His thesis work is groundbreaking in that it may be the first instance of institutional-review-board-approved, inmate-on-inmate research. Brown will be interviewing inmates and looking for themes in the stories they tell about themselves in an attempt to understand the impact of stereotype, stigma, shame and humiliation on prisoner self-narratives and to determine whether these are barriers to reintegration into society.

Hopefully, this trend continues. Who better to tell the outside world about prison culture than prisoners themselves? 

Thanks, Portland Phoenix.