Resocialization Through Prison Education

By William R. Piper

To begin, environmental survival concerns the ability of the prisoner to sustain his well-being given the rigors of prevailing prison conditions. Imprisonment entails a form of secondary socialization in which prisoners have to adapt to prison as a way of life. Old modes of living are shattered and they have to adjust themselves to the deprivations of prisons. They might do this in a number of ways. The range of such adjustment entails the pain of imprisonment in which prisoners must come to grips with a new reality, a new concrete situation in which the events in the prison setting fail to corroborate their prior social experiences.

Prison conditions constitute the concrete situation in which prisoners find themselves and in which they must not only survive, but must transform and from which they struggle to free themselves. Although constituting the prisoners concrete situation, prison conditions should not be perceived as hopeless or unalterable, but merely as limiting and therefore challenging.  Image courtesy www.humanicabooks.com

I have been incarcerated since 1992, and during my imprisonment as a result of an unlawful arrest and conviction, I have witnessed the need for continuing education, along with other programs equipped to provide a means of positive change.

It cannot be disputed that providing education begins a process of enabling and motivation. It motivates the person to look at themselves and seek change; and it enables a person not only to gain information but to open their minds and spirits to more objective and positive views of the world and their own ability to establish a place for themselves in the world.

Education enables a person in prison to see the potential for change and the possibility of a new life. Indeed, it allows the person to think more responsibly and, in thinking more responsibly, the person's attitudes and values are called into question.

When attitudes and values are objectively looked at, the full range of social and community obligations begin to take root in that person's mindset. This in turn creates "positive" changes in one's behavior.

It can furthermore be argued that education inspires a person to develop those essential human qualities that are necessary to all social and community relationships. With education men and women can return to their communities from prison, bringing the spirit of positive change. Without it, they bring only the worst of the experiences encountered as a result of their exposure to imprisonment and the Criminal Justice System's practice of warehousing a particular class of people.

Click to read more ...

LEARNING IN THE FAST LANE

By Neo

Steve is looking down at his G.E.D. test booklet. It's his fourth time taking this test. He's mastered three of the five test subjects and he's gazing at the questions - after months of preparation and studying - though it all looks Greek to him.

He's sweating and feeling nauseous. Steve knows that he isn’t going to achieve what he's been working on for so long. He failed and now he needs to do all the studying all over again.  Image courtesy hopeworks.org

Many Americans go through this problem every day. Passing the G.E.D. is no easy task, but it's achievable. Some call it Test Block Syndrome. That's when you suddenly forget what you studied, but it's not that: it is confidence.

Many prisoners incarcerated in the Federal Bureau of Prisons have grown up with minimal to no education. Prison administrations recommend that prisoners sign up and complete the G.E.D. program offered in their Education Department prior to release. But even then, a number of enrolled prisoner-students leave prison without attaining a G.E.D. This results in increased recidivism rates.

As a result, the prison-educators at FCC Petersburg have implemented a program that would remedy the problems that Steve encountered. That program is called: Fasttrack G.E.D.

Click to read more ...

Join the Discussion: PrisonEducation.com Welcomes Your Input

By Christopher Zoukis

We at PrisonEducation.com would like to extend the invitation to our readers to contribute to this pro-prison education forum which we've created.  We are true believers not only in the power of education to transform those in prison, but in the power of communal involvement.  We heard the saying, "It takes a village to raise a boy," only we took it one step further.  We believe, "It takes a community to advocate for change."  We realize that while we can, and do, write about prison education topics daily, that this was never meant to be a one-way discussion.  We aim for you to like the content and be compelled to make your own contributions.  Photo courtesy missouricure.org

From the start, many of us came to the field of prison education through a guide.  I know that my guide was a man by the name of Jon Marc Taylor, Ph.D.  Dr. Taylor is the author of the Prisoners' Guerrilla Handbook to Correspondence in the U.S. and Canada, 3rd Edition (Prison Legal News, 2012).  He is a state prisoner who has written extensively on the need for more funding for prison education programs and how prison education holds the key to reforming those in prison and giving them the tools to support themselves and live healthy, crime-free lives.  While I've never met Dr. Taylor in person, I have had the privilege of corresponding with him.  And I'm proud to be able to say that through his shining light, I have felt the motivation to do more and to be more, not for myself, but for those around me whom I have the duty of supporting and inspiring to do and be more.

Much as Dr. Taylor has served as a source of inspiration to me, I hope that PrisonEducation.com will be a source of inspiration for you.  I hope that you'll read something and really connect with it.  I hope that you'll use it to further your own practice and advocacy.  And, a bit more trivially, I hope that you'll comment, share, like, and tweet about it.  Because this shows us that we are doing a good job.

Click to read more ...

Second Chance for Incarcerated Youth

By Dianne Frazee-Walker

The first time Jeanette Holtham, Founder and President of The Youth Transformation Center visited a youth prison she was scared to death.  Image courtesy of youthtransformationcenter.org

Holtham is a petite red head with a serene composure, but her aspirations are much larger.  She is no longer intimidated by rough looking teens masked with baleful tattoos, multiple piercings, and an array of trinkets hanging from every body part. Holtham knows there are incredible young people hidden behind the masquerading attire.  

Holtham is appalled at the 30-50% drop out rate of juveniles ages 12-17 in Colorado, and the 62,000 that are suspended. She is on a mission to salvage the lives of these young people.  Holtham is collaborating with Colorado school districts and the Department of Youth Corrections to make this happen.  

Holtham is one of the pioneers of a growing global phenomenon called restorative justice, which is a set of principles used to hold offenders accountable for the harm he or she has caused,  provide victims with a voice about how the criminal action has affected them, and how the damage should be repaired .

Click to read more ...

Why Prisoners Need Education

By Christopher Zoukis

With the United States’ criminal justice system facing extraordinary challenges, including crowded jails, busy courtrooms, state budget pressures and high recidivism rates, criticism continues to mount. However, few solutions seem to gain traction.  Image courtesy cnn.com

Prisons are seen today as a place of retribution for crimes committed, instead of an opportunity to rehabilitate prisoners and prepare them for productive lives outside of a jail cell. If the criminal justice system were to focus on rehabilitation by educating prisoners, society as a whole would benefit immensely.

Most people who enter the criminal justice system come from a troubled background with little to no family or community support. By locking these prisoners up with very few productive tasks, having them form mutual bonds with other prisoners based on frustration and anger and then releasing them into a world in which they have few positive role models and no practical job skills, the system practically seems designed to encourage recidivism.  

Offering prisoners educational opportunities redesigns this system by giving prisoners a path out of the recidivism cycle. Education within prison can range from traditional classroom formats—such as having prisoners work toward a high school equivalency degree (GED)—to technical skills that require training and even certification. Having a GED can help a former prisoner land a higher paying and more rewarding job, or lead to further educational opportunities. Likewise, technical skills are marketable and lead to well-paying careers.

Click to read more ...

The Effects of Restorative Justice in the Criminal Justice System

By Christopher Zoukis

Modern criminal justice systems, according to some critics, alienate victims and remove responsibility from criminal defendants. This gap undermines the justice aspect of criminal justice, and in the long term hurts victims and society. Increasingly, reform-minded advocates have supported restorative justice programs to close this gap and allow individuals to learn from their mistakes.  Image courtesy prx.org

Restorative justice programs focus on both prisoners and victims. To do this, an array of programs have been developed in cities across the country that employ various strategies to help prisoners see first-hand the impact of their crimes on others. While the methods used to do this are diverse, common themes include support groups for victims, group meetings that unite former prisoners and victims of crime and bringing together individuals serving jail time with their actual victims.

A Victim-Centered Approach

Unfortunately, victims of crime are often ignored in contemporary systems of criminal justice. They are the forgotten other half when a crime is dealt with in society. Restorative justice programs aim to give these victims a voice and an avenue to heal by allowing them to actively participate in the process. This allows victims to feel a higher sense of involvement in their communities, while helping them to recover in a more social and supportive setting.

Outcomes such as these are central reasons for support groups with other victims or joint meetings between victims and those responsible. Allowing victims to confront individuals and let them know the damage they have done is crucial to the healing process, according to proponents of restorative justice programs.

However, these types of programs are not only meant to help victims. In fact, supporters of restorative

Click to read more ...

Education, The Prisoner, and Recidivism

By Wayne T. Dowdy

In studies on prisoners, education, and recidivism, the results show a decrease in recidivism by those prisoners who received education while incarcerated. Based upon findings reported in ‘Education Reduces Crime, Three-State Recidivism Study,’ [Education, The Prisoner, and Recidivism, Stephen Steurer, Ph.D., Project Director, and Linda G. Smith, Ph.D., Research Consultant] (Feb. 2003), "The research reported here shows strong support for educating incarcerated offenders. All of the analyses described lead to several compelling conclusions." For instance, a reduction in recidivism, and "higher wages that generally indicate that individuals are better able to support themselves and their families, and that they are engaged in jobs that hold promise of sustainability."  Image courtesy journalstar.com

As noted by the authors in their conclusion, "Focusing solely on recidivism would be inadequate, however, especially when there are many other meaningful outcomes such as family stability, workforce participation, and cost savings/benefits." Society gains if a former prisoner becomes a productive member, instead of another crime statistic in the making. The would-be-recidivist becomes a taxpayer instead of a tax liability; many become supportive family members, community servants, skilled laborers, or business professionals helping to build their communities.

In another report, "Cuts in Prison Education Put Illinois at Risk," written by Robert Manor, with assistance from John Maki, both from the John Howard Association of Illinois, "It costs anywhere from $17,000 to $64,000 a year to incarcerate an inmate, depending largely on the security level of the prison ... Education sharply reduces the likelihood that someone will recidivate. A 1997 study published by the Illinois Department of Corrections found that postsecondary education cut recidivism by two-thirds, from 39 percent to 14 percent." The 1997 Illinois recidivism rate is substantially less than the 1997 National average of 67.5% for the "Re-arrest" recidivism rate of those released in 1994 Bureau of Justice Statistics Reentry Trends in the U.S.: Recidivism, which said something positive for the State of Illinois before they stopped what was working.

Click to read more ...