Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

There is a widespread belief that literacy levels among offenders are lower than those in the general population. A frequently-associated belief is that if their reading problems were to be addressed, then offenders would abandon anti-social ways and pursue law-abiding careers. The Prison Reading Survey investigates the basis for these beliefs by assessing the prevalence of reading problems in a systematic random sample of 203 adult male offenders serving custodial sentences in a representative selection of several prisons across the range of security classifications in England and Wales. It enquires into the diversity and likely causes or exacerbating circumstances of offenders' reading problems, using a structured interview with assessments of verbal and non-verbal ability, receptive syntax, social cognition, and self-reported behaviours associated with childhood attention-deficit and hyperactivity; and it considers the hypothesis that developmental dyslexia is a disproportionate cause of these problems. The study also reviews the development and pervasiveness of historical accounts of the association between literacy and behaviour.

Main Topics:

The datset records the coded responses of the sample to a structured interview, together with their raw scores for assessments of functional literacy, reading sub-skills, fluid ability, childhood behaviours associated with the ADHD (and hyperkinetic conduct disorder) construct, receptive syntax, social cognition, and exposure to print media. Standard Measures Reported previous occupations (and those of breadwinning parent when respondent aged 11): OPCS (1991) <i>Standard Occupational Classification</i>, London: HMSO. Functional literacy assessed with the reading component of: Basic Skills Agency (1992) <i>Basic skills assessment: materials for assessing competence in basic skills</i>, London: Basic Skills Agency. Reading subskills assessed with a pilot version of: Fawcett, A.J. and Nicolson, R.I. (1998) <i>The dyslexia adult screening test</i>, London: The Psychological Corporation.

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Seven prisons with a more-or-less representative balance of security categories were selected. A systematic random sample was drawn from each prison wing. Where prisoners of different security categories were housed on the wing, these categories were stratified.

Face-to-face interview

Psychological measurements

Educational measurements

Observation