Editor\u27s Welcome for Volume 3, Issue 2

Welcome to the fall issue of volume 3 of the JPER. The spring issue appeared with a focus on women in prison. Brittnie Aiello and Krista McQueeney contributed an article on the implications for understanding motherhood as a mechanism of moral identity and social control. They discussed how incarcerated mothers constructed moral identities in the face of stigma of incarceration. Following an analysis of data from participant observation and in-depth interviews with incarcerated mothers, they discuss how mothers claim moral identities by embracing the identity of incarcerated mothers to reinforce the assumptions that motherhood is compulsory and should be reserved for women with enough money and standing to give their children advantages

Symptoms of ADHD are related to education and work experience among incarcerated adults

Several reports document increased prevalence of attention deficit and hyperactivity (ADHD) and similar symptoms in incarcerated members of the community, but little is known about how the symptoms are related to education and work experience. An ongoing study among Norwegian inmates reveals that 60 % report signs of ADHD. In the present study a sample of 600 inmates incarcerated in Norway filled out a questionnaire including the WURS-k (Wender Utah Rating Scale, short form) and questions to survey completed education level and work experience. A clear relationship was found between the WURS-k score and earlier job-experience, with increased probability of ADHD with work experience from low socio-economic status jobs. The scale was also found to share variance with the inmates’ reported education history, as higher education reduces the probability of ADHD among the incarcerated adults. Thus, the WURS-k could be a useful screening instrument in education assessment among inmates. The link between the present findings and development of anti-social behaviour is discussed

Can a Questionnaire Be Useful for Assessing Reading Skills in Adults? Experiences with the Adult Reading Questionnaire among Incarcerated and Young Adults in Norway

Background: Good screening tools can be of immense value in educational counselling for adults. We report two studies where we explored the factor structure and discriminative power of the Adult Reading Questionnaire (ARQ) in different samples of young adults at risk for reading impairments. Method: The ARQ was designed to screen for literacy skills with low resource requirement. The instrument includes 11 questions regarding reading and writing skills and 6 questions regarding attention deficits and hyperactivity. The first study included of 246 undergraduate students. One-third of the sample were under assessment of specific learning impairments/dyslexia. The second study included 1475 incarcerated adults, where 1 in 4 reported specific reading impairments. Results: Principal Component Analyses (PCA) with varimax rotation returned four components for the participants in Study 1: Reading skills, Reading habits, Attention, and Hyperactivity. For the incarcerated sample in Study 2, the analysis returned three components, as the Attention and Hyperactivity items were combined. Conclusion: The ARQ is useful for identifying individuals at risk for dyslexia with acceptable measures of sensitivity and specificity, as well as for identifying those who report difficulties with reading and writing but have not been assessed for their difficulties earlier. The increased prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) seen among incarcerated adults must be considered when screening for reading problems as it may confound the scores on reading questionnaires.publishedVersio

Terminologi for vansker med språk hos barn og unge – en konsensusstudie

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Innsatte i Bergen fengsel: Leseferdigheter og lesevansker

Denne rapporten presenterer noen delresultater fra en pilotstudie om innsattes vaner og ferdigheter i lesing, skriving og matematikk. Nittifire innsatte i Bergen fengsel deltok i en spørreskjemaundersøkelse med fokus på egen opplevelse og vurdering av egne ferdigheter og vaner innenfor disse områdene. Syttien av disse innsatte deltok også i en standardisert leseprøve for avdekking av lesehastighet og grunnleggende lesetekniske ferdigheter. 68,4 % vurderte sine ferdigheter i lesing som over middels, 54,4 % vurderte ferdighetene i skriving som over middels og 32,8 % så regneferdighetene sine som over middels. Nær halvparten av deltagerne opplyste samtidig at de har ulike grader av vansker knyttet til de samme ferdighetene. Samsvaret mellom selvrapporterte ferdigheter og skårer på leseprøvene var lavt. Gjennomsnittlig lesehastigheten ved stillelesing av sammenhengende tekst var lavt (gjennomsnittlig 209,2 ord per minutt) sammenlignet med det som er vurdert til å være funksjonell lesehastighet. Lesehastigheten til de innsatte tilsvarer det en forventer ved slutten av ungdomsskolen, men er lavere enn det en forventer på grunnlag av alder. Prøver på lesetekniske ferdigheter viste at om lag en tredjedel av deltagerne skåret innenfor rammene av 4.prosentil, det vil si at 96 % av normeringsutvalget har bedre prestasjoner på prøvene på ordgjenkjenning og fonologisk bearbeiding enn vi finner i dette utvalget av innsatte. Dette er klart under det som er forventet blant voksne, og indikerer at forekomsten av spesifikke dyslektiske vansker er langt høyere i dette utvalget enn hva som er forventet. Det ble ikke funnet samsvar mellom hvilken type kriminalitet som er grunnlaget for fengslingen og leseferdigheter i dette utvalget. 38,7 % av deltagerne hadde tidligere vært henvist for utredning av lese- og skrivevansker, og 28 % rapporterer at de tidligere har fått stilt diagnosen dysleksi. Dette viser at en stor andel av de innsatte har fått vurdert leseferdighetene på et tidligere tidspunkt. Resultatene viste også at det er et stort behov for utredning av lese-, skrive- og regneferdigheter for tilrettelegging av undervisningstilbudet innenfor fengselsundervisningen

Innsette i norske fengsel: Motiv for utdanning under soning

The right of education during incarceration is regulated by international conventions and recommendations. Membership nations of the UN and the Council of Europe are committed to implement the agreements and recommendations they have assented to. Norway has incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into her legal system, and a fundamental principle of the Norwegian prison system is that prisoners should have the same access to social services as other citizens. To obtain a knowledge base for the assessment of the educational requirements of the Norwegian prison population a survey was conducted to examine prisoners’ educational background and employment experience, educational participation, educational preferences and motives. The study was carried out one week in May 2009 in all Norwegian prisons. Data were collected by a questionnaire. According to reports from the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, there were a total of 3 359 prisoners during the time period in question. Some of them (estimated to 3.6 per cent) were on leave or otherwise occupied, and could not be reached. Of the 3 238 prisoners who received the questionnaire, 63.7 per cent (2 065) answered and returned it. Prisoners who were not confident in Norwegian were also given an English version, and those who could not understand either of the languages or those having reading or writing problems, received help to fill out the questionnaire. The questionnaires were returned anonymously. The study was approved by the Regional Ethical Committee for Research in Health Sciences of the Western Norway and the Privacy Ombudsman for Research, Norway. In addition, a special approval was granted from the prison authorities and the Ministry of Justice, Norway. Prisoners born in 95 different countries participated in the study, and 33.5 per cent of those who replied were born in other countries than Norway. Women accounted for 6.0 per cent of the prison population when data was collected, but 7.4 per cent in the study population. The respondents' average age was 34.7 years. In their choice of education, prisoners can be moved by causes that are relatively independently of their awareness. Alternatively they might act purposely in accordance with their intentions. The aim of the part of the survey that is presented in this report was to examine prisoners’ educational motives, and an educational motives questionnaire was used for the purpose. The subjects were presented with 15 possible reasons for starting an educational program in prison. They were asked to indicate how important each of these reasons is for them. Of those who answered this particular part of the questionnaire 750 already participated in prison education and 867 did not. Three single reasons were the most important for starting an education, both among those who already had started and those who had not: "To spend my time doing something sensible and useful", "To make it easier to get a job after release", and "To learn about a subject". Younger prisoners were more likely than older prisoners to say that social reasons, such as to meet friends there, were most important, but reasons linked to preparation for life upon release were also often mentioned as important. There was no clear difference between prisoners with low and high education in scores on reasons having to do to with the preparation for life after release, but in addition the first group more often ticked boxes for social reasons. Prisoners with long sentences (more than five years) were more likely than those with shorter sentences to state that an education is useful after release and also an opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills. The study also showed that prisoners with learning problems were more likely than others to say that social reasons are important, but they also regarded education as good for self-esteem and prevention of future crime. The 15 items of the educational motive questionnaire were factor analyzed. Three motive categories were identified: "To prepare for life upon release" (Factor 1), "Social reasons and reasons unique to the prison context" (Factor 2), and "To acquire knowledge and skills" (Factor 3). Factor 1 explained more than double of the variance than the sum of the other factors, and educational level was not related to scores on this first factor. The same factor structure was revealed for those who had started an education in prison, and the first factor explained more than one third of the variance than the sum of the two other factors. For those who not attended school or education two motive categories were identified: "To prepare for life upon release" and "Social reasons and reasons unique to the prison context". The first factor explained more than four times as much of the variance as the second. Factor 3 is a significant predictor for taking up an education in prison, and both this factor and Factor 1 are significant predictors for wishing to start an education in prison

Nordmenn i fengsel: Utdanning, arbeid og kompetanse

Training and education for those in prison constitute an important but often neglected aspect of adult learning. A fundamental principle of Norwegian prison policy states that prisoners should have the same access to social and educational services as other citizens. The Educational Act recognizes the right of all to basic schooling, and all teenagers and adults who have completed compulsory school have a right to three years of upper secondary education. Adults also have the right to «second chance» or supplementary basic education and/or special education. Today education is provided in all Norwegian prisons. In order to establish a sound knowledge base that can inform both policy and practice, and help prioritize resourcing for prisoner education and training, research was carried out to determine the educational needs of the Norwegian prison population. This report outlines Norwegian prisoners’ educational background and employment experience, educational participation while incarcerated, educational preferences and wishes. The prisoners’ level of education is compared to the general population in Norway. The findings are related to both gender, age and length of sentence. The study was approved by the Privacy Ombudsman for Research and additional approval was granted from the prison authorities and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. It was carried out over one week in October 2012. All prisoners with Norwegian citizenship in every Norwegian prison were invited to participate. At the time of the study, there were a total of 2 439 prisoners with Norwegian citizenship in prison. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire. Of the prisoners who participated, 1 276 completed and returned the questionnaire. This constituted a response rate of 52.3 per cent of the total population of prisoners with Norwegian citizenship. Women accounted for 5.3 per cent of the prison population when data was collected, and 5.8 per cent of the study population. The average age of the total respondents was 36 years. Prisoners with reading or writing difficulties received help to complete the questionnaire. All questionnaires were returned anonymously. Approximately one per cent of the Norwegian population have no completed education at all; this applies to 7.3 per cent of the prisoners. Of those prisoners who have completed education, more than half (52.1 per cent) have primary or secondary school as their highest completed education level, compared to 28.2 per cent of the Norwegian population in 2012. Moreover, 42 per cent of the Norwegian population have completed upper secondary school; this accounts for 34.9 per cent of the prisoners. Thirteen per cent of the inmates have university education (whatever level) as their highest completed level compared to 29.8 per cent of the Norwegian population. There are no significant differences between males and females in completed education level. Only 22.5 per cent of the inmates below the age of 25 have completed upper secondary education. More than four out of five inmates wish to participate in education while incarcerated; men some more than female prisoners. Most of them wish to attend upper secondary level or single independent courses. Slightly more than seven out of ten (71.2 per cent) prefer vocational education or courses. The longer the sentence, the more inmates wish to take upper secondary or university education. Age correlates negatively with both participation and education wishes. Single independent courses or upper secondary education are the most attended educational activities among Norwegian prisoners. Less than half (46.4 per cent) of the inmates do not participate in education while incarcerated. A larger number of younger than older inmates self-reported difficulty in reading, writing and doing arithmetic. However, less than one out of twenty (4.6 per cent) reported difficulty to a great extent in reading; 6.4 per cent in writing; 13.8 per cent in doing arithmetic. Female prisoners reported less difficulty than males in reading and writing. The percentage reporting difficulty doing arithmetic was equal in 2012. In Norway, attending upper secondary school (three or four years) is a legal right which has to be completed before the age of 25, otherwise special rules and legal rights concerning adult education are applied. Among prisoners in that age group, as many as 30.5 per cent were eligible, but did not participate in that activity while incarcerated. Prisoners participating in education activities reported to be highly satisfied with the teaching and education provided (76.3 per were highly satisfied). However, those participating at primary or secondary level were less satisfied than those participating at upper secondary level (27.3 per cent were highly satisfied in contrast to more than fifty per cent of upper secondary school attendants)

Innsatte i Bergen fengsel: Delrapport 3: Leseferdigheter og grunnleggende kognitive ferdigheter

Retten til opplæring er fastslått i Opplæringslova, og tidligere undersøkelser har vist at en betydelig del av de innsatte i Norge ikke har fått nyttet denne retten, med resultat at utdanningsnivået er klart lavere blant innsatte enn hva vi finner i befolkningen for øvrig. Funksjonelle leseferdigheter er i økende grad en betingelse for å delta i et moderne samfunn, hvor informasjonsformidling og kommunikasjon mer og mer er basert på skriftlig materiale, og tidligere studier dokumenterer en høy forekomst av nedsatte leseferdigheter blant innsatte. Det er sannsynliggjort at leseferdighetene blant innsatte i hovedsak ikke kan tilbakeføres til en spesifikk årsaksfaktor, men kan være et resultat av flere ulike forhold. For å undersøke dette er det foretatt en kartlegging av leseferdigheter og lesevaner i et utvalg av 93 innsatte i Bergen fengsel høsten 2006. I tillegg deltok 71 av disse også i en standardisert leseprøve som dekker lesetekniske ferdigheter innefor et utvalg områder som er funnet relevant for gode leseferdigheter. 28 av deltagerne deltok i tillegg i en mer omfattende individuell kartlegging av grunnleggende nevrokognitive ferdigheter knyttet til oppmerksomhet, arbeidshukommelse, visuell og auditiv bearbeiding, kognitive funksjoner som også er assosiert med utikling av leseferdigheter. Hovedfunnet i denne delstudien er at deltagerne viser nedsatte leseferdigheter sammenlignet med hva som er forventet på grunnlag av alder, noe som fremkommer ved at leseferdighetene er vesentlig under normene som er utarbeidet for testmaterialet som er utviklet for bruk blant unge voksne studenter. Mellom 50 og 70 % av deltagerne viser lesevansker av et slikt omfang at det vil kunne tilfredsstille diagnostiske kriterier for lesevansker. Resultatene fra leseprøven er generelt sett er på nivå med det som er vanlig de siste årene i ungdomsskolen. Dette viser imidlertid også at de grunnleggende leseferdighetene er på plass, men leseferdighetene er ikke videre utviklet etter avsluttet grunnopplæring. Tekniske leseferdigheter er svakere enn hva som forventes på grunnlag av alder når vi sammenligner med resultatene som er vist i et utvalg av unge voksne studenter ved universitet og høyskoler, men på høyde med normer for elever i 7./8.lklasse. Det er samsvar mellom prestasjonene på de ulike prøvene, slik at leseferdighetene generelt svake. Det er derfor nærliggende å tolke resultatene som en konsekvens av manglende leselæring og mangelfulle leseerfaringer framfor at dette skyldes spesifikke fonologiske vansker eller dysleksi. Samlet peker resultatene i retning av at lesevanskene slik de fremkommer i dette utvalget er å betrakte som sekundære til andre og mer generelle kognitive vansker, og ikke knyttet til en spesifikk fonologisk vansker. I hovedsak fremkommer det sammenhenger med oppmerksomhetsvansker og vansker med innlæring og hukommelse som kan ha en indirekte betydning for mangelfull utvikling av leseferdigheter. Selvoppfatning av leseferdigheter kan i særlig grad forklares av leseforståelse og rettskriving, og kan derved sees som en god refleksjon av opplevde leseferdigheter. Lese- og skrievanskene kan derfor være forårsaket av en menge ulike faktorer, og ikke systematisk knyttet til kun ett sett av risikofaktorer. Leseferdighetene slik de måles i denne studien kan i hovedsak forklares ut fra arbeidshukommelse og hurtig benevning, eller rask tilgang til informasjon i leksikonet. Spesifikke faktorer som ordgjenkjenning og fonologisk avkoding forklarer kun en liten del av variansen i enkeltordavkoding. Dette tilsier at ferdighetsnivået må forklares ut fra andre forhold. Dette støtter antagelsen om at nedsatte leseferdigheter i dette utvalget ikke først og fremst kan tilbakeføres til spesifikke fonologiske vansker, men i hovedsak skyldes andre forhold av mer generell art, så som mangelfull lesetrening, oppmerksomhetsvansker og bearbeidingstempo. Gjennomsnittsresultatene fra selvrapporterte symptomer på hyperkinesi/ADHD og prestasjonene på oppmerksomhetsprøvene tilsier at en stor andel av deltagerne har funksjonelle vansker som kan sammenlignes med hva som blir rapportert fra grupper av voksne som er diagnostisert med hyperkinesi/ADHD. I særlig grad gjelder dette oppgaver som stiller krav om kontroll med informasjonsbearbeiding og impulskontroll. Dette viser at risikoen er stor for at det er omfattende oppmerksomhetsvansker og distraherbarhet blant deltagere i opplæringen i kriminalomsorgen. Sammenfattet kan vi derfor konkludere med at vi finner nedsatte lese- og skriveferdigheter, og at vi finner en forhøyet risiko for oppmerksomhetsforstyrrelser og manglende impulskontroll i dette utvalget av innsatte. Lese- og skrivevanskene er ikke av en slik art at de i hovedsak vil falle innefor kategorien dysleksi, i den forstand at vanskene kan årsaksforklares med henvisning til spesifikke fonologiske vansker. Det er nærliggende å tenke seg at vanskene er knyttet til samtidig forekomst av oppmerksomhetsvansker og nedsatt impulskontroll. Dette kan ha hatt betydning for mangelfull opplæring og senere mangelfull utvikling av leseferdighetene

Innsette i norske fengsel: Kompetanse gjennom utdanning og arbeid

The right of education during incarceration is regulated by international conventions and recommendations. Membership nations of the UN and the Council of Europe are committed to implement the agreements and recommendations they have assented to. Norway has incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into her legal system, and a fundamental principle of the Norwegian prison system is that inmates should have the same access to social services as other citizens. To obtain a knowledge base for the assessment of the educational requirements of the Norwegian prison population this survey was conducted to examine inmates’ educational background and employment experience, educational participation and educational preferences. This study was carried out one week in May 2009 in all Norwegian prisons. Data were collected by a questionnaire. According to reports from the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, there were a total of 3 359 inmates during the time period in question. Some of them (estimated to 3.6 per cent) were on leave or otherwise occupied, and could not be reached. Of the 3 238 inmates who received the questionnaire, 63.7 per cent answered and returned it. Inmates who were not confident in Norwegian were also given an English version, and those who could not understand either of the languages or those having reading or writing problems, received help to fill out the questionnaire. The questionnaires were returned anonymously. The study was approved by the Regional Ethical Committee for Research in Health Sciences of the Western Norway and the Privacy Ombudsman for Research, Norway. In addition, a special approval was granted from the prison authorities and the Ministry of Justice, Norway. Inmates born in 95 different countries participated in the study, and 33.5 per cent of those who replied were born in other countries than Norway. Women accounted for 6.0 per cent of the prison population when data was collected, but 7.4 per cent in the study population. The respondents’ average age was 34.7 years. Fifty six per cent of the inmates had primary school or lower secondary school as their highest level of education, while 29 per cent had upper secondary school as their highest level, which is equivalent to the Norwegian populations’ educational level before 1970. On the other hand, 15 per cent of the inmates had completed single courses or grades at university or college, which is close to the level of the Norwegian population in 1990. Ten per cent of the inmates had not completed any educational at all. The youngest inmates (below 25 years) were those who most often had not completed upper secondary school (89 per cent). Only small gender differences were found. More than ten per cent of the inmates had never been employed and those who had been employed had most often had unskilled work. According to the study, approximately 54 per cent of the inmates were not participating in any education activity in prison. Nearly every fifth was in upper secondary education, the same rate of the inmates participated in non-formal courses, and four per cent were studying university or college courses. Inmates between 25 and 34 years of age most frequently took part in prison education. There were only minor gender differences in participation in prison education. Inmates from Africa were those who most often took part in primary education. In Norway many inmates have short sentences. Those with short sentences (shorter than three months), rarely took part in education programs in prison. The part of the survey applying only to those inmates who are participating in educational activities indicated that they were basically satisfied with their course experiences. Seventy-one per cent of the inmates wished to start an education while in prison (they had at least one preference). Most of them they wanted to start or complete upper secondary education or shorter courses, such as ICT courses or language courses. Educational wishes were more common among those who had long sentences. Seventy-one per cent of the inmates replied that they had a final educational aim, while 29 per cent did not have educational aspiration; 29 per cent wanted to complete a vocational education while 30 per cent wanted to complete university or college. The inmates gave a self-report on their academic skills and learning problems. For reading, 67 per cent described their skills as good or very good, while similar figures for writing, maths and ICT competence were 57, 37, and 35 per cent, respectively. Inmates above 44 years of age more often described skills in reading and writing as good or very good (partly in maths too). On the other hand, almost one third of these inmates reported to have low skills in ICT. Only 57 per cent of the inmates replied that they had no problems in reading, 47 per cent no problems in writing, and 30 per cent reported to have no problems in mathematics. We recommend that the prison authorities and the educational authorities aim to become fully engaged in ensuring that there are prison educational activities available and suitable to all. The survey shows that there has been a steady increase in the number of inmates who take part in education in prison. However, the educational activities offered must be more varied, and especially more vocational courses must be offered. Moreover, the fact that an increasing amount of inmates are qualified to study at university or college level implies that this level also have to be represented in prison education. Most important, inmates with learning problems must also receive assistance after release