argument essay

Programs of education that are offered in the prison are provided and managed by systems of prison in which they live. Funding for these programs is provided by the official correctional department budgets, prisoners, their families and private organizations if the prisoner is pursuing education through a correspondence program. Educational opportunities can be categorized into two; academic education and vocational training.

Each year in the United States, thousands of incarnate people leave the prison system and return to their communities and families. Many reintegrate into their societies, get jobs and become one of the productive members of the society, while others may commit other crimes and end up being taken back to prison.

Although there are some reasons that make others succeed while other do not, it is clear to say that lack of skills and education is one of the key reasons. This is a reason why correctional education programs- whether academically or vocationally based- are the major services that are provided in the facilities of correction across all the states.

Eighty-five percent of United States offer some correctional or prison education programs. A census that was conducted in 2005 of the federal correctional facilities and the state shows that 66 percent of the correlation facilities of the state offered literacy or a 1st to 4th grade education programs, 64 percent offered 5th -8th grade education programs, 76 percent offered GED or secondary education, 50 percent provided vocational training, 33 percent provided special education and 33 percent offered college courses. (Hartnett 2010)

Participation rates of the inmates vary, and so some extent declined, although most of the prison facilities in the state offer some form of education. For example, between the years 1997 to 2004, the rates of participation in GED, ABE, vocational training, and post-secondary programs showed a decline that is modest. In the year 2004, 54 percent of the inmates in the state reported having taken part in the prison education since they were admitted to a correctional facility. 27 percent of prisoners only reported having participated in a vocational training program: 19 percent were reported to have been participated the programs of secondary education; 2 percent participated in adult basic education, and 7 percent took part in adult post-secondary education programs.

The reasons behind this low participation can include lack of awareness of the opportunities of the program or the program itself, reduced funding for the prison education programs because of the budget constraints of the state and the competing demands. Also, the states differ whether it is mandatory or voluntary for the participation in prison education programs for incarcerated adults.

Over the past three decades of the twentieth century, the United States engaged itself in an unprecedented boom of building the prisons which have given the nation the highest rate of incarnation in the world. As stated earlier, education in prison was started with the aim of preparing the prisoners for a better life outside the prison.

The United States hosts 25 percent of the population of the entire world despite it being a 5 percent of the population of the world. The largest populations of the people in America who are incarnated are usually the poor and come disproportionately from the colored communities who are severely undereducated. Demographically, the majority of the population that fill the united states’ prisons are drop outs from high school and do not have any college experience.

Education in United States prisons is simply a decisive intervention into the cycle that links imprisonment to alienation to the opportunity to education. Most of the people who go to prison and attain some form of education have been trans formatively impacted in their view of the world including their aspirations and priorities for the future. The inverse relationship recidivism and attainment of education is steep; individuals who attend college while incarnated are convincingly less likely to go back to prison as those who do not. This translates the rapid saving of cost by the state. It is estimated by the correctional association that in every single dollar invested in education for prisoners’ returns two dollars to the payers of tax.

Education in prisons was also created in the United States with an aim of making the prisoners opportunity to serve as positive role models to their communities as well as families. This is a benefit that surpasses the benefit of a person. Furthermore, it is evident that these prison educational activities play a greater role in contributing to the creation of the safer and a more positive environment within the prison itself. Most important, education in prison constitutes a powerful investment in the lives of individuals whose society has set low expectations

In all the prison institutions, they offer educational services like the literacy classes, parenting classes, English as a second language, adult continuing education, wellness education, library services and instruction sin the leisure time activities.

Inmates who do not have high school diploma or a certificate in general educational development, in most cases must take part in the literacy program for a minimum time of 240 hours or up to that time they obtain the GED. All persons that do not speak English are obliged to take English as their second language.

The programs of vocational and occupational training are based on the need of the prisoners, conditions of the general market, and the labor force need of the institution. The inmates also receive an on-job training in which the inmates receive through job assignments of the institution and working in the Federal prisons industries. This prison bureau also facilitates post-secondary education in occupationally and vocationally oriented fields. There are also some of the traditional courses that the inmates are responsible for the funding.

The classes of parenting help the prisoners develop skills that are appropriate during incarceration, whereas, the wellness and recreation activities encourage healthy habits and lifestyles. The libraries of the institution contain a variety of both fiction and non-fiction books, newspapers, magazines and other referenced materials that the prisoners can read. It also has legal materials that the prisoners can use to do legal research and prepared legal documents. (Wilson & Reuss 2011)

The academic education is mainly provided by the literacy classes or the GED. These free classes help the inmate in learning to write, read and perform the basic mathematical computations. This is very important in any correctional context as compared to the general population because prisoners are handled by an educated group, who maintain a proficiency of less than the 5th grade in writing and reading, who come from a culture of poverty, with little skills for dealing with everyday duties and little or no experience in a career and trade. Many of these people need an extensive remedial before they attend a more advanced class of education. Academic education in United States prisons prepare the prisoner to take the test of GED, an equivalent of the official school diploma, and if possible further education with the more advanced studies.

After the prisoners have attained and earned themselves a certificate of GED, they usually offered the opportunity to further their education through in-prisons programs. This continued education is referred to as Adult Continuing Education in the system of federal prisons is offered free of charge to the prisoners. These courses are led by inmate instructors and involve many topics.

It is evident from the research that is done by the RAND Corporation that prisoners who receive general educational training and education are relatively less likely to go back to prison after releases, and the chances of getting employment are very high as compared to the peers who were not able to receive such opportunities. (Novek 2013)

The evidence is also found concerning the relationship between prison education and the reduction of recidivism. Prison education plays a greater role in the process of reducing recidivism. Providing education programs for prisoners and vocational training help in keeping them from going back to prison and improves their future jobs.

Researchers also found out that inmates who take part in correctional education programs have 43 percent lower odds to prison than those who are not. This estimate is based on the studies that keenly gives account for the motivation and other differences between correctional education non-recipient and recipients

It is also explicitly evident from the greatest meta-analysis of correctional education, that the education programs in prisons are cost effective, with one dollar investment in prison education reducing incarceration by four to five dollars in the post release of the first three years. The direct cost of providing these education programs are estimated to range from $1400 to 1744 per prisoner, with re-incarceration cost of a range of $8 700 to 9700 less for each prisoner that accessed correctional education as compared to the peer who did not.

Regarding employment rates after release, there were a 13 percent higher percentage of the prisoners who participated in the vocational and academic education as compared to those who did not undertake the same course. Those who took part in the vocational training were 28 percent more likely to get employed after release from prison than those who did not undertake such training. (Novek 2013)

One of the challenges that the United States faced in the process of providing prison education is the elimination of the specter funds due to the shortfall in the budget of the states. The state has reduced the funding for the prison education my closely to 6 percent between the year 2009 to 2012. The states that have a large population of prisoners slashed their budget by 10 percent while the states with medium sized population slashed their education budget by 20 percent. This by and large affected the nature of education being offered to the prisoners. Some of the states are forced to cut into half the population of the inmate undertaking the course program.

The prison educational program suffers the challenge of teachers and instruction personnel. This has rendered the institutions to get into a dramatic contract of the prison education especially for the programs that focused on the vocational training versus academic instruction. As a result of fewer teachers, there are fewer courses being offered at the same time fewer students have being enrolled in the programs. (Anthony at al 2014)

Another challenge that is facing prison education program is the new changes that have been imposed on the GED system. The changes have a direct implication for the correctional administrators and the educators at large regarding preparing to implement the new kind of test. The administrators are needed to get prepared to teach the new standards as well as

prepared the students for a more rigorous GED tests that will require learners to demonstrate thinking skills that are of a very high level and show an extensive level of knowledge in all subject areas in question. Switching to the new computer-based tests tends to make the exams more difficult to the prisoners in the programs that have resources that are technology limited. It calls for the instructors to prepare learners to acquire a level of computer skills and literacy necessary to navigate the test successfully. This has an implication when it come to the impromptu budgets and professional development needs of instructors and presents some concerns of logic when it comes to the preparation of implementing the computer-based testing. (Anthony at al 2014)

In conclusion, the walk over on the prison education is not any way easy. It calls for the full support of the states especially financially, regarding resources and the providing enough educators, so as to provide education to all prisons fairly.

Works Cited

Anthony J at al (2014). From Education to Incarceration: Dismantling the School-To-Prison