How do you feel about education in prisons?

[riff]

I was reading an article here: http://www.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/10/01/prison.college.ap/index.html
about prisoners studying while in prison and your tax dollars paying for it.

On one hand, many prisoners use their education to begin legitimate careers so they don't return to crime. On the other hand, prison is supposed to be punishment.

How do you feel about it? Do you think that it depends on the crime or on behavior while in, length of sentence, area of study?

Just curious.

 

[Aquila]

I was reading an article here: http://www.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/10/01/prison.college.ap/index.html
about prisoners studying while in prison and your tax dollars paying for it.

On one hand, many prisoners use their education to begin legitimate careers so they don't return to crime. On the other hand, prison is supposed to be punishment.

How do you feel about it? Do you think that it depends on the crime or on behavior while in, length of sentence, area of study?

Just curious.

Thats one thing I love to see, Im willing to pay tax dollars for education, even-especially prisoners.

 

[The Squid King]

Education in prison is good otherwise the only education prisoners are getting is how to be better criminals with their fellow inmates as the teachers.

 

[Nora]

I disagree that prison is soley about punishment. Ideally, it's about punishment and rehabilitation. That's the reason that education is made available to prisoners.

So many young people are going to prison now. I very honestly believe that there's hope for them, and I've always felt that education is one of the best means to improving one's life.

Personally, I'd rather a kid in prison learn Shakespeare than better and more efficient means of committing crimes.

 

[Bob_Bytchin]

I disagree that prison is soley about punishment. Ideally, it's about punishment and rehabilitation. That's the reason that education is made available to prisoners.

So many young people are going to prison now. I very honestly believe that there's hope for them, and I've always felt that education is one of the best means to improving one's life.

Personally, I'd rather a kid in prison learn Shakespeare than better and more efficient means of committing crimes.

Thank you for saying that so well.

The keyword should be rehabilitation, and not punishment. Locking someone up for a few years does nothing to change them. But if you take the time to educate, train, and even place them in good jobs when they get out of jail/prison, you are not only doing society a favor, but you are helping out the prisoner as well.

Rehabilitation is supposed to change and prepare the prisoner to rejoin society. It's about time we do that.

 

[riff]

Well, if I may play the devil's advocate here, the prevailing attitude seems to think that rehab is the responsibility of the individual and not the state.

Thousand points of light and all of that.

 

[Aquila]

I disagree that prison should be all about rehab.. it really should be about punishment, however Ill never argue against educated someone.

I think people that go to prison should endure everything being taken away from them, except for things that ocupy their mind.

 

[SilvaTungDevil]

Seriously....I don't think we need to be sending our kids to prison. Really, what kind of an environment is that to learn in anyway? And please tell me just what qualifies these prisoners to teach? Man, I thought my teachers were bad! At least Mrs. Crabtree didn't make me do her laundry or try to make me her bitch(though maybe it would have been cool if she did).


You know that Johnny Werzner kid - the kid who delivers papers in the
neighborhood? He's a fine kid. Some of the neighbors say he smokes
crack, but I don't believe it. Anyway, for his 10th birthday, all he
wanted was a burrow owl...

 

[Bob_Bytchin]

I disagree that prison should be all about rehab.. it really should be about punishment, however Ill never argue against educated someone.

I think people that go to prison should endure everything being taken away from them, except for things that ocupy their mind.

I shoud have phrased that differently. I should have said that if the prisoner is going to be there doing time, the time should be used to train, educate, and prepare them for the day they are released. Just putting them in a cell and not helping them to become better members of society is more of a burden because of recitivism.

 

[Lancecastor]

Perhaps Ishmael can confirm this, but if memory serves, the USA jails more people per capita than almost any other country in the world.

Seems to me you want your prisoners reading books as opposed to being punished. Ex-cons get punished every time they apply for a job or open a bank account or shop for groceries in their home towns after release.

Perhaps some increased retraining of your general population away from the old punishment model towards the rehabilitation model is in order.

I think it was Winston Churchill who said that the true test of a civilized society is in how it treats its criminals.

Interesting thread.

Cheers;

Lance

I was reading an article here: http://www.cnn.com/2002/EDUCATION/10/01/prison.college.ap/index.html
about prisoners studying while in prison and your tax dollars paying for it.

On one hand, many prisoners use their education to begin legitimate careers so they don't return to crime. On the other hand, prison is supposed to be punishment.

How do you feel about it? Do you think that it depends on the crime or on behavior while in, length of sentence, area of study?

Just curious.

 

[patient1]

Personally, I don't find free education an incentive to go to prison..but that's just me.

I thought it was just economic sense. I recall Ross Perot saying it was cheaper to keep a person in Harvard for a year than in prison....

 

[perks]

I think they should have the opportunity for education, but I think they should have the student loan debt that goes along with it.

 

[Nora]

Well, if I may play the devil's advocate here, the prevailing attitude seems to think that rehab is the responsibility of the individual and not the state.

Thousand points of light and all of that.

*biting my tongue about the Thousand Points of Light failure* lol

Making education available to inmates isn't forcing rehabilitation. The onus is still on the inmate him/herself to seek betterment.

The point Bob makes about recidivism is excellent. I believe the article you posted quoted an 8% recidivism rate for those inmates who sought education as opposed to I believe 20% for those who didn't. If educating the population cuts down on crime, that benefits everyone. Including those who espouse the "prevailing attitude".

Aquila says that he thinks people that go to prison should endure everything being taken away from them, except for things that ocupy their mind. The question becomes then, what do you want their mind to be filled with? Newer and more escalated ways to commit crime or the desire to better themselves?

 

[TumbledLove]

I think prison just ends up uniting all the "bad" people. Prisioners are basically surrounded by other lawbreakers and it's kinda scary to think of them pooling their resources together and collaborating en masse. So unless they're taught different and get some behavior modification, they'll probably never change. So education is definitely a good thing and the lack of education is probably why most prisioners are lawbreakers in the first place.

 

[Aquila]

To cut down on cost of prisons, I think we should apply the death penalty a lot quicker then we do now.. say immediatley after the first apeal (sp?) is struck down.

then again I think more crimes should carry the death penalty too. that would save alot of money, besides the other social benifits

edited because Jesus my spelling sucks

 

[riff]

Personally, I don't find free education an incentive to go to prison..but that's just me.

I thought it was just economic sense. I recall Ross Perot saying it was cheaper to keep a person in Harvard for a year than in prison....

Sounds like Texarkana to me.

 

[riff]

To cut down on cost of prisons I think we should apply the death penalty a lot quicker then we do now.. say immediatley after the first apeal is struck down.

then again I think more crimes should carry death penalties too. taht would save alot of money, besides the other social benifits

Heh. I kil u...

 

[Aquila]

Sounds like Texarkana to me.

Forgive me, but im an idiot.. what is texarkana?

 

[perks]

Forgive me, but im an idiot.. what is texarkana?

texas and arkansas

 

[freakygirl]

Mr Freaky needs to respond to this thread..

 

[Nora]

Hrmm. I stay out of Death Penalty discussions normally. It was instituted as a deterrant more than specifically as a punishment, and we've seen how well that works (not at all). The problem is that murder is normally a "heat of the moment" crime. They're not thinking, "Well jinkies, if i pull the trigger I'm gonna get fried!" Most murderers aren't likely to murder again, high profile cases notwithstanding.

That's why I think that the death penalty should be based on crimes with the highest rates of recidivism. Auto theft. #1 rate of recidivism. Kill 'em all and let G-d sort 'em out. Muggers and burglars, string the bastards up and let 'em fry. Now *that* would cut down on crime!

Or it could be tied to the actual cost of damages. Enron execs would be burning in hell, and we'd really save on the cost of the low-security, white-collar, country-club style prisons that they normally get sent to. Unlike the poor schnook who killed his cheating wife and got sent to a hell-hole cuz his crime wasn't fancy enough to be accepted at the "better" facilities.

(please note that the above post has a fair dollop of tongue-and-cheekiness to it.)

 

[Bob_Bytchin]

Oh yeah...the death penalty needs more uses. NOT!

Rather than turn this into a death penalty thread, let's stick to the point of the thread.

 

[lavender]

 

[riff]

Texarkana is the famous city from that Jerry Reed song in Smokey and The Bandit. The stateline runs right down Main Street.

Perot is from there, I think. Well, there is a Perot Theatre anyway.

 

[Agent99]

Recidivism rates are influenced by more than lack of education while incarcerated. Unemployment and substance abuse immediately come to mind. Certain crimes are more likely to be repeated when the offender is released than others.

But a concurrent course of educational assistance along with punishment for the crime committed seems appropriate. I believe that most prisons have libraries available for the inmate population. I would be curious to discover how many institutions provide classrooms, teachers and curriculum.

While programs such as stamping license plates or picking up litter along the highway keep prisoners busy, they hardly provide much in the way of future opportunities. I like the idea of programs having prisoners work with dogs and other animals to train them for working with handicapped individuals. This provides a service to the community and helps build self-esteem.