Incarcerated students are probably aware that education will help them achieve a better life although they may pretend not to value school. In committing themselves to educational achievement, students are likely to experience conscious and unconscious conflict between their new goals and old behavior patterns. The conflict may be manifested through guilt, anxiety, hostility, and disruptive behavior. Students may also regress into adolescent behavior, because they may need a last opportunity to experience and evaluate a former identity; they may find it reassuring to express a familiar self-image while adjusting to school; and misbehavior may force removal from school, which relieves the student of the frustration of developing more responsible behavior. While maintaining firm control of the class, teachers should reassure students that change is both possible and desirable. An effective teacher should learn a variety of ways to help students grow out of negative self-images and identities. Five bibliographic entries are provided. (Author summary modified)