Tabb Hall
ENG 240
Professor Steven Waszak
Reforming prison education
Growing up in a household where drug use, violence, and abuse were all part of the normal routine John’s childhood was anything but ideal. Living in a place where he had no positive role model John didn’t really know what right looked like. He started running with the wrong crowd committing petty crimes and doing drugs in his early teens. His record looks like most people’s school pictures because of his regular run-ins with the law. Facing charges at the age of 22 that would put him in prison for at least twelve years, John would have plenty of time to think about his life. It was the lowest point of he had ever felt; he knew when he was released he had no future to look …show more content…
Recidivism or reoffending by committing other crimes once released from prison is almost as high as 50% within the first three years. RAND’s examination of 58 different studies showed that inmates were 43% less likely to go back to a criminal lifestyle after being part of educational or trade based program. With close to 750,000 prisoners being released annually, being able to help 43% of the nearly half that would have reoffended would mean close to 536,000 won’t returning to prison through use of the programs.
In the Bureau of Justice’s special report in 2003, 18% of the general population of the United States did not have a high school diploma or an equivalent while 41% of state and federal inmates and 31% of those on probation also lack a diploma. With an inmate population with over double the national average of the minimum education levels, prisoners that will be released and need to function in society are already at a disadvantage to try to become a positive member of that
ENG 240
Professor Steven Waszak
Reforming prison education
Growing up in a household where drug use, violence, and abuse were all part of the normal routine John’s childhood was anything but ideal. Living in a place where he had no positive role model John didn’t really know what right looked like. He started running with the wrong crowd committing petty crimes and doing drugs in his early teens. His record looks like most people’s school pictures because of his regular run-ins with the law. Facing charges at the age of 22 that would put him in prison for at least twelve years, John would have plenty of time to think about his life. It was the lowest point of he had ever felt; he knew when he was released he had no future to look …show more content…
Recidivism or reoffending by committing other crimes once released from prison is almost as high as 50% within the first three years. RAND’s examination of 58 different studies showed that inmates were 43% less likely to go back to a criminal lifestyle after being part of educational or trade based program. With close to 750,000 prisoners being released annually, being able to help 43% of the nearly half that would have reoffended would mean close to 536,000 won’t returning to prison through use of the programs.
In the Bureau of Justice’s special report in 2003, 18% of the general population of the United States did not have a high school diploma or an equivalent while 41% of state and federal inmates and 31% of those on probation also lack a diploma. With an inmate population with over double the national average of the minimum education levels, prisoners that will be released and need to function in society are already at a disadvantage to try to become a positive member of that