Why do inmates participate in educational activities? Is it for the main reasons that individuals belonging to general population do, or do the reasons differ significantly? The present study sought to determine the motives that drive adult prisoners to take part in educational programmes offered in prison. The study took part in Korydallos prison, Greece, with a sample of 72 male prisoners. The results, in alignment with previous research, indicated that escapism from the prison environment and doing something useful that may also contribute to sentence reduction are among the primary factors that guide inmates’ participation in educational programmes. Yet, ‘learning for the sake of learning’ was also identified as a strong motivator (second factor). It also appeared that motivation is largely informed by personal and situational factors, based on identifying differences according to offenders’ educational and professional background. Our findings bear significant implications for the future design and implementation of prison education programmes. However, there are substantial limitations to the present study, calling for further investigation to avoid linear simplifications.
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