Using Recidivism to Evaluate Effectiveness in Prison Education Programs.

An argument for the political necessity, theoretical appropriateness, and methodological practicality of using recidivism as a measure of effectiveness in prison education programs is presented. Utilizing the experience of a current research project based in Canada and England, the paper explores issues of curriculum and pedagogy, the complexity of predicting behaviour, the utility and limitations of case studies, and 'scientific realist' evaluation methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]