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Introduction
Training and the learning or academic programs have been there in prisons for a long time. These programs were developed in America because prisons have been in existence there for a long period of time. In this annotated bibliography, different research are analyzed to determine whether inmates who engage in the education system through enrolling for diploma program still engages in repeated crimes. It also tries to address issues like whether inmates’ education program helps in the reduction of recidivism. In addition the bibliography has explained whether the more education which is given to the society has any returns. Different articles are used to write this bibliography.
Defining and Measuring Recidivism by Phil Harris
Recidivism has different measures one of them being incarceration. Incarceration can result due to many reasons for example violation of the technical issues. The offenders face some difficulties in the re-entering process to the communities. The rate of recidivism has been indicated as high at 66%. According to Roger (1994), some of the methods which are used are re-arrest and re-conviction. Recidivism has been measured using re-arrests, rate of court referrals, reconvictions and re-confinement of former offenders (Blackburn, 1981). Surveys done on all inmates facilities in United States show that almost all facilities in this country offer Adult Basic Education. Many researches were done and they have shown a correlation between education and crime rate happening in repeated cases. Others have tried to research about the relationship between education and the factors that encourage the offenders to continue committing such crimes. The researches have shown that there is development of antisocial actions among adolescents during their development which gives them more strength in the development of crime (Blackburn, 1979). A number of studies have looked at the relationship between education and recidivism among different offenders. The studies offer tangible support for the theory that education can greatly reduce crime. Achievement in education helps to reduce recidivism. Gehring (2000) argues that inmates who enrolled to earn a diploma in General Educational Development (GED) did not engage in crimes again as compared to those who did not enroll for such programs. In fact, many of those who did not enroll ended up back in prison as result of engaging in crime. In addition, the same statistics shows that inmates with an age of more than twenty one years who enrolled for the program ended being free as compared to those who were less than twenty one years. Other studies have used a tool of analysis known as meta-analysis to assess the results of education-recidivism relationship especially to the adults. Using this tool, they have all come up with a common point that education reduces recidivism.
Aos & Drake (2006) argued that the education system that the inmates go through is capable of reducing their rate of recidivism. According to a research which was done by Chappell (2004), it examined effects of post-secondary education. The results were that engagement in Post-secondary education while in prison reduced recidivism by more than a half. Moreover, the reduction in recidivism rates is suited for those who have studied good courses and completed. Another analysis conducted using a meta-analysis in-prison education program. The major findings supported the conception that education results to positive development to the offenders (Aos & Drake, 2006).
Other studies have also looked at the effects of education on criminal activity of young people in the transition period. This research explores the relationship that exist between education levels that inmates experience and crime rates (Anderson, 1982). This is to mean that when the offenders are provided with education, they are less likely to engage in crime. A research which was done Aos & Drake (2006) showed that the number of years that one engages in education, high school grade point average (GPA), as well as the ratio of the students to teachers has considerably reduced the possibility of adult incarceration. This is according to the sample which was done in U.S by Allen (1988) which studied a sample of high-risk juveniles in New York. The results were that, graduating from high school considerably reduced the rate of participation in criminal activities. This was highly notable especially to the youths aged between twenty and twenty two. A survey done by the State Prison Inmates, showed that almost the half of all inmates who have received academic education always engage in the correctional program. Other analysis done were in position to show that offenders with high school diplomas are less likely to recidivate at a rate of 22% as opposed to those who do not go to school with a rate of 41%, respectively. The conditions under which the offenders stop offending were determined and the reasons why they engage in the in the criminal activities and the how they engage was also determined. The findings were by considering education and the process of returning to school following release from the jail, approximately one third of the data sample were eligible to school during release. They were also eligible to be accepted by the society (Gehring 2000).
However, the author notes that there is much less research which has been done on the relationship between education and desistance from the engagement level in the criminal activities. He says his research focused more on the period which follows after the detention of the offenders or during the detention period. In short, his findings were of support that the general education helps reduces recidivism among the offenders (Becker, 1993).
The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports by Enrico Moretti
The article seeks to ascertain how education impacts involvement in crimes. He first analyzed the effect of attending school on incarceration. In doing this, he used data from a census he had done at the regulations put by the government on the compulsory attendance of school. This was used as a measure of the schooling.
The changes which the government had put in place had very big positive effects rather than anything negative. The analysis was in a position to determine that going to school has significantly reduced the chance of incarceration. They used data from the FBI on arrests as a result of engaging in crimes. Murder assault and stealing of motor vehicles have been noted as the main felonies that are associated with education (Moretti, 2001).
The article also reviewed the effect of schooling on self-reported rate of crimes. The analysis found out there is a great difference in the rate of arrest caused by educational differences. The article has also done some statistical analysis to calculate the rate of saving from the crime reduction related to graduates. The results showed more than 14% comes from the reduced crime. Some of the studies that were obtained from this analysis are discussed below. They are briefly summarized in the paragraphs below.
Theories have suggested that attainment of education affect the level of engagement in the criminal activities. Education may raise the opportunity cost of crimes because it makes those who have increased earnings in future. Another reason for the non engagement in the criminal activities is that there is a higher chance that the punishment will be more severe than for non educated person. The amount of stigma that results from the engagement in crime for educated person is higher than for the non educated person. Thirdly, the rate of risk aversion also changes with the level of education of an individual. This is to mean that the rate of patience shown by an educated person is much as opposed to a non educated person. The educated people have learnt some principles that allow them to be more patient than those that are not educated. Fourthly, schooling may also make somebody consider it unfit to break the law and engage in crimes. The level of engagement in crime is influenced by the level of dependence and the crimes which had been committed in the past. Through education of the youths the issue of crimes and repeated crimes will have been addressed.
Education Reduces crime by Stephen Steurer
According to Three-State Recidivism Study, the mandate to conduct the process of rehabilitation is vested upon the Justice system. The article first state that, over the years more emphasis has been put on the punishment aspect leaving the other side. This has instead resulted to larger population in jails rather than reduction of crimes. According to the correctional educators they first believed that education provides hopes to the people but they came to know that it also reduces the chance of committing future crimes.
In the modern days, many reviews have been done to assess how better correctional education toward the offenders is. Some of this includes the one done by University of Maryland and Washington State Institute for Public Policy. The article reviews these studies and developed some inferences. The research was done for the past 15 years. Adult education system is seen to the most promising but this was seen as unproven on how it reduces the rates of crime. By increasing reading, writing and computational abilities, the offenders can be in position to evade engaging in criminal activities (Gehring, 2000). This will so happen when the person is released from the prison. In addition, the article examined other studies on correctional education programs. They looked at the program using evidence of how the program helps to in reduce recidivism. This involved two studies which looked at the Federal Bureau of Prisons education programs (Gehring, 2000). The study determined 33% recidivism rate for those who do not participate in the system as opposed to a rate of 29% for those who participate in the program. Another study done in 1995 shows better results compared to the one which was done in 1994. The educated seem to exhibit low rates of recidivism than the uneducated persons. This was recorded at 39% as opposed to those who do not participate with a rate of 46% (Boe, 1998).
Another study indicated some evidence from an analysis of the offenders who engages in repeated crimes especially in the late 1980s. The study looked at both basic and vocational education. The findings indicated more than 41% of the prisoners who never engaged in the education program returned to crimes activities. Conversely, a portion of 33% of those who participated in the program did not revert back to the criminal activities (Weiman, 2007). The article also reports how education program impacted the lies of inmates. These inmates are those that were set free from prison in Ohio. This study was done in Ohio. It showed a lower recidivism rates for the inmates who engaged in education programs as compared to those who did not enroll in the program (Hickman, 2000). It also analyzed the re-arrest rate of the probationers. The study showed a 50% to 50% division of those who are arrested again as compared to those who did not engage in the education system. The study also found a considerable difference in recidivism between those who participated in the education program at 24% as compared to non-participants at a rate of 44%.
Hickman (2000) examined the rate of re-incarceration by the offenders who enrolled in Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs. The results were that more than 30% of the offenders who enrolled were in position to reincarcerate. This is compared to 36% of the ones who did not before they completed the program. The key findings of this study can be summarized. For the case of re-arrest, the education program participants had lower levels of re-arrests compared to non-participants. This was noted at 48% and 57% respectively. The findings on the rate of re-conviction were noted. The participants of had a lower rate (27%) of re-conviction than that of those who never participated whose rate was 35%. The rate of re-incarceration was also analyzed. For correctional education participants the rate was at 21% while the participants the rate was at 31%. However, it is worth noting that there is significant difference the participants of education program and the non participants.
Since the studies were done on different states the researchers came up with different conclusions. Some of the conclusion was that participation in the education program statistically lower recidivism rates than non-participants. In some of the states, there was an indication that participants in correctional education were not usually re-arrested, re-convicted, and re-incarcerated compared to those who never participated. The analysis had also examined the effects of college education using statistical models. These models showed statistically considerable reduced rates in recidivism for the participants than the non participants in the program.
The Impact of Prison Education Programs on Post-Release Outcome by Gerald Gaes
This paper seeks to validate the effects that correctional education programs on the inmates who have been set free. The analysis was divided into small subparts which evaluated different sections. First, it evaluated the available evidence on the educational need for the inmates. The other part discussed the limitations of the studies which have been done by other authors about the studies about the cost-benefit analysis basic education to the inmates. The analysis of the relationship between the education program and the level of red is analyzed (Gehring, 2000).
This article considers and analysis the different forms of correctional education programs that are applied in the country. According to his analysis where more than 50% of the prisoners incarcerated it was being equated to a 50% level in comparative reduction for the correctional education. He says that earlier studies which had been done indicated that an average effect of 9 % toward the reduction in the levels of recidivism. Others showed a 22% in the same reduction. He reports that the report prepared by Chapell indicates the biggest as a result of correctional education programs at 46% due to enrolling in education programs. He says that Chappell estimated the level of recidivism. In his analysis he termed post secondary education as any training attained from the college or university levels (Gerber, 1995). This study was done between 1990 and 1990. The aim of the study was to determine the effects in terms of correlation between education and recidivism. There was over 22% of recidivating as revealed on this article about the participants. The non participants only recorded 41% in that period. The analysis also indicated a 38.4 percent reduction in recidivism as a result of enrollment in education programs (Gehring, 2000). The study included the juveniles and the adults. A difference in the education level is noted to be the cause of successful post release outcomes. The studies indicated an effect between education programs and recidivism as well as the rate of employment.
The Relationship of Higher Education Programs on Recidivism by Gardner Guy Winstead
He analyzed the origin of prison education. He says that college studies in prison originated from the Columbia University which presented inmates at Sing Prison in the early 1920s. They noted that the education of such kind was important because of its effects on the inmate’s future life (Gardner, 2007). He is quick however to note that most prisoners viewed this as a chance to increase employability as the main purpose of educational participation. Not considering of the provider of education, a variety of benefits emanates from the provision of education to the offenders. Some of these benefits include provision of knowledge and skills which is beneficial to the economic lives (Gehring, 2000). For instance increased education it will enhance the offenders’ abilities to obtain a good employment. In addition, it does not matter whether recidivism results from employment the bottom line is increased educational level has resulted from the engagement level in criminal behavior. He further says that according to the research which has been done, there is an indication that quality education is the best effective way preventing crimes. Educational skills can. It helps discourage the young generation from engaging in criminal activities hence very much decreasing the possibility that an offender will revert back to crime after being released from prison. He argues that education if offered in the correctional facilities will allow the person with the chance to achieve good life free from crime. There is a theory that educational programs reduces recidivism is obtained back from that inmates may be of assistance certainly because of better credentials upon completion of the prison term (Harris, 2004).
A study of done by the U.S. Justice Department on the crime reports showed teaching the inmates reading and writing skills has helped reduce the level of crime. The study also noted correctional education program as one of the most important factor that helps to reduce recidivism rates in the whole country. The relationship between recidivism rates and education is inverse because an increase in education level reduces the rate of recidivism and vice versa. This is to mean that the education obtained the less chance for the same person to be re-arrested or being put back to prison. Another report by the Congressional Sub-committee is also discussed by this article. It is estimated that the overall national level of recidivism rate for the offenders ranged from 60% to84% (Harris, 2004). A study by the Arizona Department of Adult Probation accomplished the findings that offenders who received educational training had a considerably lesser re- arrest rate of 35% while the non- participants’ education that had a rate of had a rate of 46%. At the same time, inmates having two years education program have a lower rate of 10% as to the national rate of rate of roughly 60%. Other research studies were conducted in Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York. They all indicate a low level recidivism rates for the offenders who enrolled for in a correctional higher education program. The statistics indicated an effect ranging from 1% to 15.5%. It notes that overall rate of 15%, for the degree holders leaving the Texas prison. This is lower than the national rates of 60% (Gehring, 2000). A two-year report establishes that the higher education levels obtained had an inverse relationship to the rates of recidivism. Offenders with associate’s degrees recorded recidivism rate of 13.7%, the one with a bachelor degrees recorded a rate of 5.6% and finally those with master degrees recorded a rate of zero. According to the correction officials, there is a believe inmate who enroll for education program are well behaved, less probable to participate again in violence. He states that the expense of availing higher education to prisoners is less in consideration of the impact upon rates of recidivism. In addition, it helps to make savings to be made after re-arrest and re-imprisonment. Even though the political and economic considerations are important, inmates education focus on educational aspects that which have been lost in the traditional aspects. Studies have shown that the programs will be considered against specific standards which may be caused by sociopolitical factors. Through the provision of post-secondary prison education it allows the hope of freeing from the political spheres. Many measures rather than evaluation and assessments have been used to rather than the normal actions of measuring the success of a prison program.
The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports by Enricco Moretti
In this article an estimate of the effect of education on involvement in criminal activities is accounted for. The author first analyzes the effect of attending school to the level of incarceration. This is done using census data and the changes which have been made concerning the enforced attendance rules. He first states that any changes in law making it mandatory for the inmates to attend school has resulted to a lot of achievement hence any contradicting hypothesis is ignored (Tyler, 2008). One of the major result obtained is that education program drastically reduces incarceration. It is noted that the difference in terms of educational attainment between the blacks and whites results to a 23% gap in rate of incarceration. Data about the level of incarceration is again obtained from FBI concerning the arrests as a result of different crimes.
Breaking the cycle: Effective punishment, rehabilitation and sentencing of offenders
The author says that right way to recover the safety of the people and diminish the victims’ number is through ensuring reforms and reduction of reoffending. Offenders on community punishment and those who have been released from the custody release from the prisons should get tough punishment. This therefore means that repeat of crimes should be avoided. The courts system should therefore have a rehabilitation system through education or other means. The available options to either punish or restore criminals will help them be acceptable to the society after serving the punishment as well as keep the public safe. The author notes that there is need to make the prisons to be better places to change and punish offenders hence ensuring safety and acceptance. He notes that 74% of offenders sentenced to jail term repeat the same mistake in a year. Finally, he notes that means of preventing offending people is a fundamental task in controlling eruption of the prolific criminals (Jakes, 1997).
Evidence-Based Practice to Reduce Recidivism by Roger Warren
The article reviews some principles that could be adopted to help reduce recidivism. He discusses how industrious use the principles to sentencing issues and policies can re-establish needed equilibrium to the existing sentencing systems (Tyler, 2008). He says that the current sentencing systems have moved from one side to the other for a period of more than 30 years. This has resulted to them becoming very ineffective in handling of criminal activities (Card, 1999). The author notes that in the modern days there is body of classy research have proved that not like incarceration which is known to cause an increases of recidivism, well designed and run recidivism- reduction programs can drastically reduces this vice. He says some of the programs like education are more cost effective than incarceration. In addition, the level of over-reliance on incarceration has made it costly to the government and the people in general. For instance, the spending on incarceration had increased by more than 200% as compared to education which increased by 3%. On the hand, the expenditure on spending on secondary education was at 55%. According to this author, the level of over-reliance on incarceration resulted to higher crimes as opposed to the use of education program which greatly reduced the high rates of recidivism especially to the felony offenders.
The Path to Successful Reentry: The relationship between correctional education, employment and Recidivism by Jake Cronin
The author tries to test the hypothesis whether increased levels of education results low levels of recidivism rates. In other words, he ties to identify whether is there is a relationship between education and recidivism. Using other studies which have been done, the author agrees with the hypothesis that education reduces recidivism. In support of this he says the level of education increases the opportunity cost of engaging in crime hence resulting to an inverse relationship between the two. He further states that a lot of research which has been done indicates that education positively affects the feelings like self- esteem and confidence level of an inmate. Additionally, an inmate completing a degree obtains a sense of accomplishment hence discouraged from engaging in crimes again. Finally he notes that education causes a positive impact on mental position of the inmates resulting to him making good decisions and problem solving (Tyler, 2008). He therefore says even the previous studies concurs that education results to lower recidivism rates. In conclusion he emphasizes the importance of two things to the offenders; Education and employment. He says that one thing will lead to another. They are both equally important (Gaither, 1980). Education can result to the successful entry of one in the employment industry hence correctional education is very important. An inmate who earn a little can even enroll for education and earn more. He might even obtain a full time job and hence reducing the chance of returning back to the jail.
Conclusion
From the above analysis it is evident that there is a big relationship between education and recidivism. Education greatly helps to reduce recidivism. Education to the inmates offers many opportunities in their lives. It has also shown that inmates who enroll for education programs are less likely to recidivate. Education program offered help them to become good citizens and makes them to be accepted by the society. In addition, it helps them to become future higher leaders. In developed countries like The U.S. they have embraced this method and are offering such education but less developed ones need to embrace it.
References
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Aos, S. & Drake, E. (2006). Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Criminal Justice Costs, and Crime Rates. Olympia: Washington State Institute for Public Policy.
Becker, G. (1993). Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Blackburn, S. (1979). The Relationship between Recidivism and Participation in a Community College Associate of Arts Degree Program for Incarcerated Offenders. Blacksburg: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Blackburn, S. (1981). The Relationship between Recidivism and Participation in a Community College Program for Incarcerated Offenders. Journal of Correctional Education, 32(3): 23–25.
Boe, R. (1998). A two-year release follow-up of federal offenders who participated in The Adult Basic Education (ABE) program. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Research Branch, Correctional Service of Canada.
Card, D. (1999). The causal effect of education on earnings, Handbook of Labor Economics, pp. Amsterdam: Elsevier, Community Services Catalyst.
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Gerber, J. (1995). The Impact of Prison Education Programs on Post-Release Outcome. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 22(1/2), 119-142.
Harris, P. (2004). Defining and Measuring Recidivism. The Journal of Correctional Education, 55(2) 148-169.
Hickman, J. (2000). The Effectiveness of Adult Basic Education and Life-Skills Programs in Reducing Recidivism: A Review and Assessment of the Research. Journal of Correctional Education, 51(2), 207-226.
Jakes, C. (1997). The Path to Successful Reentry: The relationship between correctional education, employment and Recidivism: A research note. Justice Quarterly, 14(1), 167-180.
Moretti, E. (2001). The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports. Journal of Correctional Education, 52: 160-162.
Roger, W. (1994). Evidence-Based Practice to Reduce Recidivism. Prison Journal, 74:433-99.
Tyler, H. (2008). Prison-based adult basic education (ABE) and post-release labor Market outcomes. New York, NY: John Jay College.
Weiman, F. (2007). Introduction, In Shawn Bushway, Barriers to Reentry? The Labor Market for Released prisoners in Post-Industrial America. New York: Russel Sage Foundation.
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