Family Life Education with Prison Inmates and their Families

Relationship Education for Incarcerated Adults

“…Several implementation studies have documented success with recruiting at-risk (e.g., Bradford et al, 2015;Hawkins & Ooms, 2012) and disadvantaged participants (Hawkins & Fackrell, 2010;Rhoades, 2015); only three studies, however, have examined the implementation of RE with an incarcerated sample. Incarcerated individuals and their families face unique challenges that are not usually addressed in the educational and vocational programs typically offered in prisons (e.g., Mulroy, 2012). The education provided through the implementation of RE offers a potentially untapped resource for addressing the unique challenges faced by prisoners and their families, behaviors and adjustment inside of prison, and successful reentry into society after release (e.g., Mulroy;Shamblen et al, 2013).…”

“…Incarcerated individuals and their families face unique challenges that are not usually addressed in the educational and vocational programs typically offered in prisons (e.g., Mulroy, 2012). The education provided through the implementation of RE offers a potentially untapped resource for addressing the unique challenges faced by prisoners and their families, behaviors and adjustment inside of prison, and successful reentry into society after release (e.g., Mulroy;Shamblen et al, 2013). As such, the aim of the current study was to expand the existing literature by examining RE with a sample of incarcerated adults, regardless of current relationship status, and to expand our understanding of its association with outcomes beyond the couple domain by also including measures of individual and parental functioning.…”

“…In spite of the research suggesting the positive impact of maintaining healthy familial relationships on life inside and outside of prison (e.g., Berg & Huebner, ), programs focusing on strengthening and maintaining relationships are not widely implemented within this population (Mulroy, ). Most prison programs target educational or vocational skills (Haney, ).…”

“…More specifically, recent programs target the adult relationships of inmates (i.e., couple and coparenting), given that recent research suggests that those who maintain strong, healthy family relationships are more likely to successfully reintegrate into society after release (e.g., Berg & Huebner, ; Laub & Sampson, ). Research on family programs and their effects for prisoners, however, is limited due to several impediments—such as restrictive prison policies, logistical challenges, and limited funding (Haney, ; Mulroy, ). Only a handful of studies of the effectiveness of family programs for prisoners have been published and only three published studies of relationship education (RE) exist (Accordino & Guerney, ; Einhorn et al., ; Shamblen et al., ).…”