Summary:
Education is one of the most important factors when it comes to determining success. The incarcerated are a group that are at a clear disadvantage, and the establishment of education programs in prisons would stimulate change not only in their own lives, but in the communities they return to upon release. Since the United States has the largest incarcerated population in the world, education would certainly be an important factor to consider when thinking of ways to alleviate the pressure that the criminal justice system is under.
Strengths:
Although many states have passed some sort of prison education reform, there has been no standardization of education in the prison system. Education is crucial to the expansion of social mobility among disadvantaged communities, and leads to opportunities that did not exist previously. In the United States, communities that prisoners come from are already at a disadvantage, so education would bring radical changes. According to The Sentencing Project, the United States has the highest incarceration rate of any other country on Earth, and this rate has increased approximately 500% over the last 40 years because of ‘tough on crime’ policy led to simply a larger number of people being incarcerated for what may often be minor crimes, like low-level drug offenses. There is clear evidence that education helps reduce recidivism among recently released inmates. Some examples that demonstrate this are Code 7370, and The Last Mile. Code 7370 is a coding program currently in place in penitentiaries in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Last Mile is a nonprofit program which aims to teach inmates entrepreneurship skills. The success seen by the creators of The Last Mile led to their creation of Code 7370, which is particularly important seeing as how the job market prioritizes IT-related positions and knowledge of coding software. Not even taking into account the effect that education has on the recidivism rate, education programs like the ones implemented in California act as models for other states to follow simply because it lets: “inmates go through a six-month entrepreneurship program and emerge with a business plan, though they can only start a business once they leave prison. Some graduates. . . land promising jobs in the tech industry.” (Fast Company) Through these programs, prisoners end up making more money than they would have if they had only participated in the normal prison labor programs, plus the programs also give inmates real-life marketable skills that they can take advantage of upon release, and encouragement that they would not have found elsewhere: “No matter whether they get jobs immediately upon release, the Code 7370 program is giving inmates something that they didn’t necessarily have before: hope for the future.” (Fast Company)
Effective education programs for inmates don’t necessarily have to be as complicated as teaching them a complex coding curriculum: it can be as easy as providing them with a tablet with useful lessons and teachings on it, and letting them explore on their own. As seen by Edovo (Education Over Obstacles, formerly known as Jail Education Solutions), inmates will more often than not make the right choice: “Despite that option of winning points so they can get access to entertainment, inmates spend most of their time using educational and vocational curriculum. Most popular: cognitive behavioral therapy and auto mechanics training.” (Forbes) What matters the most is that education programs engage the prisoners in an environment where they experience very little other forms of real engagement. When implemented correctly, the effects become clear: “While more than 50% of inmates return behind bars after release, educational and vocational programming can reduce recidivism by 43% in three years, according to Rand Corp.” (Forbes) Another valuable point to take into account when considering the strengths of implementing a prison education system is the savings that came come of it. Since prisoners who go through education programs are less likely to return to prison than prisoners who don’t receive the education, states will save money on incarceration because there would simply be less former inmates returning to prison. Economically, implementing these programs just makes sense.
Weaknesses:
Prison education programs like Code 7370, Edovo, and The Last Mile have all led to clear evidence of their effectiveness. Prisoners experience lower levels of recidivism, and become better equipped with skills relevant to the current job markets. However, a cost analysis should not be the only thing taken into account when considering the implementation of these programs. One must also consider the benefits of education that are more abstract and don’t necessarily have a numerical value: “What if instead of using recidivism as the preferred program validating outcome, we evaluated. . . reductions in violence or disruption in the prison environment, increases in the health or well-being of the inmate. . .or the provision of opportunities for emotional growth as prosocial human beings?” (Pacific Standard) Inmates are more than dollars and cents, they are whole people with an identity, and sometimes when prison systems are considering implementation of these programs, they only consider whether there is an economic gain to doing so. Other forms of emotional rehabilitation that could have positive effects on inmates and their communities might be overlooked in favor of programs that have a clear-cut monetary benefit for the system.
Another issue is that although some programs have been implemented in various prison systems across the country, there is still no significant movement that aims to standardize the implementation of programs nationwide. At this point, it is up to each penitentiary system to decide whether implementation is worth it or if it is simply too much work. This is where it becomes important to take into account the status of these prisoners: many of them were at a disadvantage even prior to being incarcerated, and are discriminated against for it. To be able to analyze the effect of education programs on the inmates and society, there has to be a bigger pool of inmates to observe. Many penitentiary systems could pass on programs simply because they think the recidivism rate and opportunities for former inmates depend on geographic location or the environment inmates were brought up in rather than any real education and rehabilitation that they might have received while in prison. The kind of education that they receive also has to be brought into discussion. Some wealthier states might be able to afford implementing programs like Code 7370 and Edovo, but other states may only have enough funding to implement basic GED programs. It is important to consider because where one is incarcerated should not determine success after release, since the point of incarceration as a whole is to rehabilitate offenders.
Opportunities:
As a whole, the concept of prison education would become a lot more palatable to both taxpayers and politicians if it becomes more standardized. Various of the mentioned programs could form a collective or think tank of some sort and carry out lobbying. The issue of criminal justice reform is already a very contentious one, as demonstrated by the 2016 election cycle. If that issue is controversial, then it is obvious that the average voter does not look deeply enough into niche issues such as prison education reform. An effective way to make voters realize the utility and importance of prison education reform would be for these programs to coordinate ad campaigns to raise awareness and demonstrate the potential positive effects that education can have on crime. Prison education would be at its most effective if it were to be implemented at every level, from juvenile detention centers through adult penitentiaries. It should be accessible to prisoners of every socioeconomic class, age, and gender. If it is not, then prison education is simply furthering and magnifying the inequalities that many of the inmates already face in society. Prison education programs should remain nonpartisan, but would also do well to link themselves to pushes for criminal justice reform as a whole. The issue was present in the political discourse of both major parties in the last election, so there is definitely an opening for that. Doing so would bring more attention to the innovation and make it more palatable for the average voter and politician, whose attention is already being pulled in countless directions by many social justice issues.
Threats:
Possible threats to the innovation could arise when considering some of the relevant factors. It’s important to consider who would teach these courses and be willing to be around prisoners at regular intervals. Those hired must not only be effective teachers, but also be trained in emotional and communication therapy to be able to approach the inmates and teach them effectively. Teaching inmates is not the same as teaching a high school or college student. Teachers should be drawn from a pool of experienced instructors who have undergone extensive training. Something to consider is also dealing with inmates who participate in the programs not so much to learn something, but simply because it is an easier, more relaxing alternative to other forms of prison labor. Inmates who don’t care might be taking the spots of those who are genuinely interested in self-improvement but don’t enroll because they feel intimidated (taking into account that many inmates don’t have even a high school diploma). Another obvious threat is also dealing with inmates who may be violent or have anger management problems, which is not uncommon. Security should be present depending on which inmates are participating in the programs, for the instructors’s safety.
Conclusion:
Prison education programs are already stimulating change within disadvantaged communities through reducing the rate of recidivism and crime. However, this innovation would see greater effectiveness if the countless different education programs join forces through a think tank or collective NGO, where they can wield greater political power and influence on voters and politicians. Education should focus on the person as a whole. It cannot be solely about specific skills that may save prisons money and help prisoners find jobs, but don’t actually rehabilitate the prisoners emotionally. The content taught to the inmates must be carefully chosen, and the teachers should be experienced in education with an emotional/therapeutic component.