Beyond The Prison Bubble Essay

Prisoners, when given the opportunity, can learn so much while in confinement. It can better both their personal and social responses to any situation. Statistics from an article called "Beyond the Prison Bubble" shows, "If we could implement effective programs, we could expect to reduce recidivism by 15 to 20 percent."(Petersilia 2011) This saves prisoners time in jail and our tax dollars that went to supporting them and the prison. Education programs in prisons will allow inmates to keep up with society's common knowledge, it is extremely helpful in increasing release opportunities, and it is proven having more knowledge can reduce chances of prisoners being re-incarcerated. First, a credible reason for why prisoners should have access

Robert Cowan wrote an article called "Prisoner's Dilemma," discussing the chances of being re-incarcerated after education and states, "With access to college-level courses, prisoners are much less likely to return to the behaviors that landed them in jail in the first place."(2) With more knowledge and being more aware of their actions, these ex-inmates have a better chance to stay with their friends and families. The article previously used, called "Beyond the Prison Bubble," also states the hard statistics of recidivism when given learning opportunities targeted to the prisoners. "...About 495,000 of the 750,000 incarcerated persons who will be released this year are likely to be rearrested within three years. With effective programs, we could reduce the number of persons who repeatedly commit crimes by nearly 100,000." (Petersilia 2011) Not only will this lower crime rates, making our own backyards feel safer, but it will lower our tax expenses to the prisons if they have less people to take care of. Needless to say, the amount of people who can be kept out of returning to jail with some studying and classes while already in confinement, can be an immense change to