The Cost Of Education In Prisons

     “It is not a surprise to see that prisoners all have a low education level. I guess a more educated person has enough sense not to be involved with crime…the relationship between crime and education is easy to see when viewing these facts” (Cordes 1). This is the view of most people when asked why people are in prison. People simply say that criminals were ill educated. As hard as we may try, we cannot do a lot about what happens before they enter prison, but there are many programs inside prisons to help rehabilitate them for when they leave the prison.

Education has played a prominent role in our correctional institutions over time. Unfortunately, there are many prisons which have failing programs with high drop-out rates, poor participation, and weak or non-existent postrelease support. In addition, funding cuts in all levels of government have forced many to reduce their offerings or close programs altogether. It has become apparent that there are

women has increased significantly, increasing at a rate double to the rate of male incarceration since 1980 (Covington & Bloom, 2006). Braithwaite, Treadwell and Arriola note that incarcerated women have historically been a forgotten population, and despite the rapid growth of the population, their needs have continued to be ignored (2005). In addition to the stigma that comes with being or having been incarcerated,

“Tomorrow 's future is in the hands of the youth of today” is not a particularly new sentiment. But what is new, what has become a pressing question, is what is to become of the future if our youth are behind bars instead of in schools? Youth today are being pushed into the criminal justice system at an alarming rate. This issue is known as the school to prison pipeline ─ the rapid rate at which children are pushed out of schools and into the criminal justice system. The school to prison pipeline is a term that came into use by activists in the late 1970’s and has gained recognition throughout the years as the issue became more prominent in the 1990’s. Some activists view policies meant to “correct” misbehaviors, especially in regards to Zero Tolerance policies and the policing of schools, as a major contributor to the pipeline. Others believe that the funding of schools and the education standards are to blame for the rapid increase of youth incarcerations. While the school to prison pipeline affects every student, African American students, both male and female, are more often the victim of discrimination in education. The school to prison pipeline must end, and the trend must be reversed.

The article "Educated Prisoners Are Less Likely to Return to Prison" by James Vacca (2004), deals with the subject of if prisoners receive the right type of educational programs in prison their risk of recidivism goes down immensely. Vacca states that "Since 1990, the literature has shown that prisoners who attend educational programs while they are incarcerated are less likely to return to prison following their release (2004)." Vacca cites many examples of the types of educational courses the inmates should have to help them deal with their emotions and problems. The educational programs help the inmates deal with their social skills, encourage artistic development, and teach techniques on how to deal with their emotions (Vacca, 2004). These programs would help inmates deal with the issues that put them in prison in the first place and knowing these skills can then help keep them out of prison in the future. I find these arguments to be sound because Vacca shows the research from other people all over that concurs with his own claims of how these programs can keep recidivism at bay (2004). He cites many examples and goes into depth about why inmates may be in prison and what these programs will do to correct their problems and turn them into a real

The number of incarcerated women has grown significantly, increasing at a rate double to the rate of male incarceration since 1980 (Covington & Bloom, 2006). Braithwaite, Treadwell & Arriola note that incarcerated women have historically been a forgotten population, and despite the rapid growth of the population, their needs have continued to be ignored (2005). In addition to the stigma that comes with being or having been incarcerated, Braithwaite,

Male prisoners also continue to make up the majority of the prison population. However, women prisoner rates have been on the rise and have exceeded that of male growth rates since 1995. In fact, due to the increase of the women prison population, various issues have arisen which require women to be treated differently from men. Such issues correctional facility’s face because of this increase include program delivery, housing conditions, medical care, staffing, and security (American Corrections, 2016). These problems are in part due to the different social and economic differences women are faced with in prison and while preparing for their release back to society.

Inmates need to be educated and rehabilitated in order to be released back into society. If prisoners receive a good education they are less likely to commit misconduct in the future. The Three State Recidivism Study

Many programs have been initiated to help the problems of overcrowding and negligence. These include education, rehabilitation programs, work-release programs, and other preventative measures. Numerous education programs are offered to inmates. Some prisons even mandate the completion of a GED if the offender never finished high school. Many colleges in the prison’s community partner together with each other to enable higher learning as a possibility for offenders to obtain college credit. These services help inmates succeed in an inmate’s preparation to reintegrate into society with less chances of being arrested again. Offenders that are more prepared to leave prison are not as likely to commit a crime which improves the safety of the public and also saves money from taxpayers. (Office of Vocational Adult Education, 2009)

Creating positive influences on our prisoners can reap many more benefits than just educating and releasing back into society. Just as we invest money to educate our children, we can reinvest money to target populations that our prisoners come from to prevent crimes. When we teach them new skills that can better their lives, they can then teach others by example. Once an inmate enters back into society and gets a job in his or her field, stays away from crime, and makes better choices, they can make a positive impact on their communities. Younger generations can see the encouraging example set forth and know that they too can make wiser decisions and hope for the

Assessing the consequences of our country’s soaring imprison rates has less to do with the question of guilt versus innocence than it does with the question of who among us truly deserves to go to prison and face the restrictive and sometimes brutally repressive conditions found there. We are adding more than one thousand prisoners to our prison and jail systems every single week. The number of women in prisons and jails has reached a sad new milestone. As women become entangled with the war on drugs, the number in prison has increased if not double the rate of incarceration for men. The impact of their incarceration devastates thousands of children, who lose their primary caregiver when Mom goes to prison.

In many prisons across the country, overpopulation is flooding the prisons creating a volatile environment. With many prisons shutting down prisoners are sent to other jails. This is even happening to death row inmates. The criminals put here are spending sentences for everything from breaking and entering to murder. With all of these inmates feeding off of the taxpayer’s money, can they do anything to pay their way? Educating inmates has a huge impact on how they react to changing environments, even helping inmates choose careers can reduce prison population and death row convictions. According to California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, “a system which imposes a maximum penalty of lifetime incarceration instead of the

Taxpayers are the funders for public facilities such as corrections. Jail and prisons are funded through tax dollars and therefore have interest when dealing with these programs. Research done by New Mexico Corrections Department found that Ninety-five percent of offenders incarcerated would be released back into the community. A more staggering statistic is that fifty percent of the offenders will return to prion within five years (NMlegis). This display a breakdown through our criminal system where half of those incarcerated will return. It is the job of the facility not to solely punish but teach the inmates how to learn acceptably in society. The audience for this article is directed towards the legislative branch and the cost of inmates returning back to prison or jail. One of the ways that is truly upsetting to me is the talk of the economical burden these inmates place on the taxpayers. If the statement read, reducing recidivism, even by just ten percent, can save thousands of families it would be perfect. Instead to get the point to those who have the ability to make changes it reads, “ Reducing recidivism, even just by ten percent, can save millions” (NMlegis). The article isn’t talking about millions of families or broken homes it is talking about millions of dollars. The approach that we have in our country is based off the philosophy that they are making investments which will yield the best and most cost-effective results to support the state’s performance-based

Offering classes to convicts while in prison and informing them of the dangers of drug abuse, would ultimately reduce the reincarceration rate when they are released. Throughout the documentary, “The War on Drugs”, there was a segment in which former convicts are actually attending college classes. There was around 25 of them that had attended the classes focused on wood technology. Because of these college classes, only 2 out of the 25 had returned to prison within the year, and the remaining 23 had found stable jobs to support themselves (“The War on Drugs”). This kind of success should not go unnoticed, college classes in prison should be implemented across the entire nation. By expanding the knowledge of convicts when they are in prison,

Education reduces the recidivism rate. According to www.ed.gov, “Employment after release was thirteen percent higher among prisoners who participated in either academic or vocational education programs than among those who did not.” Education gives