Keywords
juvenile correctional education, phenomenology, high school education, academic achievement, self-efficacy theory, juvenile justice
Document Type
Article
Abstract
A primary goal of the United States (U.S.) juvenile criminal justice system is to foster an environment where a juvenile offender can complete a high school education or equivalent. Extant literature has explored persistence in obtaining a high school credential. However, little is known about the role of self-efficacy in such attainment, and research is further scant that involves the geographic region of Pennsylvania, U.S. This study aimed to explore how former juvenile offenders perceived their academic self-efficacy while pursuing their education in a juvenile correctional facility in Pennsylvania. This study was guided by the following research question: How do former youth offenders describe their academic self-efficacy in completing their high school diploma or equivalent while they were in a juvenile correctional facility in Pennsylvania? Purposeful criterion and snowball samplings were employed to recruit and conduct semi-structured interviews of ten former juvenile offenders in Pennsylvania. We collected data through a survey, semi-structured interviews, and reflexive memos. Data were analyzed utilizing NVivo 12 Plus®. Themes included (a) capability and (b) student motivation. In addition to possessing academic self-efficacy, findings indicated that participants’ educational experiences in a juvenile facility involved significant motivation from both internal and external sources.
Recommended Citation
Christian, Deneil D. and Adams, Joshua L.
(2024)
"An Exploratory Study of Academic Self-Efficacy in High School Education Completion Among a Group of Former Juvenile Offenders,"
Journal of Criminal Justice and Law: Vol. 8:
Iss.
1, Article 2.
Available at:
https://research.library.kutztown.edu/jcjl/vol8/iss1/2