Prison Education and Restorative Justice
Each year over 600,000 formerly incarcerated individuals are released and attempt to rejoin society. Within three years, two-thirds will have been rearrested. After five years that rate jumps to three in four. These brutal rates of recidivism are a driving force of the cycle of mass-incarceration in the United States, where over-criminalization, implicit bias, and harsh sentencing policies disproportionately affect Black and Latino communities, who account for more than half of the 2.2 million currently imprisoned individuals in the United States.
Research has shown that prison education can have a massive effect on reincarceration rates, with the National Institute of Justice recently designating postsecondary education as an evidence-based practice in reducing recidivism. In the collegiate world, over the last decade there has been a cascade of online math resources made available to students; learning mathematics has never before been so accessible. Given the consensus among experts of the importance of technology in prison education, a natural intersection of these advances lies in the implementation of technological and online resources in prison settings. However, prison bureaucracies are notoriously difficult to navigate, with ever shifting priorities and personnel who maintain absolute control over many decisions central to the instigation of prison education programs.
Prisoners who participate in prison education programs are 43% less likely to be reincarcerated following their release. The odds of being employed post-release are 13% higher for individuals who participate in any type of correctional education. These benefits are passed along directly to student’s communities, many of which suffer from crime, drugs, unemployment, and poverty. It has also been shown that children of incarcerated students are more likely to pursue collegiate educations themselves, potentially ending generational effects of poverty as well.
The benefits of prison education begin long before prisoners are released. Students enrolled in college level courses become more able to communicate their needs to corrections administrators and staff, and that their leadership can be a calming influence on other prisoners. Indeed, corrections staff report that prison education opportunities increase the safety and security of the entire facility, including incarcerated individuals not involved in the program.
Financially, estimates suggest that every $1 spent on correctional education saves $5 in reincarceration costs, a four hundred percent return on investment. With the United States spending $80 billion a year on incarceration, the fiscal benefits of prison education cannot be understated.
Virtual Learning in Prison
More coming soon(ish)!