Want Smaller Prisons? Try Education
Education already achieves a lot. Research has consistently proven its ability to increase income, health, tolerance, and self-esteem. When politicians try to lift areas out of poverty, often their first action is investing in the education system. Why don’t we do the same for our prisoners?
First, I’ll make a plea to the taxpayer’s pocketbook. Investing in prisoners’ education allows for you to pay less in taxes. A study shows that for every $1 that is spent on prisoner education, the government saves anywhere from $4 to $5. This is largely due to education’s extreme effect on lowering recidivism rates. At the moment, the recidivism rate in the United States stands at around 60%. If there were education programs in correctional facilities throughout the country, this could potentially be lowered by 43%.
Part of this drop in the recidivism rate has to do with inmates’ levels of education before they were incarcerated. The Bureau of Justice claims that 68% of inmates at State prison do not have a high school diploma. While this might not affect how they are treated in prison, it has a large effect on what inmates do once they get out. When an inmate is released from prison with little education or work experience, they find it harder to attain and keep a job. This shortness of money causes many to go back to committing the same crimes that put them in prison in the first place. When prisons make no attempt to prepare their inmates for life outside, they inevitably create returning customers.
It is also harder for prisoners to seek education once they are released. While admitting students with a criminal history has no effect on the amount of crime on campus, many colleges still discriminate against ex-convicts. Because of this, education programs within prison might be the only chance an inmate has at an education.
Prisons in the United States have been relatively competent in offering high school diploma programs, yet only a third of prisons allow inmates to seek college degrees. As our economy is shifting into one where a college degree may not be a benefit but a necessity in order to attain a job, this will continue to widen the employment gap for former inmates.
On top of the benefits for society and the individual, prisons also have the incentive to provide college classes due to its proven ability to reduce inmate infractions. Taking college classes has been shown to increase critical thinking ability, allowing for inmates to better come to grips with what actions and systemic problems brought them to prison. It has also proven to improve their family relationships, increasing their morale and sense of purpose. All of these advantages for the inmate should be enough for prisons to take action on education, but when you take into account that it also makes life easier for the guards and prison staff, it seems like a no-brainer.
Education is important for everyone, in bars or out. It gives a foundation from which to view and understand the world around us, our lives past and present, and the steps that caused us to be where we are today. In all cases it is an attempt to reform, refine, and improve human minds. And isn’t reform the whole idea of prison, anyway?
