'Flawed study' - Academics respond to prison schools research findings

Sheldon Williams, Gleaner Writer

AMID THE heated debate that has engulfed the nation following the publication of a report which linked the majority of adult inmates in the country's penal system to non-traditional high schools a group of academics has raised concerns over how the study was conducted.

In a letter to The Gleaner on the weekend, several points were raised by the group from the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the University of The West Indies, Mona, which argued that the recommendations made by Education Minister Ronald Thwaites in the report now deemed controversial, were "based on such an insecure foundation". They also argued that a number of important variables were noticeably absent that would have influenced the report findings.

Education Minister Ronald Thwaites presented the Jamaica Constabulary Force study to Parliament last Tuesday and outlined a range of intervention strategies which he said would be targeted at 54 schools in particular. The study, which listed 18 schools that featured most in the sample of 894 violent criminals who were interviewed, concluded that the typical inmate is under 34 years old, from either the Corporate Area or St Catherine, and comes from a single-parent upbringing.

Some data mising

"Although we are told how many study participants there were (894), and that they are representative of the prison population, the report does not include data on the size of the total population from which the sample was drawn. It also does not provide any data on the characteristics of the prison population."

The academics continued: "The reader is, therefore, not able to decide whether the researchers have actually done what they say they have done. Interestingly, although 43 women were interviewed, they completely disappeared from the rest of the report, although they are five times greater in number than the number of respondents attending eight of the 18 schools that were named and are now shamed by being labelled 'prison schools' in the press. We cannot believe that the minister did not anticipate that this would have been the outcome, given the previous furore around schools that were named as 'failing'.

The timeline for research has also attracted the attention of the group whose members have stated, "We wonder how the 16 questions asked in the study could have been asked and answered in a mere five minutes. It is these factors moreso than the researchers not being able to consult inmates' files that bring the validity (believability) of the data presented in the report into question."

More important, the group pointed out that the findings of such a report could impact perilously on those who are mentioned in it. "Our policymakers should also consider the reputational harm that can be caused, bearing in mind that the report is in the public domain," said the UWI academics.

The letter was penned by Dr Heather Ricketts, Dr Peta-Anne Baker, Shawna Kae Burns, Dr Sandra Chadwick-Parkes, Sandra Latibeaudiere, and Aldene Shillingford.

Meanwhile, an educator from one of the labelled schools raised concerns about a column written and published in The Sunday Gleaner yesterday by Ian Boyne, which said principals were in denial. She debunked Boyne's assertions and admitted that educators like herself are not denying it because they have admitted the correlation.

However, she noted that educators at her school have always been active in seeking help from the Government to fund educational initiatives for students, but have been ignored.

"For two decades we have been asking for help and have been ignored. I can't believe Jamaica has turned on its own children. I really can't believe," she said as she vented.

She said her students continue to face perpetual challenges "because of the communities they come from and whenever they want a job, they can't get one because of their address."

sheldon.williams@gleanerjm.com