Correctional Education Programs

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how some level of education in prisons can aid the inmate's later adjustment to society and evaluates how this is due to the fact that many are uneducated in the first place, hence their criminal past. It looks at how higher learning in prisons is a costly, ineffective and socially unacceptable way of dealing with an improper public higher learning institution. While victims of crime are harmed, offenders are given a chance for education that they may not otherwise receive. It analyzes how education in prisons makes a life of crime profitable to juveniles in two ways, through the bounty of their crime, and second, by being caught and thereby receiving a formal education. It concludes that higher learning programs within the prison institution need to be reevaluated and that the funding for those programs could go to better serve the community to solve the lack of education that is a major cause of crime.

From the Paper:

"Probably the largest argument against inmate education is that of the image the programs give to the public. Many individuals involved in the criminal justice system come from low-income, urban communities. Many of these areas are also likely to have fewer resources in terms of educational programs. Because of this, an unequal number of the imprisoned are undereducated (OSI, 1997). However, the solution to this problem should not be to educate this group once they are imprisoned, but should be to improve the educational system of the urban areas. By placing the education system into the prison, the states are essentially reaffirming the public belief that the communities are not able to be educated."

More papers on Correctional Education Programs:

• Article Review # 145293 : "Educational Programs for Adult Offenders"
• Essay # 60666 : "Inmate Educational Programs"
• Term Paper # 93153 : "Correctional Education"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: