According to Ken Macur, president at Medaille College, “Free prison education should be given to most of the inmates because this program aims to reduce recidivism in inmates.” For inmates who went to prison while they were young, this becomes an opportunity for them to be useful when they get out. Also, those who see prison as a haven for them and commit a crime again after leaving the jail to get fit well while they are out. Those who doubt this education given to prisoners say that it is not necessary as they advocate for them to remain there as long as possible (Maximino, 2014). Recidivism makes it expensive for prison departments to maintain them every time they are back to committing a crime again, this is according to David MacKune Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas. With this education in prison, most of the prisoners will be useful citizens while they are out, and they will never think of going back to prison.
Secondly, providing quality education to most of the inmates gives the real possibility of transforming inmates into community champions of change, according to Dominica Kimberly Moe, a lecturer who teaches prisoners at DePaul University. Dominica Kimberly Moe goes ahead to say that education for inmates plays a vital role for people of colour, like blacks, who face neglect in their neighbourhood, who do not go to school and turn to crime(Moe,2017). Such communities do benefit from this education program, which nurtures their unrealized abilities, so as they come back to the community, they are influential people who can be a good role model to others. After incarceration, when they are back, those who are still locked in crime will change as they see those who were in prison as a new person.
Thirdly, prison education has led to a reduction in the violence rate in the country. Crisfino Kenyatta Leal, a lecturer who teaches prisoners in state prisons in New York, has confirmed that violence among prisoners has been reduced (Taylor, 2015). Crisfino attributes this decline to the prison education programs that many prisoners have managed to enrol in as students. She says, “It occurred to me that at San Quentin, the power of education had changed the culture within the prison.” Most wardens are amazed by how incarcerated students policed themselves as well as how they have changed their behaviour. Those prisoners who were violent are always on their right behaviour as they get to know how to live with others in prison and outside if they become free citizens.
Lastly, prison education has led to increased employment in the country. Most of the incarcerated people who decide to study and pursue a bachelor’s education while in prison become resourceful people in the economy. With the degrees that they have earned, most of the convicts fit well in jobs when they are out. According to Bureau of Justice Statistics, the average annual employment rate of former convicts has increased, this is because of the education programs that are going on in prisons. Kate Moore, one of the students who benefited from the education program while in prison, says, “Prison education is a means of rehabilitating and re-directing. If you release someone with the same skill with which she came in, she’s going to get involved in the same activities as she did before.” Prison education increases employment by a significant margin every year; the Bureau of Justice statistics have noticed this.
There are some people who believe that college education should not be given to inmates. They claim that education for prisoners is an arsenal that will come to haunt society at long last. According to Lawrence Sherman, most of the skills that inmates acquire are eventually used for evil purposes, such as harming people. Because most prisoners leave prison and get employment, the majority of them are the ones who have committed crimes or are associated with crime syndicates to rob people (Maximino, 2014). John O’Hara, who is in jail now for the third time, has confessed that prison education changed little for him. Most of the prison recidivists admit that the education they get while serving is to help them survive while in prison, but it changes little of what they are in reality.
Works Cited
Bruinius, Harry. “Should-prisoners-get-a-free-college-degree.” 01 12 2016. CS MONITOR. Document. 13 April 2018.
Maximino, Martin. “The effects of prison education programs.” 3 June 2014. https://journalistsresource.org. Document. 13 April 2018.
Moe, Dominica Kimberly. “How Educating Inmates Benefits All.” 03 September 2017. https://www.nytimes.com. Document. 13 April 2018.
Taylor, Loretta. “Prison education is a smart investment, reduces crime.” 9 October 2015. https://www.seattletimes.com. Document. 13 April 2018.
