The Pros And Cons Of Inmate Re-Incarceration In Prison

Given the number of inmates in the prison system and the high level of recidivism, it is important to seek out possible solutions to this growing problem. By implementing more educationally and vocationally oriented programs it is possible that current recidivism rates can be reduced, thereby offering some relief for existing overcrowding conditions.

The article "The Impact of Career and Technical Education Programs on Adult Offenders: Learning Behind Bars" by Howard Gordon and Bracie Weldon (2003) studies of how prisoners receiving educations in prison reduces the recidivism rate. Gordon and Weldon studied the inmates who were participating in the educational programs at the Huttonsville Correctional Center in West Virginia and claimed that inmates who participated in the educational programs were less likely to recidivate once released back into the population as compared to inmates who did not participate in these programs (Gordon & Weldon, 2003). This study provides valuable information as to the effectiveness of educational programs in prison and how they affect prisoner's lives

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

As Secretary, would you support using the Pell Grant surplus to restore the year-round Pell Grant?

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)

An open dialogue would be required between the legislature, department of correction personnel and the public. This dialogue would provide policy changes to the early release credit programs that focused on the reduction in prison population of non-violent offenders, establish rehabilitative programs to provide re-entry guidance and most importantly, always keep public safety at the forefront of the discussions. “The earned credits are viewed as incentivizing inmates to participate in rehabilitative programs that, in turn, should reduce recidivism after release from prison” (Turner, 2011). The prison system should not be viewed as a warehouse for humans but rather as a much needed form of justice that provides public safety by removing violent offenders and rehabilitating those that are deemed non-violent. All parties involved should take note that the major flaws in credit programs are not the programs themselves but rather the lack of accountability and

Namely, all across the nation, state legislatures are facing the challenges, with providing the means of monies to build more prisons that are overly populated. For that reason alone, reinstating re-entry should be restored to save taxpayer’s money along with, containing the construction of unwanted prisons in our residential districts. These efforts also provide ex-offenders with the skills to remain free.

Preamble: Whereas at this time, many of the incarcerated men, women, and children of our great nation are not sufficiently educated to be employed by the various corporations in the United States of America. To further develop the potential workforce of America, these incarcerated peoples should become proficient in the reading and writing of the English language. This in turn will help reduce the tax rates of the Federal Bureau of Prisons by lessening the amount of people imprisoned. According to the article Educated Prisoners are Less Likely to Return to Prison found in the Journal of Correctional Education, the prisoners who undergo an educational program during their incarceration are far less likely to return than prisoners who did not received any education during their confinement. In the state of Ohio, the total rate of recidivism (an inmate 's relapse back into criminal behavior after they received sanctions or underwent an intervention for a previous crime) was 40 percent while the prisoners who had completed an academic program during imprisonment had an overall rate of 18 percent. When the recidivism rate is lowered, these aforementioned correctional education programs produce hundreds of millions of dollars worth of savings annually for the country. Additionally, the education of the incarcerated peoples of America will increase the national literacy rate and promote the general welfare of the country.

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

Though there is evidence that educational programs are needed to help in reducing crime, politicians and policy makers have not really understood this finding and thereby support the programs they assume are better suited at deterring criminals. Thus, they directed funding from educational programs to other areas, such as in security and anger management or drug treatment (Batiuk et al 2005). Furthermore, studies have shown that those inmates that are released from prison, about two thirds of them end up being re-incarcerated within three years of their release (Klein et al 2004). As a result, when these policy makers ignore empirical research and findings and set up own policies, they are setting up the offenders for failure and anyone else affected by the policies,

The strain on taxpayer’s money to sustain an inmate has been the source of many debates in recent years. Per the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, on average, it costs 31,286 dollars to house one inmate. Some Maximum-Security prisons cost as much as 60,000 dollars an inmate and goes on to name that the most expensive prison, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, costs approximately 90,000 dollars a year (The Law Dictionary, 2012). While the thought of alleviating the cost associated with jails and prisons, is an unreachable goal, the goal of lowering the number of recidivist and in turn lowering overcrowding is attainable. Prison programs that do their best to rehabilitate offenders often see a cycle of returners coming through their doors in a matter of years or even months. Once the rehabilitated offenders are released, they often find themselves without the proper tools to find jobs or housing and resort to illegal activity to support themselves; thus, landing them back in jail or prison. The advantage of allowing offenders to partake in reentry programs is the wide range of services that can be beneficial to their reentry back into society and it explains the importance of having reentry programs in corrections. Having quality programs for offenders such as educational programs, work release programs, and drug abuse programs. A proper program geared towards reducing recidivism should appease the many issues an offender may have which requires correctional funds to be allocated to reentry

The department of corrections has implemented various programs in order to further help offenders to become self-sufficient. Such programs include mental health, substance abuse, sex offender programs, and probation and parole just to name a few. While each program serves an important purpose I take interest in one particular program which is education that has been implemented around the country. Every year, thousands of adults that were incarcerated leave the nation’s jails and prisons only to return to their families, regular lives and community in which they came from.

According to Stevenson wrote, “Today we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world.” (15). In the United States, one of the primary goals of the prison system is to rehabilitate prisoners that they will not commit again. Unfortunately, some individuals will be back to their life of crime for some reasons. Lack of support, lack of relationships, and inability to obtain employment are the essential causes of recidivism today.

As the criminal population in prisons continues to rise, it is essential to reexamine the idea of implementing correctional education to detour prisoner recidivism within the criminal justice system. As more states focus on performance based funding, further research is sought into the solutions of more cost effective programs, such as correctional education. One study in particular is called the Three-State Recidivism Study, which describes the positive impact of participation in correctional education, as well as the reduction of inmate recidivism and the higher employment prospects after release. The key findings of the study indicate, that educational programs can become a place of rehabilitation and can furthermore positively transform offenders to become law-abiding citizens. The results suggest that program participants had primarily a reduction of recidivism, also impacted was released offenders committed less serious offenses, complied with post release conditions, and had higher rates of employment. These are all factors, which are not only cost effective, but can benefit society as a whole.

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