Hundreds of studies have been published concerning correctional education. All of these studies, dating back to 1939, assert that correctional education effectively and efficiently reduces recidivism and does so at a significantly lower price point than incarceration [1][2][3][4]. To show the across-the-board recidivism reduction benefits of correctional education, the following studies dating back to 1974 are presented:
- 1974: Burlington County College of New Jersey prison college program: 10% program recidivism rate for participants compared to 80 percent national recidivism rate. [5]
- 1976: Alexander City State Junior College prison college program: 16 percent program recidivism rate for participants compared to 70 to 75 percent national rate. [6]
- 1979: Maryland Correctional Training Center’s post-secondary correctional education program: “positive effect in reducing recidivism among participants.” [7]
- 1979: State Correctional Institution Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania post-secondary correctional education program: “inmate students with the highest risk of recidivism experienced a statistically significant (at the .05 level) reduction in recidivism when compared to the control group of 108 variables.” [8]
- 1980: Texas Department of Corrections Treatment Directorate: “participation in the junior college [correctional education] program definitely results in lower recidivism rates.” [9]
- 1981: University of Victoria of Canada prison college program: “14 percent program recidivism rate compared to 52 percent matched group.” [10]
- 1983: Folsom prison college program: 0 percent baccalaureate program recidivism rate compared to 24 percent standard first-year recidivism rate. [11]
- 1983: New Mexico State Penitentiary college program: 15.5 percent program recidivism rate compared to 68 percent overall recidivism rate. [12]
- 1986: Lebanon Correctional Institution of Ohio college program: 11 percent program recidivism rare compared to 30 percent recidivism rate for high school dropouts. [13]
- 1986: Boston University of Massachusetts prison college program: 0 percent baccalaureate recidivism rate. [14]
- 1990: Lorton Prison of the District of Columbia college program: 6 percent program recidivism rate compared to 40 percent average recidivism rate. [15]
- 1991: New York Department of Correctional Services: post-secondary correctional education programs: 26 percent program recidivism rate compared to an overall recidivism rate of 44 percent. [16]
- 1994: “Recidivism Among Federal Prisoners Released in 1987 “: 5 percent earning college degrees recidivated compared to 40 percent overall recidivism rate. [17]
- 1996: Texas Department of Corrections, Windham School System Analysis: Recidivism rates of various degree levels: Associate Degree 13.7 percent, Bachelors Degree 5.6 percent, Masters Degree 0 percent. [18]
- 2001: “OCE/CEA Three State Recidivism Study”: Former prisoners with no advanced education recidivate at a rate of approximately 66 percent within 3 to 5 years of release. With attaining a GED or high school diploma, the recidivism rate is reduced to roughly 46 percent. With quality vocational training, the recidivism rate is further reduced to around 30%. And with post-secondary correctional education, the recidivism rate is slashed: Associate’s degrees 13.7 to 20 percent; Bachelor’s degrees 5.6 percent. Masters degree 0 percent. [19]
- 2001: Virginia Department of Correctional Education’s Incarcerated Youth Offender Program: Incarcerated students who engaged in academic studies recidivated at a rate of 17.6 percent, inmate students who participated in vocational training recidivated at a rate of 24.2 percent, and non-participants recidivated at a rate of 29.3 percent. Academic studies reduced recidivism rates by 39.9 percent, while vocational training reduced recidivism rates by 17.4 percent. [20]
- 2002: Virginia Department of Correctional Education’s Incarcerated Youth Offender Program: Incarcerated students who engaged in academic studies recidivated at a rate of 12.6 percent, inmate students who participated in vocational training recidivated at a rate of 11.1 percent, and non-participants recidivated at a rate of 25 percent. Academic studies reduced recidivism rates by 49.6 percent, while vocational training reduced recidivism rates by 55.6 percent. [21]
- 2002: “Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994 “: 54.3 percent recidivism rate for correctional education participants, compared to 67.5 percent base recidivism rate for non-participants. Correctional education resulted in a projected 13.2 percent reduction in recidivism rates. [22]
- 2002: “Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994 “: 38 percent recidivism rate for correctional education participants, compared to 51.8 percent base recidivism rate for non-participants. Correctional education resulted in a projected 13.8 percent reduction in recidivism rates. [23]
- 2011: New Mexico’s Metro Detention Center: “There is consistency across the board in study after study that [prison] education works.” [24]
- 2011: “State of Recidivism: The Revolving Door of American Prisons”: 30.4 percent recidivism rate for correctional education participants, compared to 43.3 percent base recidivism rate for non-participants. Correctional education resulted in a projected 12.9 percent reduction in recidivism rates. [25]
When the results of these studies are viewed in the context of traditional recidivism rates (which hovered around 45.4 percent in 1999 and 43.3 percent in 2004 [26] and have been reported to be as high as 67 to 80 percent when a five-year term of monitoring is employed [27]), the effectiveness of correctional education becomes apparent. Correctional education is significantly more effective than incarceration alone [28]. And while recidivism rates do vary depending on the jurisdiction, study modality, qualifying criteria [29], study duration [30], and a plethora of other factors [31], all of the research confirms that correctional education does reduce recidivism significantly and does so cost-effectively [32]. John Esperian in the {Journal of Correctional Education} sums up the argument perfectly: “Prison-based education is the single most effective tool for lowering recidivism” [33].
Sources
1-Case, P. (2006). Predicting risk time and probability: An assessment of prison education and recidivism. Conference of the American Sociological Association.
2-Fabelo, T. (2002). The impact of prison education on community reintegration of inmates: The Texas case. Journal of Correctional Education, Vol. 53, No. 3.
3-Aos, S., Miller, M. & Drake, E. (2006). Evidence-based public policy options to reduce future prison construction, criminal justice costs, and crime rates. Washington State Institute for Public Policy.
4-Martin, M. (2009, June). What happened to prison education programs? Prison Legal News.
5-Thomas, F. (1974). Narrative evaluation report on the institute for educational media technology. Burlington Community College, NJ.
6-Thompson, J. (1976, July). Report on follow-up evaluation survey of former inmate students of Alexander State Junior College. Alexander City State Junior College, AL.
7-Blackburn, F. (1979). The relationship between recidivism and participation in community college associate of arts degree program for incarcerated offenders. Ed.D. Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and State University.
8-Blumstein, A. & Cohen, J. (1979, November). Control of selection effects in the evaluation of social problems. Evaluation Quarterly, 583-608.
9-Gaither, C. (1980, May). An evaluation of the Texas Department of Corrections’ Junior College Program. Monroe: Northeast Louisiana University.
10-Duguid, S. (1981). Rehabilitation through education: A Canadian model. In L. Morain (ed.), On Prison Education, Ottawa: Canadian Publishing Centre
11-Chase, L. & Dickover, R. (1983). University education at Folsom Prison: An evaluation. Journal of Correctional Education, 34: 92-95.
12-(1983). Learning maketh the honest man. Psychology Today, April: 77.
13-Holloway, J. & Moke, P. (1986). Post-secondary correctional education: An evaluation of parole performance. Wilmington, OH: Wilmington College.
14-Barker, E. (1986). The liberal arts in the correctional setting: Education benefitting free men — for those who are not presently free. Paper presented at the Correctional Education Association Conference, Cincinnati, OH.
15-Lorton Prison College Program — Annual Report. (1990, November). Division of Continuing Education, University of the District of Columbia.
16-Clark, D. (1991). Analysis of return rates of the inmate college program participants. New York Department of Correctional Services. Albany, NY.
17-Harer, M. (1994). Recidivism among federal prisoners released in 1987. Federal Bureau of Prisons, Office of Research & Evaluation.
18-(1995). The impact of correctional education programs on recidivism 1988-1994. Office of Correctional Education, U.S. Department of Education.
19- Streurer, S., Smith, L., & Tracy, A. (September 30, 2001). OCEA/CEA Three State Recidivism Study. Submitted to the Office of Correctional Education, U.S. Department of Education.
20-Lichtenberger, E.J. & Onyewu, N. (2005). Virginia Department of Correctional Education’s Incarcerated Youth Offender Program: A historical analysis (No. 9). Richmond, VA: Department of Correctional Education.
21-Ibid.
22-Langan, P.A. & Levin, D.J. (2002). Recidivism of prisoners released in 1994. NCJ 193427.
23-Ibid.
24-Pauls, C.E. (2011). Student perceptions of the charter school experience at Metro Detention Center. Masters Thesis, University of New Mexico.
25-Pew Center on the States. (2011). State of recidivism: The revolving door of American prisons. Washington, DC: Pew Charitable Trusts.
26-Ibid.
27-(2009). Partnership between community colleges and prisons: Providing workforce education and training to reduce recidivism. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Correctional Education.
28-(Winter, 1998). Education as crime prevention. Spectrum: The Journal of State Government, Vol. 71 on the 1997 report produced by the Center on Crime, Communities & Culture, Occasional Paper Series No. 2.
29-Ward, S.A. (2009). Career and technical education in United States prisons: What have we learned? Journal of Correctional Education, Vol. 60, No. 3.
30-Ibid.
31-Zoukis, C. (forthcoming, 2015). College for Convicts. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.
32-Sofer, S. (2006, October). Prison education: Is it worth it? Corrections Today.
33-Esperian, J.H. (2010, December). The effect of prison education programs on recidivism. Journal of Correctional Education, Vol. 61.
A special thank you to Dr. Jon Marc Taylor, author of the Prisoners’ Guerrilla Handbook to Correspondence Programs in the U.S. and Canada, 3rd edition (Prison Legal News, 2009), for providing a portion of the utilized research.
Published Jun 16, 2017 by Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA | Last Updated by Christopher Zoukis, JD, MBA on Mar 29, 2023 at 6:52 am
