Reducing Recidivism

614 Words2 Pages

Reducing Recidivism

Education and vocational skills are mandatory in life. Education factors all

aspects of life. Without a proper education one is limited to basic life rewards. Not to

say that money is the only reason for an education, but it seems to be the force that drives

offenders to keep offending. If one does not possess a basic education then the next best

thing would be vocational training. Vocational training is an excellent way for some of

the low educated people to get out of the life that put them in prison and to achieve a

positive position in society.

Education is the area that society needs to be concerned with, according to a study

by Beck and Shipley . The study was conducted on 16,000 prisoners from 11 states in

the effort to reduce on recidivism. The study showed that "62.5% were rearrested for a

felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years." This study proved that prisoners with an

eighth grade education or lower were rearrested at a rate of 61.9%, while those who were

high school graduates were rearrested at a rate of 57.4%. Just by the numbers alone one

can conclude that an education is vital to the rehabilitation of offenders. There are many

types of education that offenders can utilize. Many prisons already have programs

established to help people incarcerated to obtain an education. Programs designed to help

offenders to read and write, get a General Education Development (GED) certificate, and

vocational training. Most of these programs are already in place and are effectively

working. The problem occurs when prisoners are not exposed to the education while

incarcerated. Programs should be mandatory and...

... middle of paper ...

...enders are not rehabilitated they have just been locked up for their sentence. Dr.

Cobun felt that more emphasis should be placed on education and vocational programs

that would give the prisoners a future in the community and give them a chance at parole.

The states should not spend extra funds for education programs and the

government should not fund higher learning for incarcerated individuals. Convicted

felons should be allowed to obtain their GED but they should not have the opportunity to

go to college while they are incarcerated. If the government wants to spend money on

education it should be for the lower income families that can not afford it and not a

convict trying to pass time. If states want to spend money, they should spend it on

vocational programs that will help the prisoners once they are released.

Open Document