The average citizen doesn’t necessarily want to think that the person who broke into their car is taking yoga classes in a far-off jail. However, there are ethical and practical considerations that should also be given weight.
The United States criminal justice system accomplishes demonstrably little in terms of crime reduction. It is very literally the least effective criminal justice system on the planet.
In this article, we take a look at how education can change that by offering incarcerated individuals of every age a different way forward.
The Situation
Recidivism refers to the rate at which people who have once been incarcerated re-offend and wind up back in jail. While many factors contribute to the rate of recidivism, it can be seen as a very direct reflection of how well the criminal justice system rehabilitates incarcerated individuals.
Right now, the recidivism rate in the United States sits at just under 50%. In other words, almost half of all people released from prison today will be going back— most likely within the next three years.
Some people find this rate natural. If a person struggled to comply with the law once, what’s to stop them from doing it again? While the answer to that question is complex, it certainly is not fully out of reach. In fact, it can be summarized in one word:
Opportunity.
The Norwegian Approach
The United States has the highest recidivism rate in the entire developed world, largely because people leave prison with virtually no options available to them. They re-enter society with all the challenges they originally faced, with the new and added burden of trying to find work with a criminal record.
Norway, on the other hand, has the lowest recidivism rate on the planet sitting at just 20%. It wasn’t always like that. Back in the 1990s, their rate was closer to 70%. What happened? They did a massive criminal justice overhaul, placing a huge focus on rehabilitation.
Norwegian convicts are given the opportunity to attend classes, develop trade skills, see their families often, and even pursue activities that interest them in the form of extra-curriculars.
The “punishment,” aspect of incarceration is under-emphasized as a way of putting people in a position to succeed upon release.
This approach is extremely successful but also expansive. Norway spends almost $100K per prisoner, annually. Three times as much as the United States does. However, it’s an investment that may ultimately pay off over time.
By reducing recidivism rates, the United States may be able to depopulate its prisons, resulting in significantly less spending over time.
There’s also a major public safety benefit. Norway has very low crime rates thanks to its unique approach to rehabilitation. This means they can spend less on courts, law enforcement, and other tangential expenses that result from having high rates of crime.
Over time, spending money on criminal justice reform can pay for itself. Giving incarcerated individuals the opportunity to learn and develop career-oriented skills is a huge way to help ensure a successful release.
Education Can Make All the Difference
Around 70% of people in prison have not completed high school. The opportunity deficit for people without a diploma is enormous. The average income for people who have not graduated high school hovers around the poverty line in almost every state.
Income, education level, and mental wellness are the most accurate indicators of how likely someone is to wind up in jail. Very simply, when people do not have access to traditional financial opportunities, they are significantly more likely to commit crimes.
Fixing this issue is not necessarily simple. As mentioned earlier, it requires a significant investment. However, there are ways to make learning opportunities available to prisoners without completely reforming criminal justice in the United States.
Making Education Accessible to Everyone
Digital technology makes learning easier and more affordable than ever. Prison systems may utilize the services of remote educators to provide instruction for much larger groups than a single in-person teacher would be able to accommodate.
Online learning modules may also be implemented as a way of allowing incarcerated individuals to work in the way that is most comfortable to them, and the most appropriate to their individual learning style.
Online learning platforms are adaptable, meaning they may adjust to reflect the skill level of the person using them. This can help avoid discouragement and help ensure that people learn consistently from their lessons.
Online learning platforms also produce and manage data in a way that is easier to utilize than manual assignments. This could be very impactful. Currently, there is not much available on learning outcomes within incarcerated populations.
By taking a look at the numbers, educators could gain important insights on how to best serve prison populations.
Data-based educational interventions are already very successful within the public school system. They could prove similarly impactful within prisons.
Conclusion
There are currently 1.2 million people incarcerated in the United States. That’s the population of a small country. These numbers are terrible by any metric but are even worse when the racial disparity element is considered. Almost 40% of prisoners are black—that’s huge when you factor in that African Americans account for only 13% of the general population.
Without significant prison reform, at least half of those people will be in and out of jail for the rest of their lives.
Who does that help?
Education is a powerful tool for reducing recidivism. Giving people who are in jail opportunities to grow and develop new skills is a powerful and proven way to reduce recidivism and create a safer society.
It’s very simple: What the United States is doing now does not work. Why not try something with proven and incontestable results?
