Education Behind Bars: The State of Prison Education: Article One

Terry Hunt, an Anthropology professor at University of Arizona, gives a lecture on
Easter Island inside Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson. Credit: Arizona Daily Star

Everything about crime, corrections and justice is expensive. In the last 30 years, things have gotten even more expensive. An old saying asserts that “Crime doesn’t pay,” and it doesn’t— it costs a great deal. According to Bureau of Justice statistics, the United States spends at least $81 billion on mass incarceration, and costs to states and families add another $100 billion.
 
Several ways to preclude the costs associated with crime are related to life outside the walls of jails and prisons:

1. Provide adequate care, nutrition, health and education for all children.
2. Reduce and mitigate familial abuse.
3. Develop career paths for youngsters who do not want or do not qualify for an academic education.
4. Promote appreciation for diversity and respect for difference.
5. Increase levels of reading proficiency.

No immediate solutions or strategies mitigate the costs of justice, but some practices have been proven to reduce the cost of recidivism. These solutions involve higher education (college and/or university level instruction).
 
Most people consider incarceration a way to remove lawbreakers from the general public and as punishment by depriving offenders of their freedoms. Of course, these are important functions of the justice system. However, most incarcerated individuals (over 66%) will be released from the system after completing their required sentence. Every year around 400,000 + prisoners are released to rejoin the general public. But statistics reveal that up to 84% (336,000) will reoffend and end up back in prison within 3-5 years.


In the last 15 years, many colleges and universities across America have developed programs for incarcerated individuals. The funding and implementation of these programs are unique to each institution (a future research project). In general, however, most require a combination of family support, strong institutional commitment between prisons and educators, and resources for incarcerated students. This last item is problematic, as the costs of higher education (HE) can inhibit inmates from participating. In most, maybe all, states no public funding is available to support prison education beyond English as a Second Language (ESL), literacy, high school diploma/GED, and vocational programs.

As the number of HE institutions with prison programs has grown, so has research on these programs. In general, the research validates the positive outcomes on recidivism. In addition to that, these programs have a positive effect on prison culture and financial benefits to educational institutions. Article Two of the Education Behind Bars series will take a closer look at a few specific projects that provide college-level education to prisoners.


Of course, there are people in prison who are well-educated, but education alone does not result in moral, law-abiding individuals. Unfortunately, the majority of prison inmates are not well-educated. Many were neglected, abused, and/or misguided in their early years. Childhood trauma from loss, mistreatment, poor nutrition, for example, can profoundly affect learning and often contribute to criminal behaviors and activities. More than 70% of inmates in U.S. prisons are unable to read above the 4th grade level.


Future MOTAL articles will focus on specific elements of this initial article. Education in prisons is a complicated and controversial subject, but one that we should not shy away from. Former prisoners walk among us. Chances are they will reoffend because current rehabilitation practices are not working for most prisoners. As mentioned earlier, if we can reduce recidivism by 20% a year, the benefits will accrue well into the future – we could reduce the number reoffending by 336,000 within 5 years. That is a goal worth working toward. If you agree, please comment on this article and share it with your friends and family.


Cheryl Stewart, MOTAL Board member and Treasurer
 
Sources:
Davis, Lois M. Higher Education Programs in Prison; What We Know Now and What We Should Focus On Going Forward. Rand Corporation. Aug 2019.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE342.html


Northwestern Prison Education Program. Benefits of Prison Education. 2021.
https://sites.northwestern.edu/npep/benefits-of-prison-education/


Pelletier, Emily and Evans, Douglas. Beyond Recidivism. Journal of Correctional Education. Vol. 70, No. 2. Aug 2019.  https://www.jstor.org/stable/26864182


Rich, Elizabeth. Higher Education Participation During Incarceration and the Reduction of Post-release Recidivism. University of Florida. 2017. 
http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UFE0051352/00001