SHOULD COLLEGE EDUCATION BE AVAILABLE TO PRISONERS?

Introduction

    Education is the process of acquiring knowledge, values, habits, beliefs and skills through learning. Facilitating this process there are methods used such as discussion, training, researching and teaching. This takes place under the guidance educators but learners must committee themselves in learning on their own in order to be successful. Education can either be formal or informal depending on the settings and the formative effects it may have on one. The demand for learning has been high especially with the growing generation (Brown, 2015). There being the largest number of young convicts in the United States there has been debates on whether college education should be provided them or not. This is based on the advantages that come from it and it is opposed due to its disadvantages. College education is non-compulsory which includes vocational education and training. It is recognized by the issue of certificates academic degrees and diplomas (Brown, 2015). For education to be provided to the convicts is must be based on a good course and for it to work it must have an institutional commitment that will facilitate a culture that supports education in federal and state prison. This will involve vocational training and programs that will need to be promoted. Measures that see the guards and prison guards prohibited from denying prisoners from enrolling to such programs should be put in place (Brown, 2015).

    Education to prisoners shows recidivism rates go down which is a direct correlation to the number of prisoners and the rates continue to drop with the additional level of education achieved. By educating prisoners the cost of incarceration can be reduced and much can be shown to it (Rose & Rose, 2014). Putting resources to educate prisoners will assist in transforming them to be productive and law abiding citizens to the society and the country at large. It is hard giving inmates a chance to learn and earn the degree programs offered by the colleges since the taxpayer will be more concerned educating their offspring rather than inmates (Rose & Rose, 2014). This is because the burden of educating them will be injected on the taxpayers. In the society, inmates are not entitled to chances like this since they are being punished for their wrong acts other than being put on track. This is not only ill but also short sighted. This is as a result of the public and the society being unaware of the impact of educating such inmates (Rose & Rose, 2014).

    Educating inmates are advantageous since it improves economy and raises the security of the communities and reduces the crimes rates. This creates a common ground for reasoning since they have acquired knowledge. Their minds are occupied with things that can result to a better life. This also nurtures the talents of the inmates (Brown, 2015). A nurtured talent can go a long in transforming a person and in a way that can benefit others. Through education prisoners who take up lessons while incarcerated have greater chances of coping with life and only 13% are likely to commit crimes again and end up in jail. This shows that they have a great chance of getting employed once they leave prison (Brown, 2015). This is better than nothing since the chance of them being repeat offenders is greatly lowered as it goes further than just providing education but gives them the ability to reason and be knowledgeable. This enables them to be able to plan for their lives once they leave prison. Educating them will enable them to fit back to the society ones they are released. This will reduce the struggles they face once their imprisonment ends. This shows a great assortment since they are made better to re-enter the employment and occupation market (Brown, 2015).

    With the constant growth if imprisoned individuals, there is a large number that has education deficit. As a result, this will lead to profitability training them since they are large in numbers. This will greatly reduce the rate of reincarceration amongst convicts. Educating such a number is not a simple task since it will affect the government financial plan due to the financial weight which has to be budgeted for properly (Calif, 2014).  Some of the prisoners have physiological problem that cannot be cured through basic education, what they are in need of is specialized education which is more mental than that of normal individuals. This means that the capital that is needed to finance this incentive will be not only expensive but strenuous to both the economy and the citizens. Offering education to convicts means that it will be for a subsidized price (Calif, 2014). This may create the mentality to the generation that even after committing a crime that will see them imprisoned they will not miss any step their education. This creates room for not being responsible since after all they will acquire education as they serve their term. In the recent past the number has been on the rise and with the administration of education will see the numbers increase even more. As a result, there have been a sharp diminution of public funds. This has created a great loss to both inside and outside prison (Brown, 2015).

Education is a sign of socialization and rehabilitation. By making prisoners eligible to education it has led to a supplement of grants and subsidized college programs. Some prisoners think that their future is over and hence will demoralize others into taking the courses. The educators also have a great role to play. They need to be motivated since the disciplinary incidents are many (Rose & Rose, 2014). This requires a call other than looking for a way of income since it will be effective if it is a volunteer who can offer what they are best at. Bringing college education to the prisoners is not an easy task and for this reason, programs are designed in a simple manner. To ensure that these programs are not flooded by non-interested students there must be preliminary steps taken (Rose & Rose, 2014). This includes setting an exam which interested participants needs to pass just like as it is required by the institution of the students outside. This means no favors to the inmates. By this, only who want to be diverse, engaged and eligible are captured in the system. To ensure that only determination will make them pursue this courses they have to attend class during the night since during the day they have to attend to the normal schedule of the prison. The money they are paid for working during the day will be used in paying the tuition fee which is subsidized. This will lead to the development of student community (Rose & Rose, 2014).

    Education for inmates was as a result of trying to occupy the many years spent in jail which can be made productive. This includes the self-selection of participants to the programs. Personal characteristics play a great role (Miller et al 2014). In a survey done individuals were interviewed and were asked to give their personal information such as their offenses and sentences, their drug and alcohol abuse, family background, the prisons activities they have undertaken as well as programs and services were undertaken(Miller et al 2014) . This saw a number of them are in a good state to take up the education programs since quite a number of them had more problems that education could not resolve. This shows that rehabilitation will work best in such a case. In promoting inmates education they have the say that prisoners should not be in a warehouse. It is an opportunity to help and assist them since they need it (Miller et al 2014).

Supporting the education system is difficult due to the laws and regulation involved. This requires state legislature and due to its debate which can cause traction it has been left to the mercy of the president. This causes ranging debate among legislators and the answer to what they want is going to take time due to its disadvantages it causes. It is a crucial decision to make since prisoners need to be made more useful other than punishing them. There is the need to see it as a center where skills are acquired and problems solved. All of this entails achieving the correction goal to facilitate public safety (Miller et al 2014).

Conclusion

Offering education to inmates has its own advantages and disadvantages. A lot has to be put together to see this project successful. Commitment and financial support for this program play a key role. For the project to be efficient the government has to commit funds to prison education due to the material needed such as learning and practical materials. The educators also need to be motivated so that they can help the inmates who are interested in achieving their goal (Brown, 2015). These programs are both capital and labor intensive. The project is received by both mixed reactions from inmates since not all want it. This causes some drift which can cause other inmates to lose interest in such programs. The burden that results to this programs is all transferred to taxpayers who would rather educate their own (Calif, 2014). This will lead to a strained economy since the funds ejected in this programs will not be realized in the near future. The whole process is gradual and it may not yield the results as expected. On another hand it can be view as by educating such persons there will be acquiring knowledge and this will lead to an increase in the in the frauds committed (Brown, 2015). This offense will be done efficiently due to the possession of knowledge once set free. Viewing from both sides it is only evident that the cons are more than the advantages and the issue of educating inmates will be a costly affair. There should be a way of educating inmates on general knowledge and rehabilitating them to avoid them repeating the crimes again other than offering college exam (Rose & Rose, 2014).

 

 

 

Reference

Rose, K., & Rose, C. (2014). Enrolling in College While in Prison: Factors That Promote Male    and Female Prisoners to Participate. Journal Of Correctional Education, 65(2), 20-39.

Brown, C. (2015). Returns to Postincarceration Education for Former Prisoners. Social Science    Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell), 96(1), 161-175. doi:10.1111/ssqu.12094

Mallory, J. L. (2015). Denying Pell Grants to Prisoners: Race, Class, and the Philosophy of Mass             Incarceration. International Social Science Review, 90(1), 1-27.

Miller, B., Mondesir, J., Stater, T., & Schwartz, J. (2014). Returning to School After Incarceration: Policy, Prisoners, and the Classroom. New Directions For Adult & Continuing       Education, 2014(144), 69-77.

Calif. College Faculty To Teach Prison Inmates. (2014). Community College Week, 129.