of inside students at both prisons was reduced, which impacted on the overall numbers participating in the study. Participation in the Inside-Out program is voluntary for inside students and an elective for outside students. As such, the participant pool would be skewed towards representing individuals who are more inclined to engage with the program and reflect its benefits. </p><p dir="ltr">Practical implications </p><p dir="ltr">This publication delivers practical implications for implementing the Inside-Out program in Australia. As a 30-year-old program in the USA, Inside-Out is run in 49 states and with an array of higher-education subjects. Yet despite 10 years of success in Australia, it has yet to move beyond the inaugural university. This paper has had contact from other universities and correctional institutions who are interested in this program, but they need the evidence of the positive human outcomes to facilitate initial implementation. By sharing the framework experienced as successful, other institutions can use our knowledge to expand the program and its benefits. </p><p dir="ltr">Social implications </p><p dir="ltr">The equitable sharing of knowledge allowed inside students to be someone other than a label, and facilitated the outside students’ growth and understanding of the social contributors to the crime rate and the far-reaching impact of media representations. The immediate social implications were processes of de-stigmatization, but longer-term, it is seen that former outside students become engaged criminal justice professionals who operate with compassion to improve correctional culture and practices. By elevating participants’ experiences through publication, the potential for social impact expands by allowing other institutions to use a tangible framework to achieve tangible results. </p><p dir="ltr">Originality/value </p><p dir="ltr">As the first solely qualitative publication on the Australian Inside-Out program, this paper will deliver a powerful tool for those who have already expressed an interest in replicating the program. Employees of correctional institutions and universities in four other states have expressed interest in delivering this program, however, they experience difficulty convincing their respective hierarchies of the impact this has on program graduates. By elevating the lived experience voices of student participants, this paper can humanise the benefits beyond measurable outcomes and provide evidence that warrants finding ways to mitigate perceived risks to reap the tangible rewards.</p>