The United States has an incarceration problem.
With nearly 2 million people under the control of the American criminal legal system, the U.S. has the world’s highest incarceration rate and more total incarcerated persons than any other country—one that is 4 to 8 times higher than those in other liberal democracies.
Not only have our prison and jail populations swelled to an unprecedented size over the past 40 years, but the conditions in which people are confined have grown increasingly harsh: incarcerated persons are spending more time in solitary confinement, medical, and mental health care are often seriously inadequate, and significant cuts have been made to vocational, recreational, and educational programming.¹
Moreover, incarceration “is not an equal opportunity punishment.” Black Americans are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of whites. While Black and Latino Americans make up about 32% of the U.S. population, they constitute 56% of the incarcerated population.
NPEP aims to be a leader in responding to the crisis of mass incarceration by providing high-quality educational opportunities to incarcerated students throughout the state of Illinois.
Mass Incarceration in the U.S.
~2Mincarcerated people in the U.S.
5xmore incarcerated Black Americans than whites
56%of incarcerated individuals are Black or Latino
How Prison Education Can Change Lives
Reduce Recidivism
The Bureau of Justice Statistics has found high rates of recidivism, or reoffending, among released incarcerated persons. A study that tracked over 400,000 incarcerated individuals in 30 states found that within three years of release, 2/3 (67.8%) were rearrested, and within five years, more than 3/4 (76.6%) were rearrested. A majority of rearrests (56.7%) happened within the first year. However, incarcerated individuals who participate in prison education programs have a 43% reduction in recidivism rates. Indeed, the higher the education, the lower the recidivism rate.
Increase Employment Opportunities
Formerly incarcerated individuals who participated in prison education programs have access to increased and improved employment opportunities. This makes their reentry smoother and more successful, particularly since successful reentry often depends on gainful employment.
Cost Effective
Investing in prison education is highly cost-effective. According to a study by the Department of Policy Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, investing $1 million in prison education can prevent over 600 crimes, while the same investment in incarceration only prevents about 350 crimes. This means that prison education is almost twice as cost-effective as incarceration. Another study found that every $1 invested in prison education saves taxpayers $4-$5 in re-incarceration costs during the first three years after release.
Break Down Barriers
Prison education has profound benefits, even for those serving lengthy — or life — sentences. It breaks down racial and ethnic barriers, which are often a cause of tension and violence in prisons. A survey of an Indiana prison, for instance, showed that incarcerated college students committed 75% fewer infractions. Prison education also improves relations between staff and incarcerated individuals and enhances incarcerated individuals’ self-esteem.
Create Community & Intergenerational Benefits
The power of education goes beyond the prison walls, reaching into the communities of incarcerated students. Postsecondary prison education, for example, has been shown to have a profound impact on the children of incarcerated parents, offering an opportunity to break the vicious cycle of inequality and incarceration that plagues so many families.
Investing in Prison Education
$1Minvestment in prison education will prevent 600 crimes
$9k+saved per incarcerated person through educational programs
$1invested in prison education will save taxpayers $4-$5 in re-incarceration costs
¹ Lynch, Mona Pauline. 2010. Sunbelt Justice: Arizona and the Transformation of American Punishment. Stanford, CA: Stanford Law Books; Reiter, Keramet. 2016. 23/7: Pelican Bay Prison and the Rise of Long-Term Solitary Confinement. New Haven: Yale University Press; Phelps, Michelle S. 2011. “Rehabilitation in the Punitive Era: The Gap between Rhetoric and Reality in U.S. Prison Programs.” Law & Society Review 45: 33-68; Simon, Jonathan. 2014. Mass Incarceration on Trial: A Remarkable Court Decision and the Future of Prisons in America. New York: New Press.
² Allen, R. 2006. “An economic analysis of prison education programs and recidivism.”