VCU journal focused on prison education and reentry has local roots, international reach

Melissa Stamp
Contributing Writer

In an effort to bring attention to the many aspects of prison life and work, members of the VCU School of Education are collaborating with universities from across Europe to publish the “Journal of Prison Education and Reentry.”

The online journal issues scholarly content compiled by the editorial team biannually and is intended as a resource for researchers and practitioners.

VCU professor of literacy and research editor for the journal William Muth, Ph.D., has dedicated much of his career to studying prison-based family literacy and the children of incarcerated parents. He said his long-time involvement with the American and European Prison Education Associations is part of what inspired him to make this journal possible.

“(The journal has) been a dream for the past 10 years. We are really just a group of educators from around the world who care about prisons and what goes on inside of them,” Muth said.

Although the journal is less than two years old, Muth said the idea has existed for much longer but was hindered by a lack of funding. He said the journal finally became reality after VCU provided a School of Education graduate assistant to manage the journal.

“I’m the main point of contact for the journal, so I field a lot of general questions about everything from news stories about prison issues to technical support for the journal’s website,” said Ginger Walker, the current journal manager and VCU graduate student.

The remainder of the journal’s editorial team includes lead editor Arve Egil Asbjørnsen from the University of Bergen in Norway and principal practitioner editor Anne Costelloe from the City of Dublin Education and Training Board in Ireland.

The advisory board and editorial review boards are comprised of educators hailing from the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland and Austria.

Aside from Walker and Muth, other VCU affiliates have also been involved with the journal’s development, too.

Seth Croft, a graduate student, collaborated with inmates serving short sentences to write about his experiences working with different programs in a city jail. Croft’s piece, entitled “Sanctuary in the Richmond City Jail,” was published in the October 2014 issue’s practitioner papers.

Focused Inquiry professor Micol Hutchison has also been published in the practitioner papers. Her article, “Fluorescent Glow,” chronicled her experience of teaching English as a second language in the city jail.

In addition, criminal justice professor Jill Gordon serves on the editorial review board and doctoral candidate Michael Scott is an assistant manager for the journal and specializes in layout.

Muth said he hopes that building a local network will encourage students or members of the community involved in any type of prison work to contact the project team.

“We’re looking for stories from around the world. We would love for this to become a space where people who are interested in prison work can find out what we have in common and learn from each other,” he said.

As the primary journal manager, Walker organizes regular Skype meetings for the editorial team to keep in contact across various time zones.

In addition, Muth has traveled to meet with his colleagues several times over the last decade. Most recently, he and Walker traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark to work face-to-face with some of their international colleagues.

“Our Copenhagen meeting really illuminated a lot of alternatives to the taken-for-granted way that prisons are run in the U.S.,” Walker said.

She said that one of the biggest benefits of the journal’s international team is that it helps the publication better reflect and study the cultural differences regarding incarceration and reentry into society.

Moving forward, the editorial team hopes the publication will allow researchers and practitioners to communicate with one another and influence their respective fields on an international level. The journal is not intended to be categorized as a criminal justice journal, but as an educational publication for all aspects of prison life including the lives of the prisoners, their families, and those who work in prisons.

The “Journal of Prison Education and Reentry” accepts both traditional and creative writing submissions year-round. The review board evaluates each submission for relevancy and quality of writing before selecting the work for publication.