Throughout the globe, prisons exist to rehabilitate the wrongdoers in society, encourage and help them create a new path different from the one which led them to prisons. The limitations that prisoners get do not mean that they are unable to continue studying if they were students or engage in other learning or educational activities while in prisons. Education and vocational training exist in prisons to help impart knowledge to the prisoners, thus giving them something to be proud of. There are different courses or vocational trades available the prison curriculum, which the inmates can easily choose from and pursue to the end.
Every vocational trade or course has its advantages, and inmates tend to be advised fully to understand their options and thus choose the best one according to their desires/passion. There are several courses that can be included in the prison education and vocational programs. However, they may be limited depending on the funding inmates' interests, and availability of the teaching staff. Some of the educational and vocational programs that can be offered include welding, electrical or plumbing apprenticeships, barbering, culinary arts /food service, carpentry, air conditioning and ventilation, construction, automotive service, and occupational safety among others (GED) (National Institute of Justice (NIJ), n.d). However, other educational and vocational programs would heavily rely on the academic level of an inmate; in most cases, this is a diploma from high school or the General Educational Development.
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These educational and vocational programs are meant to do well to the inmates and thus prepare and equip them with the needed skills for when they are released from prison. It is a common occurrence for prison inmates to engage in other unlawful activities after their release. As a result, they end up arrested, tried, and sent back to prison. According to different studies, it has been found that inmates who do not take any prison educational and vocational program tend to get re-incarcerated sooner or later after their release (Bozick et al., 2013). Engaging in educational and vocational programs in prison would help ex-convicts to avoid unlawful behaviors and thus lead to a different life. What is more, it was found that correctional education tends to be cost-effective in the reduction of recidivism (Bozick et al., 2013). Correctional education helps improve the lives of inmates after their release, thereby significantly reducing their chances of engaging in unlawful activities.
Prison education and vocational programs tend to create better conditions for inmates, thus making it possible for them to get employment opportunities upon their release. Other than reducing the chances of being re-incarcerated, correctional education increases the chances of ex-convicts getting employment. Upon their release, prisons may link inmates with different employers where they can get full-time or part-time jobs, thus help them keep off unlawful activities, thereby creating a different path for themselves (Davis et al., 2014). Vocational programs above tend to be highly engaging technical and therefore are on-demand daily. Training prisoners in these vocational programs would help them to get employment opportunities and get to the right track easily and thus help in building a better society for the next generation. What is more, vocational programs ensure that there is constant, hence a lifelong learning process
As much as these educational and other related programs would depend on several things such as availability of teaching staff, inmates’ interests, and funding, the facility can possibly manage to create ways and thus ensure that the offered programs would be the most appropriate choice while it considers other ways of bringing more on board. All the same, the programs mentioned above would be of considerable significance to the inmates and would go a great way to help them when they are released from prison.
References
Bozick, R., Davis, M. L., Steele, L. J., Saunders, J., & Miles, N. V. J. (2013). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education . RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR266.html
Davis, M. L., Steele, L. J., Bozick, R., Williams, M. V., Turner, S., Miles, N. V. J., Saunders, J., & Steinberg, P. S. (2014). How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where Do We Go from Here? RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR564.html
National Institute of Justice. (n.d). Corrections-Based Vocational Training Programs . National Institute of Justice . https://www.crimesolutions.gov/PracticeDetails.aspx?ID=24
