An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Sense of Belonging Among Higher Education-in-Prison College Students on Traditional College Campuses
Open Access Deposited“It Gave Me the Foundation of Success to Build Upon When I Got Out”
the dismantling of stigmatizing policies, the creation of dedicated support spaces, and a recognition that these students bring essential, transformative value to the campus community.
This dissertation explores the lived experiences of nine formerly incarcerated individuals in New York State who participated in higher education-in-prison (HEP) programs and subsequently enrolled in traditional, accredited higher education institutions after their release. Using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) methodology, this study found that sense of belonging in college is a critical mechanism for overcoming the perpetual punishment inherent in the stigma and racialized realities of mass incarceration—a process shaped by the complex intersections of identity, politics, and place. The findings demonstrate that participants' journey of belonging begins long before their arrival on a traditional campus. Participants described Disrupted Foundations of Belonging, where early experiences with trauma and systemic educational disconnection severed their sense of belonging in education spaces. Participation in HEP programs, however, served as a transformative turning point. In prison, the college classroom became a sanctuary for Seeking Belonging in Carceral Spaces, fostering intellectual growth and community that allowed participants to reconstruct their identities as college students. Participants demonstrated a profound commitment to Persisting in College across both carceral and traditional college environments, moving from external motivators to a deep internal drive. Yet on traditional campuses, they faced new political and institutional barriers that complicated this persistence. The process of Shaping Belonging in College emerged as a continuous negotiation—shaped by supportive relationships and prison politics in carceral spaces, and competing priorities in reentry and campus climates that often reinforced both self-stigma and external social stigma on traditional campuses. Ultimately, the Impact of Belonging facilitated a significant internal shift, enabling participants to resist experiences that aimed to thwart their persistence. Participants viewed their lived experiences not as a deficit, but as a form of capital—resilience and perspective that fueled their academic persistence and personal transformation amid ongoing stigma and microaggressions. These findings conclude that access to higher education is only the beginning. Fostering belonging for formerly incarcerated students requires institutional shifts
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