Kennedy, J. Hampo, M. Rising, S., Grommon, E. (2020). Process Evaluation of the Indiana Prison Writers Workshop: A report to the Indiana Prison Writers Workshop. Center for Health and Justice Research, Indiana University Public Policy Institute and Indiana Department of Correction.

Kennedy, J. Hampo, M. Rising, S., Grommon, E. (2020). Process Evaluation of the Indiana Prison Writers Workshop: A report to the Indiana Prison Writers Workshop. Center for Health and Justice Research, Indiana University Public Policy Institute and Indiana Department of Correction.

Author Affiliations: Center for Health and Justice Research, Indiana University Public Policy Institute
Artforms: Creative writing, playwriting
Program: Indiana Prison Writers Workshop
Program Description: IPWW offers a “12-week creative workshop to correctional facilities and communities impacted by violence.” Curriculum includes basic writing skills, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, rhetoric and playwriting
Program (Study) Location: Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop Minnesota; Prison Writing & Critical Practice Internship, New Mexico; Prison Arts Project, California; Prison Writes Initiative, Mississippi; InsideOUT Writers California; Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project Alabama
Study Published: 2020
Participant Type: IPWW program facilitators; formerly incarcerated adult male IPWW participants
Sample Size: Two facilitators; six participants
Data Type: 12-item pre- and post-survey, 10 of which use Likert scale; data related to recruitment, attendance, program curriculum, fidelity of activities to program model, participant demographics, program participation and case notes
Evaluation Focus: assess program fidelity, develop new survey tools, collect program data

Summary of Impact:

• Program served at least 84 male participants, a larger proportion of Black or African American and Hispanic/Latinx relative to racial and ethnic makeup of Indiana’s general prison population. Average age late 30s with a high school diploma or equivalency
• Participants motivations for joining vary
• Participants report that “writing is important, allows communication that cannot be said in other ways, and brings joy. Participants [also] seek an opportunity to write on their own in a structured setting and to seek feedback
• Participants report that the program “provides a break from daily routines, serves as an outlet for expression, and creates a sort of micro-family in which participants can share their work and show vulnerability.”
• Secondary analysis indicated increased enrollment in addiction recovery services, steady employment in-prison or post-release, 38% reduction in disciplinary infractions among participants

KEYWORDS: addiction recovery, adult, behavior, creative writing, employment, Indiana Prison Writers Workshop male