Invited Bank Editor

Prison-to-university pipelines: experiences, challenges and future avenues of research and transformative action.

by

Date: December 14th, 2023
Time: 9:00 am PST / 5:00 pm GMT / 6:00 pm CET
Zoom link: https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/93769869575

This is the first webinar of our new ECPA-SCRA webinar

About the webinar:

As rates of incarceration continue to increase and calls for abolition and alternative justice systems are resonating around the world, this webinar aims to shed light on the complex reality of incarceration, the lived experiences of those targeted by this harmful system, and the role of higher education settings in promoting transformative change and social justice. This webinar is the first of the webinar series organised by the European Community Psychology Association (ECPA), in collaboration with the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA). We envision a session encompassing important conversations regarding the access of imprisoned people to higher education and the development of prison-to-university pipelines as a way to challenge the violence of incarceration. Drawing on the lived experience of transitioning from a prisoner to a social change agent and scholar, Dr Beasley will focus on the possibilities that incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people conceive for themselves, the impacts of these possibilities, and how these factors modify life paths. On the other hand, Dr Aresti will discuss his long-term work of building prison-university pipelines as a way to combat stigma and promote more inclusive and just societies.The webinar will also establish a collaborative dialogue on the future paths of transformative research and action in this area, identifying gaps in academic knowledge and offering insights on the role that community psychologists can play in advancing justice for people affected by incarceration and the criminal-legal system. It will also act as a forum for addressing innovative approaches and frameworks that can help us better comprehend the transformative potential of prison-to-university pipelines.

Speakers:

Dr Christopher Beasley, Phd (he/they)
University of Washington Tacoma
Chris is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington Tacoma, where he studies transitions from prison to college, leads the development of the Husky Post-Prison Path ways initiative, advises the Formerly Incarcerated Student Association, and builds a post-prison community across the UW system. His scholarly work emphasises the possibilities incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people imagine for themselves, influences on these possibilities, and how they alter life courses. Chris has also spoken extensively about the role of people with lived expertise in the creation of social change and ways to realise this potential. He is invested in this scholarship because of his/their own transition from prisoner to social change agent and scholar. 

Dr Andreas Aresti, Phd (he/him)
University of Westminster, London
Andy is a Senior Lecturer in criminology at the School of Social Sciences at the University of Westminster. He is one of the three founder members of British Convict Criminology and has played a leading role in the development of the Convict Criminology (CC) perspective in the UK, also forming the Convict Criminology at Westminster research group. Andy’s work challenges current (mis)representations of crime, prisons and former convicts. He runs three prison-to-university pipeline projects at Prisons in England and has helped others, both in the UK and overseas, to start similar projects. Dr Aresti and Dr Sacha Darke were recently awarded the 2023 John Irwin Distinguished Scholar Award for their outstanding professional contributions to the study of Convict Criminology.

In Place of War

by

Imagine, people put creativity, arts and music in place of war and violence.

Imagine, young people learn by being creative and living their passion.
Imagine, people use their creative skills to develop visions for being artists, professionals and entrepreneurs.

In Place of War is a global network which goes beyond empowerment story-telling. They help people to create and live their stories of community resilience. Since 2004, they enable grassroots change-makers in music, theatre and across the arts to transform a culture of violence and suffering into hope, opportunity and freedom. Up to now, dozens of creative educational and performative projects in more than 26 countries around the world have been launched successfully.

GRRRL — a global group of women from places of conflict using music to tell their stories

In Place of War supports individuals or communities that have been affected by war, post-war, gang-war and political oppression. They:

  • create safe and technically equipped cultural spaces and art centres (like studios, theatres or galleries) in the most marginalized communities in the world.
  • have developed a creative entrepreneur training (CASE), designed specifically for conflict zones; more than 200 trainers in 18 countries have been trained.
  • curate international artistic collaboration as an antidote to violence, and they share skills, knowledge and hope. Over 1000 artists from 25 countries have been mobilized and created gigs, festivals, tours, collaborations and theater performances.

In Place of War-projects show how art engages people away from violence, enables freedom of expression and helps people develop positive role models. Arts centres create places of safety in conflict zones, offer young people a way to escape from everyday conflict, and provide spaces to develop alternative values and norms. Artistic collaboration breaks down barriers and give voice to the voiceless.
Art is a tool for engagement in communities, for reconciliation and intercultural dialogue, and imagining worlds different from the one you are in. It is creating fun, joy and beauty — in places where this is in short supply.

Story submitted by, Ruth Daniel, founder and CEO of In Place of War

For more information, please contact: ruth.daniel@manchester.co.uk

People Protecting Each-other Sustainably – PPEs

by

People Protecting Each-other Sustainably (PPEs) was developed to recruit and manage over 100 Northeast
Ohio volunteers. People Protecting Each-other Sustainably used the social media platform Facebook to facilitate material donations, volunteer recruitment and training, and to function as an ongoing central communications hub. Leaders used an assembly line process with zero contact pick up and drop off at multiple stages of production to allow safe assembly and distribution of face masks.

A total of 7,695 handmade face masks were created to distribute to local frontline responders in 10 weeks. Use of upsourced and donated materials allowed this project to reduce potential landfill waste and made a zero cost project possible. Volunteers had positive responses to the project and reported benefits from their participation.

This model has been successfully recreated by a smaller group in Geauga County, Ohio, with similarly successful results. Clearly this model of community mobilization has the potential to be replicated in other state of emergency crises and emergency response situations to produce lifesaving or necessary equipment when industry standard equipment is not readily available.

For more information, please click here.

Story submitted by Andrew Snyder, USA

asnyde20@kent.edu

Lockdown Spirit Lives On as Neighbour Groups Become Swap Shops

by

During the pandemic, community members in south London began communicating via WhatsApp. They were able to fulfill requests in the community at no cost to those in need. A year and a half later, rather than go back to traditional means of selling items through on-line garage sales, these south Londoners were still using the app to swap and share services at no cost.

This spirit of swapping was happening in other communities as well. The Freecycle Network, a platform where people share items for free, saw a 50% increase during the pandemic. People discovered they were finding connection through generosity and wanted it to continue.

Photo share from the Guardian.com

A retired school teacher learned she could use Freecycle to ask for items needed by asylum seekers. She received an overwhelming response and spread the generosity of the Freecycle community to other groups. They raised money and swapped things that may have otherwise ended up in landfills.

One of the lessons learned by this community was that making connections and helping one another for no personal gain is contagious. What started as a way to help during a global pandemic proved to be a sustainable way to funnel items in the hands of those who need them. In addition, they were able to work toward the broader goal of keeping usable items out of landfills.

For more information, click here.

Story shared by, Bradley Olson, PhD, USA

Unexpected Death Sparks Community Unity

by

The unexpected death of a Lake County, Illinois man sparked community unity. On August 2, 2021, Clyde Lewis Jr. was fatally injured in a car accident while he was on his way to help a friend “save” her son from being under-sheltered. The friend also suffered fatal injuries in the crash. This young man was a beloved member of this community. Three of his friends felt the need to “do something” to honor him.

Three of his friends felt the need to “do something” to honor him. On August 3, 2021 within a 3-hour time period these three friends, Rayon Edwards (Ray Ray), Trina Friar (Trixi), and Ronald McCarthy (momma), called out the community to meet at “King Park” for a balloon release and candlelight vigil. The gathering was scheduled for three hours. Within the three hours over 400 people showed up to honor this young man. Community members brought food to grill, games for kids, alcohol to “pour out” (by tradition -honoring a fallen homie).

People do not have to be conventional by society’s standards, educated, well-mannered, and the like, they just have to have a caring heart and the spirit of community building to make it happen. Rayon Edwards (Ray Ray), Trina Friar (Trixi), and Ronald McCarthy (momma) three of this communities marginalized and oppressed by stereotypes and labels that, as shown by the events of August 3, 2021, do not define who they are or what they are capable of doing in their community.

Story shared by, MoDena Stinette, USA

Project Taillight

by

Project Taillight seeks to connect low-income residents with proactive headlight, taillight, license plate light, and/or turn signal repair services for free. Students of the Columbus State Automotive Technology program provide labor for this innovative public safety and crime prevention program. Because non-violent crimes are more often linked to poverty and lack of opportunity, this program reduces the need for residents and police to interact over minor violations.

Photo retrieved from columbusunderground.com

The goal of the program is to reduce minor traffic violations, allowing police to focus on more violent crime, while also reducing the number of times residents are pulled over along the side of the road for non-violent crimes. Additionally, it is a way for Columbus State students to give back to the community.

Some repairs have proven greater than the students can manage, but they work to coordinate assistance. They have interactions with the residents and learn how to provide customer service. The program has a $50,000 budget and also received a $25,000 contribution from the Columbus Department of Public Safety general fund. They hope to grow and expand.

For more information, please click here.

Story shared by Leslie Hatch Gail, USA

Young Ethiopian Tech Genius Teaches Others

by

Betelhem Dessie, is a young tech tutor in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Dessie has been a tech tutor for three years. Using iCog, Dessie has partnered with two projects. One is iCog Anyone Can Code, teaches children between ages eight to eighteen the basics of coding and robotics. The second is Solve It, a democratized technology on solving community problems by the local people. The aim of the projects is to educate and build human capital in Ethiopia and Africa. Importantly, to address technology biased where less women and people of color are represented in technology.

Young people, male and female in Ethiopia are learning to use technology to address community challenges.

Betelhem Dessie Photo retrieved from unicef.org

This social start up uses technology tutoring to address technology inequities, or technological bias against women and people of color.

For more information, please click here.

Story shared by Margaret Sergon, USA

The Village That Built its Own Wi-Fi Network

by

The community of Mankosi, South Africa, in collaboration with researchers from the university of Western Cape, build their own stable and affordable wi-fi. The system is a low-energy, using scattered nodes instead of a central mast or beacons that are used by traditional telecom networks. The system is powered by solar.

Photo retrieved from theconversation.com

The outcomes included affordable wi-fi in the village; the WIFI helped students to do research; it became a source of income for those selling wi-fi vouchers, as well as for the technician; money from the sale of wi-fi is channeled to other community projects, and it brings the community together in monthly meetings to discuss wi-fi related matters.

For more information, please click here.

Story shared by Margaret Sergon, USA

Middleton’s Village to Village: Making “Junkers” Run Again

by

Eliot Middleton donated his first vehicle in January of 2020. Since then, he has given away 90 more to people that need cars. Eliot worked on the cars during his off days and donated his first car to a mother of a disabled child who needed the car for regular hospital visits. According to Eliot, the woman decided to pay it forward. She got a job, bought a new car, and will donate the car given to her by Eliot back to him.

Photo retrieved from goodlivingguide.com

In November of 2020, a foundation was started called Middleton’s Village to Village. The foundation is run via the foundations’ Facebook page with support from friends and family.

A lesson that learned from Eliot’s story is that good deeds inspire more good deeds.

For more information, please click here.

Story shared by Tressa Greer, USA

21 Days of Peace: Pilot Program to Deter Crime

by

A grieving Minneapolis community is asking for information that will lead to the gunmen who killed two children and seriously injured another. KG Wilson’s 6-year-old granddaughter, Aniya Allen, was the last of the three children shot in the head and the first to die. KG Wilson is on his bullhorn and passing out flyers, looking for justice and closure for his family and the others impacted by gun violence in the community. Nine-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith took her last breath Thursday night. Ladavionne Garrett Jr. was shot 29 days ago and is still fighting to recover.

Photo retrieved from minnesota.cbslocal.com

21 Days of Peace” officially kicks off Friday night. Church and community members are combining efforts to patrol high-crime areas to be a presence, as well as to offer resources for those in need.

A community that has issues with poverty and oppression are able to mobilize for a common cause and able to gain support or organizations.

For more information, please click here.

Story shared by, MoDena Stinette, USA