In this essay, writer Frederick Paine reflects on attending a prison college graduation and explains why education in prison may be one of the most powerful tools for reducing crime and changing lives.
A Rare Moment of Inspiration
After being locked up for three decades, there’s not much about prison that impresses me or moves me in a positive and profound way. That is, until today.
I attended a college graduation for students who got their degree from Western Nevada College. It’s an amazing accomplishment for those inmates who persevered in an environment that’s not conducive to personal growth and intellectual maturity. With the constant distractions such as lockdowns, negative influences, and their own personal battles, it makes it extremely difficult to accomplish anything special such as earning a college degree.
In attendance at the graduation were other inmates who are attending college, professors, teachers, prison administrators, and Warden Henley, who delivered a rousing and inspiring speech. It was surreal to be in such a positive environment where there was so much admiration, praise, and genuine pride for those who had graduated and those who are also on the same journey. It was a beautiful ceremony, especially considering the state our country is in when it comes to crime and punishment.
The Politics of Punishment
Lawmakers and legislatures, in an effort to make a safer America, have increased penalties, created new laws, and made parole for inmates harder to receive. War against crime has always been a soapbox on which politicians can stand if they seek election. The voice calling for mercy and understanding has always been weak and drowned out by the loud voices calling for more prisons and harsher punishments.
Don’t miss: How Education Changed My Life in Prison For the Better
When it comes to industrialized nations, the United States is the leader in incarceration. According to the Sentencing Project, the rate of incarceration has increased over 400% in the last 40 years. Consequently, in order to help offset the cost of building more prisons, the majority of prison programs have been eliminated. That leaves hundreds of thousands of inmates with little or no ability to better themselves. The only outlet a prisoner can pursue is education.
This is important when it comes to recidivism.
Education and Recidivism
The Department of Justice reports that, on average, 68% of inmates will reoffend within three years of their release. This is where prison education can show its benefit to society.
The Northwestern Prison Education Program states that the higher the degree an inmate receives, the lower the chances of him reoffending. Recidivism drops to:
-
14% for those with an associate degree
-
5.6% for those with a bachelor’s degree
-
0% for those with a master’s degree
According to the Sentencing Project, there are 2.2 million people incarcerated in the United States. However, because there are inmates who are under a sentence of death and others with life sentences without the possibility of parole, that leaves roughly 1.5 million inmates who are eligible to be released back into society.
The 68% of them who will reoffend will cost taxpayers close to $36 million. Imagine what could be done with that money—how much social change could be made, how many hungry mouths it could feed. Education, in the long run, lowers prison costs. It’s that simple.
Why Prison Education Is Controversial
Education in prison has been a controversial subject. Detractors will point out that educating prisoners is a useless venture. They feel that a criminal shouldn’t be rewarded for committing a crime.
But what they fail to answer is this: once someone is sentenced to prison, are they expected to rot and not do anything to better themselves? Is the penal system supposed to avoid inspiring them to do better for themselves and society?
Education is a chance to offer a wayward human being something they may have never had before—a chance to go through a door that had always been closed.
Education also creates a safer environment. Statistics show that prisons that educate their prisoners have less violence than prisons that don’t. This also translates to society. An educated society is a safer society.
The Impact on Families and Children
Studies have estimated that 2.7 million U.S. children have a parent who is incarcerated. In addition, 7% of all U.S. children, at some point in their life, have had a parent in prison or jail.
These children are six times more likely to enter the criminal system themselves. The cycle of incarceration continues.
However, the wheel can also turn in the other direction. Research shows that children with parents who have a college degree are more likely to complete college themselves, which can create social mobility for families and ultimately lower the poverty level in this country.
A Different Path Forward
The prison system is undergoing changes. It was always believed that making more laws and lengthening sentences could beat crime into submission, but that plan hasn’t worked very well—or even at all.
The only thing that has been accomplished is prison overcrowding and a justice system that is designed to harshly punish minorities and the poor. Incarceration as a form of punishment has proven to be one of America’s greatest failures.
No one is arguing against punishment, because no society can thrive without discipline. To do so is to invite anarchy, and that would signal the destruction of civilization.
But something better can be done with our country’s criminals besides locking them up and warehousing them. That isn’t the solution.
The Promise of Education
The answer lies in education.
I can guarantee that every prison official and all the professors from Western Nevada College who attended the graduation today can explain better than me the benefits of education. They have seen firsthand the positive results that education can produce, and that’s why they work so hard and diligently at what they do.
And I believe that one day America is going to owe these amazing people a debt of gratitude.
2 Comments
Hi Frederick.
It starts at home. It’s up to parents to teach their kids and make sure the value education. It’s not the responsibility of the state or Government. (NOT ALL), but a lot of minorities don’t tend to push education on their children. They glorify street life, sports, and celebrities. Long prison sentences don’t stop crime, but it stops the individual. The only true way to reduce crime, and I say reduce is because criminals will always exist despite how they are raised. Responsible two parents households is the key to slow down mass incarnation. We have a lot of irresponsible adults having children. People who are not finically stable, not married, and drug addicts, should not be parents. Those types of parents are where 85% of the prison population come from.
But It generally is not efficient. However, it does tend to keep people who are threats to society isolated.
It is nice to think that all you have to do to turn an outlaw into a productive citizen is to give them another chance. However, in reality, most of these people just use the second chance, and third chance, and fourth chance as an opportunity to commit more crime.
A year or so ago, here in California, our wise leaders decided that our system for sentencing offenders was too harsh. Violent felonies were downgraded, and along with the downgrading came early outs for convicts. As a result crime is trending upward in many parts of the state. There is not a day that goes by that some asshole on parole, who got an early out is not in the paper for harming someone.
Concerning first offenders, I have no problem with giving them a second chance. But, when they offend over, and over, and over, and over, and over again, …..How forgiving can you be before you realize that these people are a threat
No. Our system of incarceration is not efficient. But, what system of correction is? Perhaps it is time to be not so forgiving.