Why Education in Prison Matters

Why Education in Prison Matters

Tiffany Orcesi

? As a higher education educator for over 15 years, I never thought I would find myself teaching college in prison. Having served in the Army as a Military Police Officer, teaching in prison was a no thank you. However, about 7 years ago, a friend who coordinates the educational college program for the local prisons started pressing me to teach. After two years of refusals and wearing me down I eventually caved. Ironically, I am now an advocate for education in the correctional system as a form of rehabilitation. Teaching in prison matters for the incarcerated, but more importantly I believe it affects our society.

I teach both normal college students on campus and prisoners at a correctional facility. The classes range from 6 hours/week to about 15 hours/week of instruction depending on the length of the course; in that time, I get to know the students. I have found prisoners are no different than students on-campus.

While I believe it makes a difference, a study out of Ohio found educational programs had an inability to impact incarceration rates (Austin, 2017, p. 567). Although research may prove or disprove the degree to which education helps lower recidivism rates and rehabilitate criminals, I have personally watched men transform. I know education is an effective tool in helping a person change and develop better critical thinking skills. These critical thinking skills are the key to lowering recidivism rates.

So why should we continue to provide educational opportunities in prison? Educational opportunities range from life skills classes, GED classes, vocational certification, and college courses. The better question is, why not? What does the government do with people while they are incarcerated? How do you handle people that create negative problems and situations in society? Many believe we are rewarding people for poor behavior with educational opportunities others are not afforded. This is a hard argument to counter. There is no direct response except that prison is about rehabilitation, and education is one of many tools. Furthermore, evidence shows educational programs help reduce violence in prisons (Pompoco et al., 2017). We can at least provide a safer environment for correctional officers and those incarcerated; a win-win scenario.

When we add politicians to the mix, policies are not always evidence-based driven. While we can’t save everyone, the government wants to showcase a Cinderella story to justify the extensive amount of money pumped into our incarcerated system across the United States (Czerniawski, 2016, p. 11). Education matters. Education is the crutch of changing and shaping a mind, whether you are 2 or 65 years old. If we want the formerly incarcerated, who are returning to our neighborhoods, to become good citizens, we as society need to help provide an opportunity for them to change and grow.

My biggest take away after five years of teaching in prison is, it matters, people matter. My incarcerated students are just people trying to move forward from their past transgressions. Many start the program as a means of passing time and a reduction off their sentence. After one class, I have seen a change in their work, their dedication to the program, and comradery among each other within the program. Many prisoners have mentioned how college is the one good thing in their life for quite some time. At the end of the day, we cannot give up.

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References

Austin, James. (2017). Limits of Prison Education: Prison Education Programs. Criminology & Public Policy, 16, 563–569. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12301

Czerniawski, G. (2016). A race to the bottom - prison education and the English and Welsh policy context. Journal of Education Policy, 31(2), 198–212. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2015.1062146

Pompoco, A., Wooldredge, J., Lugo, M., Sullivan, C., & Latessa, E. J. (2017). Reducing Inmate Misconduct and Prison Returns with Facility Education Programs. Criminology & Public Policy, 16(2), 515–547. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12290

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