Reintegration of (formerly) incarcerated people is often assessed through narrow behavioral metrics such as non-recidivism or compliance with supervisory conditions. Such measures overlook crucial dimensions of reintegration – dignity, agency, and access to valued opportunities that shape how people rebuild meaningful lives during and after detention. This study addresses that gap by applying the Capability Approach within a Realist Evaluation of prison sports programs in Flanders (Belgium), examining how, why, and under what conditions sport contributes to reintegration. It focuses on prison sports programs, which are typically treated as peripheral or as ineffective for reintegration. The study combined a scoping review, longitudinal participant observation across three prison sites, and 141 semi-structured interviews with 71 respondents, including incarcerated and formerly incarcerated participants, prison and reintegration stakeholders, and broader justice-system stakeholders. Several incarcerated participants were interviewed repeatedly, including after release, adding a longitudinal component to the study. The analysis produced context–mechanism–outcome (CMO) configurations that identified enabling conditions and structural barriers, synthesized into a refined middle-range theory explaining how agency, social connection, and systemic context interact to shape reintegration effectiveness. Findings indicate that sport contributes to reintegration by fostering agency, relational recognition, and connection to the outside world; yet these effects depend on voluntary participation, institutional support, and the absence of structural barriers. While Realist Evaluation explains how outcomes emerge through context–mechanism configurations, the Capability Approach clarifies what should count as meaningful effectiveness, shifting attention from narrow behavioral endpoints (e.g., recidivism) to capability expansion within and beyond carceral settings.
This study is an exploratory analysis of data from a long-running health promotion effort at a two-year college. This campaign has consistently improved sun safety behavior and bolstered the campus tobacco-free policy, thus, new messaging directions were investigated based on cognitive predictors. Efforts were made to compare the relationships between attitudes regarding outcomes of health behaviors (i.e. instrumental) and attitudes regarding feelings and sensations experienced during a behavior (i.e. experiential) on behavior intentions. Evidence emerged that instrumental attitudes were more positive and more predictive of intentions for sunscreen use, sunscreen dispenser use, and quitting tobacco/nicotine use. Experiential attitudes were stronger predictors of tanning behavior and using tobacco/nicotine products. Only for tanning behavior did the relationship between instrumental attitudes and intentions depend on experiential attitudes. Messaging implications are discussed. The goal of this manuscript is to demonstrate a process for utilizing additional data from evaluation to inform strategic improvements to long-term health communication efforts.
Background: Needs assessment is widely acknowledged as a cornerstone of program planning, yet it is often treated as a compartmentalized, pre-evaluative exercise. In complex and inequitable contexts, this fragmentation can undermine the development of grounded program theory. Purpose: This article proposes an integrated, beneficiary-centered framework for needs assessment that specifically combines severity documentation and causal diagnosis into a single participatory inquiry that directly informs program theory development. Methods/approach: Building on Davidson's (2005) three-phase model, we developed a five-step framework comprising: (1) orientation and stakeholder engagement; (2) integrated severity-diagnosis inquiry; (3) participatory data analysis and prioritization; (4) co-development of program theory; and (5) validation and advocacy with wider stakeholders. Findings: We found the application of the framework useful in simultaneously generating evidence of the severity of need (widespread, high-intensity care burdens) and causal mechanisms (structural, spatial, and gendered drivers). This culminated in a collaboratively developed program theory linking multi-sectoral strategies to desired outcomes. Implications for evaluation & program planning: The framework reduces disunity across need assessment phases, strengthens alignment between evidence and program theory, and creates stronger pathways for stakeholder engagement and program design. It offers evaluators a practical approach for integrating beneficiary perspectives and systemic diagnosis into theory-driven program design.
Drawing on Generalizability Theory, the study examines how communication, creativity, as well as critical thinking manifest in students' problem solving processes, and how these skills can be consistently captured in performance-based assessment. To this end, we analyze 321 solutions produced by 194 primary and secondary school students in Chilean mathematics classrooms, which were then scored by trained judges using a rubric with three overarching skills. The results show that scores vary systematically across grade levels and students (35-45% of the total variance), and reliability coefficients are around 0.75. Higher values can be achieved by sampling additional tasks per student. The results suggest that problem solving performance can be assessed with respect to a variety of applications in educational research and practice, provided that the problems adequately differentiate between low- and high-performing students. We discuss constraints and implications for implementing performance assessments with sufficient scoring precision.
