What if the future of corrections lies not in control but in coaching?
Mark K. Cox’s 2025 dissertation, Project HOPE: The Impact of Coaching and
Transformation Among Returning Citizens, offers one of the most powerful
narratives of personal transformation within a correctional setting. As part
of his doctoral research at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of
Business, Mark studied a peer-led coaching program at FCI McKean that helped
incarcerated men move from surviving to thriving.
His research follows the journey of individuals who were taught to coach
one another, developing agency, hope, emotional maturity, and a renewed
sense of purpose. What emerged was more than behavior change. It was
identity change, one that marked the beginning of a new culture.
Mark’s research demonstrates that coaching can act as a powerful catalyst,
transforming not only the coachee, but the coach, and ultimately, the
culture around them.
At Social Purpose Corrections, we are building on this foundation. Our
Motivational Coaching model draws from the core themes in Project HOPE and
applies them to a system-wide approach to dynamic security. Safety, growth,
and human dignity are treated as essential elements of correctional
practice.
While Mark’s research highlighted resident transformation, he acknowledged
that staff make it possible. At Social Purpose Corrections, we believe
lasting change includes everyone, which is why our coaching model supports
both staff and residents. We are working to create correctional environments
where both staff and residents engage in meaningful, forward-focused work.
It is not just about reducing recidivism or easing reentry. It is about
making prisons places of purpose.
We are not trying to tweak a broken system.
We are working to build something entirely different.
The future of corrections is not about doing more with less.
It is about doing things differently, together.
https://spcor.org/wp-content/uploads/Dissertation-Mark-Cox-Pepperdine-DBA-Manuscript.pdf