Educational research in prison: challenges for an open debate

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the prerequisites for qualitative research on educational needs in prison. Furthermore, it questions the purpose education serves in a field that is saturated with rehabilitative-correctionalist rhetoric. The first part of the paper investigates the value of educational research in prisons, giving an overview of the current scholarly debates that does not aim at covering them all but at prioritizing a "militant" pedagogical perspective. Then, it discusses the limitations and potential strategies for qualitative research conducted in detention complex, drawing from methodological reflections on the interaction between pedagogical perspectives and other social sciences.