Prison education

The history and availability of prison education in Europe varies greatly between countries. Nordic countries have a long history of providing education to prisoners, and Sweden in particular is considered to be a pioneer in the field.[1] Prison education became mandatory for inmates under 35 in 1842, and vocational education can be traced back to at least 1874, when the Uppsala County prison hired a carpenter to teach inmates woodworking.[2] In Denmark, juvenile offenders have had access to education since the 1850s, and educational programs became mandatory for them in 1930. Adult prisons have had educational programs since 1866, and legislation requiring all inmates under the age of 30 to participate in educational courses was implemented in 1952.[3] Norway opened its first prison to focus on education as a form of rehabilitation in 1851.[4] By 1875, all eight prisons in the country were providing education to inmates,[5] and by the end of the century, legislation was in effect ensuring that any prisoner who had not completed primary and lower secondary schooling should do so while in prison.[4] As of 2007, every prison in Norway has a school for inmates.[5] In Finland, legislation was adopted in 1866 which ensured that all prisoners would receive primary education, though the implementation of the order faced practical difficulties. A more successful education reform was implemented in 1899, which remained unchanged until 1975.[6] However Iceland, which as of 2011 averaged only 137 prisoners in the country,[7] only began implementing education programs in 1971.[8]

Between 1939 and 1975, while under the rule of Francisco Franco, prisons in Spain were infamous for their harsh conditions and levels of repression. Attitudes later softened, with the 1978 Constitution declaring that prisons should be oriented at re-education rather than forced labor.[9] While university access existed, a 1992 Human Rights Watch report found that most prisons only offered basic education and some vocational training, and female inmates had less access to education than males.[10] As of 2018, the National University of Distance Education is the only institution allowed to provide university education to inmates.[11] In 1976, laws in Italy clarified that prisoners were entitled to university education. However, prisoners were unable to complete courses as correctional facilities neither provided entry for teachers, or leave for students to complete exams. Prisoners were only effectively allowed to study at university from 1986 when laws were relaxed, and further rights were enabled in 2000, greatly improving educational access. Many partnerships between prisons and universities were established between the early 2000s and mid 2010s.[11]

The first significant development of prison education in England was Robert Peel's Parliamentary Gaol Act of 1823, which called for reading and writing classes in all prisons.[12] While prison staff in the 1850s recognised the importance of basic literacy, they opposed giving prisoners any form of higher education on the grounds that education itself would not provide any "moral elevation".[13] The Prison Act of 1877 is considered to have established the prison system that remained in effect until the 1990s, which only offered education of a "narrow and selective kind".[12] In 1928, the majority of prisons in the UK were still only offering the most basic education courses.[14] By 1958, while the number of educational staff in prisons had increased, there had been no other significant advancements in prison education. Education programs did not improve until 1992, when the decision was made to outsource educational instruction on a competitive basis. More than 150 organisations applied, and by 1994, there were 45 educational providers across 125 prisons, providing various forms of education including secondary and tertiary.[12]

Attempts to rehabilitate prisoners in Russia were made in 1819, possibly for the first time in the country's history. Reforms included instructing them in "piety and good morals", though this proved impossible due to the cramped conditions, extreme poverty and lack of other services. Instead, general improvements to conditions were first made, after which "religious and moral education" were gradually introduced.[15] In 1918, it was recommended that children in Russian prisons should receive education alongside punishment. However, few educational programs were implemented, because of the competing agendas of various jurisdictions and agencies.[16] In the 1920s, efforts were made within the Gulag prison camps to eradicate illiteracy. Almost all the camps had classes on "political education", and some also had classes such as natural science, history of culture and foreign languages.[17]

A prison literacy class for African Americans in New Orleans, 1937

In the United States, prisoners were given religious instruction by chaplains in the early 19th century, and secular prison education programs were first developed in order to help inmates to read Bibles and other religious texts. The first major education program aimed at rehabilitating prisoners was launched in 1876.[18] Zebulon Brockway, the superintendent of Elmira Reformatory in New York, was the initial person to implement such a program. He believed prison education would "discipline the mind and fit it to receive ... the thoughts and principles that constitute their possessors good citizens".[18] By 1900, the states of Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota had adopted the "Elmira system" of education,[19] and by the 1930s, educational programs could be found in most prisons.[18] Tertiary education programs did not appear until much later. In 1960, only nine states were offering college-level education to inmates; by 1983, such programs were available in most states.[18]

Support and availability of educational programs has fluctuated in the US as policy has switched between focusing on rehabilitation and crime control.[20] Between 1972 and 1995, inmates in the US were able to apply for Pell Grants, a subsidy program run by the US federal government that provides funding for students.[21] However, in 1994 Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which denied Pell Grants to anyone who is incarcerated.[22] As a result, by 2005 only about a dozen prisons were offering post-secondary education, compared to 350 in the early 1990s;[21] the number in New York dropped from 70 to 4.[23] In 2015, President Barack Obama created a pilot program that allowed a limited number of inmates to receive Pell grants. More than 200 colleges in 47 states subsequently expressed interest in running educational programs for prisoners.[23] The Pell ban was repealed in December 2020, reinstating eligibility for federal financial aid to thousands of incarcerated people in the US.[24]

The development of prison education within Canada has paralleled that of the US. Royal Commissions in 1914 and 1936 both recommended that work programs be replaced, at least to some extent, by rehabilitative programs including education.[18] However, education programs did not become commonplace until the mid 1940s.[18]

A prison system in Barbados was established in 1945. Education programs were officially introduced into it in 1956, and focused on basic literacy and numeracy, though female prisoners were not allowed to participate until the Prison Reform Act of 1961–66 was passed. Inmates over the age of 25 were not allowed to participate in programs until 1990, when Barbados adopted the mandate of the World Conference on Education For All. The mandate also saw the offering of vocational and secondary education in the prison system.[25] The Dominican Republic underwent a prison reform beginning in 2003, with basic literacy becoming compulsory at nearly half the country's 35 prisons; if inmates refuse to participate they were denied privileges such as visitation. As of 2012, 36 of the 268 prisoners at Najayo women's prison were completing university degrees in either law or psychology.[26]

Outside access to, and information regarding the conditions of prisons in Cuba following its political revolution in the 1950s is limited. The government permitted limited access for some journalists in 2013, but it is unclear to what extent those facilities may have been representative of the country's prisons as a whole. Private interviews were not permitted, but officials highlighted the system's work and study programs, including the teaching of skilled trades such as carpentry.[27][28] According to one 1988 report by the Institute for Policy Studies, prisoners were provided with education up to a ninth grade level, inmates were provided with training in technical skills and as much as 85% of the population worked. Political reeducation also played a major role in Cuban penology.[29]

Education opportunities in prison are considered to be generally poorer in South America in comparison to Europe and North America.[26] Resources for education are comparatively lacking due to rising incarceration rates and prison overcrowding, partly a by-product of the war on drugs.[30] Prison education programs began in Argentina in the 1950s. Although details about programs and their effectiveness is limited, the lack of available data is attributed to corruption within the prison system, alongside poor living conditions and high levels of violence.[31] A law was enacted in 1996 ensuring all prisoners with less than the compulsory nine years of basic schooling be able to participate in educational programs. Due to administrative constraints, on average only about 25% of eligible prisoners participated in these programs as of 2010.[32]

As of 2009, Brazil was considered to have one of the most progressive policies on prison education in South America.[33] In 1984, the National Congress of Brazil passed a prison reform law, recognising inmates' right to education and other services, though the law has not been effectively implemented.[33] As of 1998, some prisons were not offering education at all, while others only had "a fraction" of inmates studying; about 23% of inmates at São Paulo State Penitentiary were enrolled in some form of education;[34] access to education was "more easily available" in female prisons.[35] A 2002 report by the Federal Court of Accounts estimated that over 90% of the federal budget for prisons was spent on construction of new jails, and the funding for programs including education "was not used [for] consistent policies but rather punctual and dispersed initiatives proposed by the states".[33] As of 2004, it is estimated that less than 20% of Brazil's 400,000 inmates had access to education.[33]

An educational classroom at a prison in New South Wales, Australia, c. 1900

The first formal education program to be implemented in the Australian state of New South Wales was at Darlinghurst Gaol in 1862, when a schoolmaster was hired to provide elementary and moral education to any prisoner who wished to attend. Prior to this one of the prisoners had been providing educational lessons to other inmates.[36] By the early 1900s, basic literacy programs were commonplace throughout Australian prisons,[37] and by the 1950s, all major prisons in the country were offering some form of education and training programs, though no more than 15 to 20% of inmates at any given prison could participate in educational programs at one time.[38]

The Senate Employment, Education and Training References Committee produced the Senate Report of the Inquiry into Education and Training in Correctional Facilities in 1996.[37] The report stated that the history of prison education in Australia "could fairly be described as a disgrace", with non-existent or poor facilities containing deficient and out-dated curricula and resources.[39] It made several recommendations on how to improve prison education, including the development of a national strategy. In 2001, a national strategy was launched, and by 2006, all states and territories were offering some form of tertiary education to inmates.[37] Each state and territory, however, maintains control over its own prison education systems; there is no national system[37][40] leading to differences in the way education is offered. For example, inmates in the Australian Capital Territory have been allowed to have laptop computers in their cells for educational purposes since 2006, though as of 2020 this is not available for inmates in New South Wales. Accordingly, certain educational and rehabilitation programs that require a computer cannot be offered there.[41][42][43]

According to the New Zealand Annual Review of Education, the availability and quality of prison education in the country decreased significantly between 1959 and 2005, as government policy shifted from prisons focusing on rehabilitation to prisons focusing on punishment. A 2005 Ombudsman's report stated there were "low levels of rehabilitative and productive activities" for prisoners in New Zealand.[44]

Prison education in Japan can be traced back to at least 1871, when practical ethics lectures were introduced into a prison in Tokyo.[46] Reading and writing classes began being implemented into the prison system on a larger scale by 1881. By the late 1880s, it was believed that ethics classes were the most important form of education for prisoners, and by the 1890s, education was considered one of the most important issues of the prison system.[47] In 1910, prison law in Japan ordered education be given to all juvenile inmates, and to any adult inmate deemed to have a need. Regulations stipulated two to four hours per day be set aside for education.[48] In 1952, correspondence courses were introduced into all prisons, and in 1955, a high school was established at Matsumoto juvenile prison for juvenile inmates who had not completed their compulsory education.[49] As of 2018, it is still the country's only high school in prison, and male prisoners nationwide can be transferred there on request.[50][51]

Changes were made to the prison system in China in the 1920s, following the establishment of the Republic of China. Resulting from criticism of the lack of education for inmates at the time, there was a shift in the prison system away from religious and moral teaching, to intellectual education and hard labour as the primary means of rehabilitation.[52] Authorities took considerable effort to develop an effective and diverse educational curriculum. As well as teaching literacy and arithmetic, classes also included music and composition, popular ethics, Confucianism and patriotic and political doctrine; the teaching of party doctrine increased significantly in the 1930s.[53] In 1981, the People's Republic of China incorporated prison education into its national education program, significantly increasing access for inmates.[54]

In India, reports showing the need for prison education were being made as early as the 19th century, however, the country's prisons focused mostly on punitive measures. In 1983, while general and vocational programs were in place, they were considered to be understaffed and underfunded, and the types of vocational training offered were outdated.[55] Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is considered to play a major role in prison education in India, becoming the country's first university to operate a study centre in prison at Tihar Jail in 1994. By 2010, IGNOU had 52 prison study centres with approximately 1,500 students; several other universities were also running educational programs in India's prisons. Enrollments remained relatively low, however, as only fee-paying students were permitted to undertake courses. In 2010, IGNOU collaborated with the Ministry of Home Affairs to begin offering free education to inmates.[56]

Nelson Mandela studied for his Bachelor of Laws while imprisoned on Robben Island.[57]

Prison education is generally less well-established throughout Africa in comparison to the Western world.[58] The first prison in Nigeria was established in 1872, however, as of 2010, no formal education program had ever been implemented by the Nigerian government;[59][60] in 1986, one prison launched organised educational programs though they were run and funded by inmates.[61] Following the death of de facto Nigerian President Sani Abacha in 1998, many political prisoners were released, bringing considerable media attention to the "grim conditions" they faced; prison in Nigeria was seen as purely punitive, with little to no resources given for infrastructure and rehabilitation programs, like education. The provision of education was varied from prison to prison, though typically offered nothing better than informal apprenticeships in trades necessary to keep prisons operational.[60] However, by 2016, the National Open University of Nigeria had established training centers at six Nigerian prisons, and offers inmates a 50% discount on all tuition fees.[62]

In 1961, South Africa began holding criminal and political prisoners in a jail on Robben Island. Inmates were encouraged to study when the prison opened, and education programs to ensure all inmates were literate when initiated. Only inmates whose families could afford to pay for tuition fees were permitted to participate, and access to education improved and then regressed with the prison's ever changing policy; by the end of the 1960s, programs were restricted on the concern they were improving the inmates' morale too much. Historians also speculate the prison system was concerned that inmates were becoming better educated than the guards.[63] Inmates were able to undertake correspondence courses through the University of London International Programmes; Nelson Mandela completed a Bachelor of Laws while in custody, though his educational privileges were revoked for four years after staff discovered he was writing an autobiography, something which was forbidden at the time.[57] Efforts by inmates to educate themselves politically were significantly hampered by the prison's policy to forbid inmates access to newspapers, radios and television. These restrictions were lifted in the late 1970s; Jeff Radebe headed a political education program at the prison in the 1980s.[64] As of 1993, education was a privilege rather than one of the inmates' rights. Basic literacy courses were provided by paid inmates, rather than qualified teachers, and higher levels of education were only available to inmates who could afford correspondence courses.[65]

With funding from the United Nations Development Programme, a basic literacy program for inmates was launched in Ghana in 2003, and by 2008, all prisons were offering education to inmates, though the program's effectiveness is severely affected by a lack of resources.[66] For many years, the only prison education offered in Morocco was farming skills at the country's agricultural prisons, though a 2014 report found that educational opportunities had been increasing and that literacy, vocational and other educational programs were being offered.[67]

Recidivism in many countries is high, with rates over 50% not uncommon.[108] Recidivism rates are difficult to compare between countries, due to differences in laws and also what constitutes recidivism. Some countries consider simply being re-arrested as recidivism, whereas others count re-conviction or re-imprisonment. There is also little consistency in the periods of time measured,[108] and some countries do not release figures at all.[109] A 2019 study analysing the latest available figures from 23 countries and self-governing areas found that within two years of release, re-arrest rates ranged from 26% (Singapore) to 60% (US), re-conviction rates ranged from 20% (Norway) to 63% (Denmark), and re-imprisonment rates ranged from 14% (Oregon, US) to 45% (Australia).[109]

People in prison systems worldwide are consistently less educated than the general population,[67][72][110][111][112][113] and ex-prisoners are also less likely to obtain employment after release than people of the same age that do not have a criminal record.[114] Prison education programs are intended to reduce recidivism by increasing an inmate's ability to secure employment.[115][116] A study in the UK in 2002 found that employment reduced a former prisoner's chance of re-offending by at least a third,[72] and a meta-analysis conducted by the RAND Corporation, which completed a comprehensive literature search of studies released in the US between 1980 and 2011, found that participating in educational courses increased an inmate's chances of being employed post-release by 13%.[116]

Prison education programs consistently have a significant effect on reducing recidivism, whereas prison labour, which is typically more prevalent in prison than education, has been shown to have little to no effect.[117] Prison education also has therapeutic benefits such as alleviating boredom, improving self-esteem and stimulating creativity, all of which have been linked to reductions in recidivism;[71][118] studies have shown that the majority of benefits from high-school equivalency programs in prison come from the experience of learning, rather than from the opportunities that arise after obtaining the qualification.[84] Educational programs have also been shown to reduce violence within prisons;[97][117][119] UNESCO has suggested general educational programs for prisoners as a way of combating extremism.[120] Education has also been advocated for prisoners who are not expected to ever be released, on the grounds that it promotes a better atmosphere in the prison community, and prisoners serving life sentences often act as role models for others.[121]

Observational studies of the effects of education on recidivism have been criticised for self-selection bias: it has been argued that recidivism is not due to the educational courses themselves, but only reflects the positive attitudes of people who volunteer for them.[71] "Quasi-experimental" attempts to control for such biasses with paired difference tests have found that the effect on recidivism persists.[115][122] Trials that randomly assigned prisoners to either a treatment group or a control group, thus making self-selection impossible, found similar effects.[123] Such fully-experimental interventions (randomized controlled trials) are rare in criminology; practical difficulties are often cited as a reason for this lack, but the culture of the academic field may be more relevant.[124] A study in North Carolina using data from 1990-1991 found that there was no significant difference in outcomes for prisoners who volunteered for programs, compared to those who were required to participate in education due to official mandates, supporting a call for mandatory literacy programs in prison.[125]

Some studies on the link between recidivism and education in prison disregard results if an inmate does not complete the educational course; such studies therefore never measure the potential benefits of simply participating in courses. Due to the disparaging factors that prevent inmates from completing education programs, studies that only record results for graduates are especially vulnerable to selection bias, as they utilise an independent variable that is strongly associated with ability and motivation, though they are not able to adjust for these factors.[84] Studies on prison education have a reputation for measuring effectiveness against rates of recidivism alone, and do not take into consideration any other factors such as the experience from the perspective of either students or teachers.[126][127]

In the US, there were few studies on the relationship between educational programs and recidivism before the 1970s.[18] The first was done at the Ohio Penitentiary in 1924, and examined 200 inmates who had completed correspondence programs. The results, which found that inmates in the program were more "successful" after release, established the first link in the US between prison education and reduced recidivism.[122] A 1948 study at a Wisconsin State Prison examined 680 prisoners who attended full-time study in custody for two years after their release. Results indicated a "small but statistically significant" decrease in recidivism.[18] The first extensive study undertaken to examine the relationship was called Project Newgate.[18] Beginning in 1969, and studying 145 inmates in Minnesota over five years, results indicated that inmates who participated in an education program were more than 33% less likely to return to prison.[128][129] Other results at the time were not unanimous. A meta-analysis in 1975 and another in 1983 found that while education programs in prison were beneficial for inmates, their effects on recidivism were inconclusive;[18] the methods used in these meta-analyses have been considered to be of poor quality by modern standards.[130] Later studies, however, consistently show that educational programs reduce the rates of re-offending.[115] A 1987 study of Federal Bureau of Prisons inmates found that those who participated in education programs were 8.6% less likely to return to prison,[131] and a 1997 study of 3,200 inmates in Maryland, Minnesota and Ohio found a reduction rate of 29%.[22] A meta-analysis of 15 studies done in the US during the 1990s found that, on average, inmates who attended tertiary level education in prison were 31% less likely to re-offend.[122] The RAND Corporation meta-analysis found that, on average, there was a reduction rate of 13% for inmates who participated in educational programs,[116] and a meta-analysis of 57 studies in the US between 1980 and 2017 found the average recidivism reduction was 32%.[130] An educational program created by the Bard Prison Initiative has a recidivism rate of 4% for people who only attended the course and 2.5% for those who completed it.[23]

An Australian study of prisoners released between July 2001 and November 2002 found that in the two years following release, inmates who participated in educational programs were nine percent less likely to return to prison.[88][96] A 2005 report found that in the Australian state of Queensland there was a 24–28% reduction in the rate of recidivism among inmates who completed education courses.[132] A study of 14,643 prisoners in Western Australia between 2005 and 2010 found that those who undertook prison education were 11.25% less likely to be re-incarcerated.[133] In England and Wales, a 2014 study of more than 6,000 prisoners found that those who undertook education courses were seven percent less likely to return to prison.[134] A prison education program in Ukraine had only three out of 168 participants (1.8%) re-offend in 2013;[67] the re-offending rate in Ukraine in 1993 was 30% within three years and 66% within five years.[135] As of 2012, the re-offending rate in the Dominican Republic for persons incarcerated in prisons with mandatory educational programs is less than 3% after three years, compared to about 50% for those in prisons without such programs.[26]

Effects of prison education courses have been found to be cumulative; studies show the more classes an individual takes while in prison, the less likely they will be to re-offend.[88][133] Studies also show higher level qualifications are associated with lower re-offending rates.[115][136] A 2000 study by the Texas Department of Education found that the overall re-offending rate was 40–43%, though the rate for inmates who completed an associate degree or bachelor's degree was 27.2% and 7.8% respectively.[22]

There is less data available on the relationship between educational programs and recidivism in juvenile detention.[137] Results are difficult to measure as juvenile inmates are more likely to finish their sentences before their schooling is completed.[84] Further complications arise in countries where all juvenile inmates typically receive education, such as the US, as it is not possible to compare the effects of programs against a "no education" control group.[138] A meta-analysis in the US in 2014 found that juveniles who completed secondary school equivalency programs were 47% less likely to offend. Meta-analysis on the impact of vocational education on juvenile offenders, however, only showed minor improvements below the level of statistical significance.[84]