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Dissertation
Education interrupted: an explanatory sequential, mixed methods, multiple case study to explore the educational and training needs of exonerated individuals
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Jun 2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00011050
Abstract
This mixed methods, multiple case study employed an explanatory sequential design to explore the educational and skills training needs of exonerees--individuals who have been officially cleared of crimes following new evidence of innocence. Although exonerees are wrongfully incarcerated for an average of 14.6 years, only 16 jurisdictions out of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government provide educational benefits, and only eight jurisdictions provide skills training upon release. In the quantitative phase of this study, data from 4,138 exonerees were analyzed to determine whether the proxy variable of educational need differed for exonerees under the age of 25 years, male exonerees, and Black exonerees. Data were also examined to determine whether the mean educational need of exonerees varied across jurisdictions. In the qualitative phase of this study, exonerees were interviewed to explore their educational experiences from preincarceration through postincarceration. Mixed methods integration revealed how the exonerees' qualitative data were similar to and different from the quantitative data. Three cases were compared to examine differences among jurisdictions with no statutes, jurisdictions with statutes lacking educational components, and jurisdictions with statutes including educational components. This study employed a theoretical framework integrating the victimology of state crime, stigma theory, critical race theory, and antiblackness. The study concluded with a call for all jurisdictions to enact wrongful conviction compensation statutes that provide educational and skills training benefits for exonerees.
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Details
- Title
- Education interrupted
- Creators
- Tiffani D. Hurst
- Contributors
- Ayana Allen-Handy (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- x, 191 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- School of Education (1997-2026); Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991022058734104721