Author: admin

Dear Educator,

My name is Heather Tyler, and I am a doctoral student at The University of Arizona Global Campus pursuing a PhD in Education. As an educator with a deep interest in correctional education, I am conducting a research study to better understand how teachers describe their use of culturally responsive teaching practices in prison classroom settings.

For this study, culturally responsive teaching simply means recognizing and adapting to the unique cultural dynamics of prison environments, things like institutional routines, norms, restrictions, and power structures. I’m especially interested in learning how educators like you adapt and shape your teaching in response to these factors.

This study focuses on your lived experiences as a prison educator and how your instructional approaches have been influenced by the needs of incarcerated learners and the realities of your teaching environment. By sharing your insight, you’ll help identify meaningful practices that can support both current and future educators in creating effective, inclusive, and responsive learning spaces for incarcerated students.

Who can participate:

• Educators with at least one year of teaching experience in a prison classroom.

What’s involved:

• A confidential 45-minute interview held over Zoom at a time that works best for you.
• Your identity will be protected through pseudonyms, and no identifying details will beshared.
• There are no known risks to participation, and while there is no financial compensation, your voice will help shape a better understanding of effective teaching in correctional settings.

If you’re interested, you can reach me directly at heather.tyler@student.uagc.edu or by text at 602-791-5487. I’ll follow up with a consent form and help schedule your interview at a convenient time.

If you have any questions about the study, you’re also welcome to contact my dissertation chair, Dr. Ellen Beattie, at ellen.beattie@faculty.uagc.edu.

Thank you for the work you do every day, and for considering this opportunity to share your perspective. Your experience matters, and it can help inform and support others teaching in similar spaces.

Thank you,
Heather Tyler
Doctoral Student, PhD in Education
The University of Arizona Global Campus
heather.tyler@student.uagc.edu | 602-791-5487

Arizona State University Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research (ASU STIR) has embarked on a series of studies on human trafficking with individuals in hard to see places.
Our first study is our newly released report on the lived experiences of incarcerated women with surveys collected from a large jail in Maricopa County Arizona. This study is a collaboration with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office where we also work together to identify possible victims of trafficking using inmate tablets, train hundreds of staff per year, identify and service connect victims of sex trafficking, and run psychoeducation groups to survivors of sex trafficking in jail.

This study: Behind Bars: The Lived Experiences of Incarcerated Women, is an exploratory look of the lived experiences of incarcerated women and their victimization experiences. This report aims to support the criminal justice system in developing more targeted approaches to addressing the needs of incarcerated women, with particular attention to healing from trauma and abuse.

The paper-and-pencil eight-page survey was completed by 408 (49%) incarcerated women at the MCSO Estrella Jail over three days in May 2025.

Findings included:

• Less than half of the participants were from Arizona.
• 78.9% of the participants reported experiencing homelessness including 35.3% had lived on the street.
• More than half (51.2%) of the participants had dropped out of school with 16.4% having been in special education programming.
• The average educational attainment of the participants was 11th grade.
• 92.7% of the participants reported using drugs with the most common type being marijuana (98.9%), methamphetamines (81.8%), Fentanyl (62.1%), and heroin (51.2%)
• 46.8% of the participants reported witnessing domestic violence as a child.
• More than a third (35.3%) reported having been kicked out of their home as a child.
• The average Adverse Childhood Experiences score was 5.1.
• 44.6% of the participants reported experiencing sexual abuse.
• 77% of the participants reported experiencing mental health issues.
• 80.1% of the participants reported that they had been victims of domestic violence.
• 62.2% of the participants reported being sexually assaulted as an adult.
• 50.9% of the participants reported having been sex trafficked. If they were sex trafficked as a minor (19.8%), the average age of first sex trafficking experience was 15.1 years old.
• 43.1% of the participants reported that they had been in a ‘sugaring’ relationship.
• 25% of the participants reported they worked in strip clubs ranging in age from 13-35 and 32.4% reported that they could not stop working at the strip club when they wanted.
• 37.7% of the participants reported committing a crime because they were made to do something illegal by someone who was controlling or threatening them. 35.8% reported that they had committed a crime because they feared for their own safety or the safety of someone else.
• 14.3% of the participants reported that they were in their first incarceration experience.
• 37.7% of the participants reported committing a crime because they were made to do something illegal by someone who is controlling or threatening them.

Full Article: Estrella Jail Report September 2025

Authors:

Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, Arizona State University

Brandon Smith, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

Ezequiel Dominguez, Arizona State University

Arianna Weide, Arizona State University

Heather Hammond, Arizona State University