The Flourishing Project
The Flourishing Project documents stories of transformation and human dignity in the communities society overlooks. Through research-based narratives from prisons, reentry programs, and unhoused communities, this blog explores what genuine flourishing looks like at the margins—where second chances seem impossible, where survival often overshadows hope, and where small acts of connection and purpose can change everything. These are stories that challenge how we measure success, recognize transformation, and understand what it means to live with dignity.
Evidence, Dignity, and the Shifting Conversation About Prison Education
When Grant Specialists Notice
When a grants specialist names dignity and culture shift alongside outcomes, something is changing in how we think about prison education.
Transformation Behind Bars
Why Long-Term Prison Stories Matter
Here's what troubles me: We hear a lot about wrongful convictions. We hear reentry success stories about people who got out, turned their lives around, and now run successful businesses or advocacy organizations. Those narratives matter deeply, and they deserve our attention. But what about those serving long or life sentences who may never get out, yet who have experienced genuine transformation?
Can People Flourish in Prison?
Rethinking Well-Being Behind Bars
Can people flourish in prison? New research says yes. Drawing on positive psychology and real program evaluations, this post explores how educational and faith-based programs foster meaning, purpose, and well-being behind bars—even for those serving life sentences. It's time to measure correctional success not just by recidivism, but by whether we're creating conditions for human dignity and transformation.
Belongingness Behind Bars
The Antidote to Criminal Behavior
What if the antidote to criminal behavior is connection, not isolation? Research shows that belongingness—the fundamental human need to belong—is often missing in the lives of those who turn to crime. Prison education programs like TUMI are creating surprising communities behind bars, where incarcerated individuals find purpose and genuine belonging through theological education.
Heading to Nottingham
Presenting the Research
What happens when we measure human flourishing in prisons instead of just recidivism? This July, I'll bring that question to the British Society of Criminology in Nottingham, England sharing evidence of transformation from voices inside America's prisons—real people describing fundamental shifts in purpose, identity, and what they're living for.
A Conversation About Prison-Based Education
The Redemption Project Podcast
Prison-based theological education research: Why well-being beats recidivism as a reentry metric and how education reshapes correctional culture. Insights from The Redemption Project podcast.
What Happens When Transformation Isn't Enough?
One Researcher's Journey Into America's Prisons
When incarcerated people change—really change—why doesn't it matter? A researcher's journey to ask the questions criminology keeps avoiding.