CrimeTalk

An educational resource for students and staff studying the sociology of crime, deviance and social censure, criminology, sociology of law and socio-legal studies;  the intriguing stuff that made the subject fascinating in the first place. So much of this has now become political that we also discuss politics.

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Education reduces crime: 3-state recidivism study

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Last Updated: Thursday, 25 March 2021 12:34
Published: Wednesday, 05 October 2011 13:57
Written by Stephen J. Steurer and Linda J. Smith
Hits: 2756

You have to wonder why studies like this one by Stephen Steurer and Linda Smith are not publicized more widely. Maybe its conclusions produce such positive findings about the impact of prison education on rehabilitation and recidivism that the imagined costs of providing good prison education systems frighten impecunious governmental funding agencies or politicians whose electoral prospects depend on holding to a 'lock em up and throw away the key' philosophy from the dark ages.

http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED478452.pdf

Its main conclusion is that, using a sample of over 3,000 inmates, participants in prison education programmes in Minnesota, Ohio and Maryland had lower recidivism rates. This was true with both vocational and college/post-secondary educational programmes - both led to higher wages and more chance of 'going straight'. 

The research design involved many leading correctional studies experts and was felt to be the best ever on this subject in 2003, its year of publication. The research was fortunate in having unusually good access to state financial records concerning employment and tax.

If we want to improve public safety and reduce recodivism, and many experienced criminologists would agree with me that this is a big 'if', it is clear that rigidly and obsessively using incarceration is not the way to go, and looks like a sign of ignorance, expediency or desperation.

As the authors put it, research consistently shows that offenders are "capable of positive change". Not only that, government analysts in Maryland calculated that those non-returning inmates saved the taxpayer $24 million p.a.; double the cost of the prison education programmes - not to mention the additional tax revenue gained from the newly employed non-returnees.

Colin Sumner

 

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