Reducing Recidivism

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Reducing Recidivism Education and vocational skills are mandatory in life. Education factors all aspects of life. Without a proper education one is limited to basic life rewards. Not to say that money is the only reason for an education, but it seems to be the force that drives offenders to keep offending. If one does not possess a basic education then the next best thing would be vocational training. Vocational training is an excellent way for some of the low educated people to get out of the life that put them in prison and to achieve a positive position in society. Education is the area that society needs to be concerned with, according to a study by Beck and Shipley . The study was conducted on 16,000 prisoners from 11 states in the effort to reduce on recidivism. The study showed that "62.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years." This study proved that prisoners with an eighth grade education or lower were rearrested at a rate of 61.9%, while those who were high school graduates were rearrested at a rate of 57.4%. Just by the numbers alone one can conclude that an education is vital to the rehabilitation of offenders. There are many types of education that offenders can utilize. Many prisons already have programs established to help people incarcerated to obtain an education. Programs designed to help offenders to read and write, get a General Education Development (GED) certificate, and vocational training. Most of these programs are already in place and are effectively working. The problem occurs when prisoners are not exposed to the education while incarcerated. Programs should be mandatory and... ... middle of paper ... ...enders are not rehabilitated they have just been locked up for their sentence. Dr. Cobun felt that more emphasis should be placed on education and vocational programs that would give the prisoners a future in the community and give them a chance at parole. The states should not spend extra funds for education programs and the government should not fund higher learning for incarcerated individuals. Convicted felons should be allowed to obtain their GED but they should not have the opportunity to go to college while they are incarcerated. If the government wants to spend money on education it should be for the lower income families that can not afford it and not a convict trying to pass time. If states want to spend money, they should spend it on vocational programs that will help the prisoners once they are released.

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