Selection of Research Sources
Below is a selection of the research sources which informed the development of BEST:
01
Patzelt, Williams & Shepherd, 2014
Overcoming the walls that constrain us: The role of entrepreneurship education programs in prison. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 13(4), 587-620
Research conducted by two Indiana professors and a German professor followed 12 participants in a voluntary prison entrepreneurship educational program in a German prison. They observed the importance of participants having a "personal agency mind-set" which influenced persistence in completing the program. They also found that it was critical that the participants recognize a potential opportunity in order to develop the necessary persistence.
The 10 BEST Values helped reinforce personal agency. The participants could see the potential opportunity of participating in BEST from the beginning. This played a part in the higher than typical program graduation rate.
02
Cooney, 2012
Reducing recidivism through entrepreneurship programmes in prison. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 13, 125-133.
Cooney noted that inmates feel uncomfortable a) when program content focused mainly on highly successful businesses and b) discussing things about themselves or even their business ideas in front of fellow participants, preferring to have one-on-one discussions with outsiders. BEST used Belmont EntrePartneurs (one-on-one) to meet and discuss the development of their ideas as well as group discussions with EC Mentors. We focussed on realistic business endeavors, not studying how GM or IBM type corporations.
03
Latessa & Lowenkamp, 2006
What works in reducing recidivism? University of St. Thomas Law Journal, 3(3), 521-535.
Latessa and Lowenkamp lay out a framework of what works in reducing recidivism by looking at scholarly works over the past several decades from a variety of sources in the correctional field. They conclude that there are four “Principles of Effective Intervention”: risk, need, treatment, and fidelity.
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The risk - who is best served by the intervention.
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The need - what are the crime-producing needs such as lack of problem-solving and self-control skills, antisocial attitudes,values and beliefs, substance abuse, etc.
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Treatment - how to target the needs, often with a cognitive behavioral intervention, especially doing something differently, not just talking about it.
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Fidelity - ensuring the program quality and integrity remain high.
BEST strives to address these elements which will work together to reduce the likelihood of recidivism.
04
Lindahl, 2007
Lindahl, N. (2007). Venturing beyond the gates: Facilitating successful reentry with entrepreneurship. Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice Retrieved from http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/VenturingBeyondtheGates.pdf
Lindahl lays out some of the programs working with entrepreneurship (men and women, before and after release) from the USA and England, listing contact information, mission statement, main program components, timing of services, eligibility and screening and evaluation statistics.
Although the information could be updated, some of the information helped shape BEST.
05
Sonfield, Lussler & Barbato (2001)
The entrepreneurial aptitude of prison inmates and the potential benefit of self-employment training programs. Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1850/7147.
Sonfield, et al were able to do research using individuals who were incarcerated that prisoners have an aptitude for entrepreneurship that is higher than the general population does.
BEST uses this finding to encourage and affirm the participants that they can build on their entrepreneurial tendencies and create a business that is socially acceptable. This reinforces our "confidence in a fresh start" value.