cgunn02-blog - Tumblr blog

[cgunn02-blog]

Prison Educational Programs

Today, in the United States, there are estimated 1.6 million people held in federal and state prisons. Two decades ago, the Congress banned the practice of allowing federal and state prisons educational grants. Since the ban initially took place, the prison populations have grown over fifty percent (Westervelt). Sixty-eight percent of the prisoners released during this time were sent back prison for a new crime in under three years of their initial release (Vacca). There is strong evidence that prison educational programs help reduce these high recidivism rates. Therefore, all federal and state prisons within the United States should begin education programs available to all inmates. Allowing prisoners to access forms of literacy they wouldn’t normally have access to will ultimately this will lower the high prison populations, and the demanding correctional institute costs.

Author of Sponsors of Literacy, Deborah Brandt, discusses how literacy and literacy learning are shaped and influenced. She states that literacy is sponsored by people, and institutions, that help others to become literate. Brandt states “A statistical correlation between high literacy achievement and socioeconomic, majority-race status routinely shows up in the results of national tests of reading and writing performance” (Wardle, pp.76) Those of a high socioeconomic status have more access to literacy sponsors as apart of their privilege. Poorer people have less consistent access to literacy sponsorship, which in turn leads to a more difficult path to academic and economic success. Nearly forty percent of prisoners in the United States are African American. Similarly, the median average income for inmates prior to incarceration was found to be $19,185, which is nearly forty-one percent lower than the average household income for the United States in 2017 (Vacca).  Because prison populations are primarily minorities and of low income households, there is a clear relationship between low literacy rates and inmates. Eighty-five percent of juveniles in court are illiterate, and nearly sixty percent of all adult inmates are completely illiterate (Vacca). Since the population of inmates is primarily those whose literary access has been limited in the past according to Brandt’s research,  the majority of prisoners in our federal and state prisons have a consistent lack of literary sponsors.

Malcolm X, a predominate figure in the Civil Rights movement, is a prime example of the advantages of educational programs available to inmates. Becoming involved in criminal activity at a young age, he dropped out of school after the eighth grade, practically illiterate. X was sentenced to Charlestown Prison in 1945, where he had access to Norfolk Prison Colony school and library. There he read and copied the dictionary word for word until he began to understand their meanings. X eventually read, partook in debates, and classes within the program as often as he possibly could. Ironically, according to X, he “had never been so truly free” in his life while he was incarcerated. Once released in 1952, X’s world views had completely changed due to his literacy. He soon became a mainstream leader for the Civil Rights Movement alongside Martin Luther King Jr., until his eventual assassination. The prison education system had given X a second chance at his life, which he used to the fullest, and impacted the world greatly. He acts as a prime example of how fulfilling the programs allowing inmates literary sponsorship within the prisons can truly be.

Malcolm X is seen above as a young boy of an undetermined age. (Malcolm X: Make It Plain.)

Malcolm X is seen above sometime after his release from prison at an undetermined age. (Malcolm X: Make It Plain.)

Charlestown State Prison in Massachusetts is seen above, the prison where Malcolm X was incarcerated (O’Neil).

Although educating inmates has many benefits, there are those who question the effectiveness and worth of doing so. Those opposing prison education programs argue starting the programs would be too expensive for state funding, possibly raising already high taxes. However, studies show that inmates that receive education while in prison are less likely to return. Sixty-eight percent of the prisoners released from prison are incarcerated for a new crime within three years of their initial release (Vacca). This would cause a population decrease in the prisons, if a education program were to be started amongst them. In fact, research done by P. Ripley, author of “Prison Education Role in Challenging Offending Behaviors”, in 1993 shows that for every dollar that is spent on a prison educational program, five dollars is saved because of the estimated population decline. This means providing education to prisoners would be a win-win situation for taxpayers funding the programs and for the inmates receiving the education.

Unfortunately, educational programs are widely underused today. Pell grants should be restored in order for all federal and state inmates within the United States to have access to educational programs within prisons. Not only would money be saved in the long run, but more people would have access to literacy sponsors , and more people would be able to make an impact on the world like Malcolm X. By federally piloting educational programs within all federal and state prisons, not only would prison recidivism rates decline, but literary sponsorships would be available to far more people in need.

O'Neil, Helen. “Where Sacco, Vanzetti and Malcolm X Stayed in Charlestown.” Charlestown, MA Patch, Patch, 6 Mar. 2012, patch.com/massachusetts/charlestown/sacco-vanzetti-malcolm-x-charlestown-prison.

“Malcolm X: Make It Plain.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/malcolmx/.

Vacca, James S. “Educated Prisoners Are Less Likely to Return to Prison.” Journal of Correctional Education, vol. 55, no. 4, 2004, pp. 297–305.

Wardle, Elizabeth, and Doug Downs. “Learning to Read” Writing about Writing: a College Reader, by Elizabeth Wardle, Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2017, pp. 106–115.

Wardle, Elizabeth, and Doug Downs. “Sponsors of Literacy.” Writing about Writing A College Reader, Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2017, pp. 68–100.

Westervelt, Eric. “Measuring The Power Of A Prison Education.” NPR, NPR, 31 July 2015, www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/07/31/427741914/measuring-the-power-of-a-prison-education.