Educational Programs in Prisons

           
          It has been a debate for many decades and there is no true solution that satisfies both sides of the argument. Should criminals get the opportunity to receive education while being incarcerated? Some people feel as if criminals get the opportunity to learn and receive education when they should be being punished, then it would be sending a message to other members of communities that if you don’t have access to education, then you could commit a crime and the problem would be resolved. However, the opposing view sees that through educating convicts that will or could be released, it would be in the community’s interests so that they will have an educational background by being literate, competent, and able to work a legal job.

One side of this dispute is the view that the correctional system is intended to be geared toward punishment, retribution to society and the victim(s) and/or family of the committed crime, and deterrence for the general public and the specific individual. This type of view is what the modern day correctional system focuses on. The sayings “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” and “get tough on crime” are mottos that have been adopted by those who support this view. Furthermore, these criminals are not supposed to receive any benefits such as educational or vocational training since the intent of incarcerating them is to punish their criminal behavior.

However, given the current state of the economy, the corrections system is being somewhat forced to release offenders that haven’t committed violent crimes due to overcrowding, cost of taking care of the inmates, and the lack of rooms/beds in the facilities. Thus, the inmates that were incarcerated and received no educational benefits are faced with an uphill battle once they are released. This is due to the fact that prior to their incarceration, most convicts have had little to no education, legal, reliable work experience, and reliable friends or connections that would be a positive influence in their re-integration back into the ‘real world’.

The second side of this argument is that the key to corrections is rehabilitation. Through the use of programs like education training and tutoring, offenders that may not have had any or little language, arithmetic, history, etc. skills would be able to gain this knowledge and help prepare for when or if they’re released. “Research indicates that prison educational and vocational programs can improve behavior, reduce recidivism, and increase employment prospects upon release” (Justice Center, 2005). The benefits of having these educational programs would not only positively affect the inmates, but also the community once they’re re-integrating into society as well as the administrators and workers at the prison facility.

            One problem that faces this idea of educational programs is the budgets, time, and employees that it would take in order to complete this task. However, many people feel that the benefits of enacting these programs outweigh the costs. But the final decision is made by legislative bodies and the only thing the community can do is contact their legislators with their opinions and reasoning.

For more information on this topic: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-07/opinion/jealous.prison.reform_1_prison-populations-prison-spending-offenders-from-state-prisons?_s=PM:OPINION and http://reentrypolicy.org/Report/PartII/ChapterII-B/PolicyStatement15/ResearchHighlight15-3