5 ms·

Supporting your first suggestion -- what are the best ways to improve education opportunities for prisoners?

by jtheory 12y ago

angersock 12y ago
I don't know offhand, and I kind of wish that I did. I imagine that you could probably talk to parole officers or local-nonprofits and ask for more information. If you hear about somebody getting out of the clink, offer to help I guess? I assume it's basically like trying to setup help for any other underserved demographic. Identify them, identify their needs, and see if you have or know something worth contributing.
- rdl 12y ago
  The Last Mile at San Quentin seems interesting. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/bringing-san-quentin-to-social-media/254823/ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/bringi...
lallysingh 12y ago
Put education in the prison? Maybe attach good grades to earlier release?
- alexhawdon 12y ago
  This seems like such an obvious solution and, with the advent of things like MOOCs, something that needn't be particularly costly. (Setting aside the fact that even 'costly' but effective rehabilitation is demonstrably cheaper in the long-run.) As well as the obvious benefits of equipping offenders with skills that will make them more employable upon release it seems intuitively true that the struggle for self-improvement would make them all-round 'better people'. For those who argue that self-study isn't enough, another component could be pairing up inmates of differing attainment levels and having effectively having them teach one another -- again, the act of teaching and helping a stranger has got to be a positive experience. Is there a big problem with any of this? Have studies been conducted that indicate my intuitions are incorrect? Have I massively underestimated the difficulties and costs associated with such a scheme? ...Or is it simply a combination of lack of imagination on the side of the administration, coupled with a strong urge for punitive justice on the side of the electorate?
  - watwut 12y ago
    If I recall right, education for education sake did not lowered recidivism much. It made prisoners better behaved while in prison (e.g. there was less violence and less problems in prison). I suspect that part of the problem with practical education for prisoners is that everybody else have to pay for it. So, law abiding (or not caught yet) citizens get all jealous about the perk they are not getting.

Supporting your first suggestion -- what are the best ways to improve education opportunities for prisoners?

by jtheory 12y ago

Supporting your first suggestion -- what are the best ways to improve education opportunities for prisoners?

I don't know offhand, and I kind of wish that I did. I imagine that you could probably talk to parole officers or local-nonprofits and ask for more information. If you hear about somebody getting out of the clink, offer to help I guess? I assume it's basically like trying to setup help for any other underserved demographic. Identify them, identify their needs, and see if you have or know something worth contributing.

rdl 12y ago
The Last Mile at San Quentin seems interesting. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/bringing-san-quentin-to-social-media/254823/ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/bringi...

lallysingh 12y ago

Put education in the prison? Maybe attach good grades to earlier release?

alexhawdon 12y ago
This seems like such an obvious solution and, with the advent of things like MOOCs, something that needn't be particularly costly. (Setting aside the fact that even 'costly' but effective rehabilitation is demonstrably cheaper in the long-run.) As well as the obvious benefits of equipping offenders with skills that will make them more employable upon release it seems intuitively true that the struggle for self-improvement would make them all-round 'better people'. For those who argue that self-study isn't enough, another component could be pairing up inmates of differing attainment levels and having effectively having them teach one another -- again, the act of teaching and helping a stranger has got to be a positive experience. Is there a big problem with any of this? Have studies been conducted that indicate my intuitions are incorrect? Have I massively underestimated the difficulties and costs associated with such a scheme? ...Or is it simply a combination of lack of imagination on the side of the administration, coupled with a strong urge for punitive justice on the side of the electorate?
- watwut 12y ago
  If I recall right, education for education sake did not lowered recidivism much. It made prisoners better behaved while in prison (e.g. there was less violence and less problems in prison). I suspect that part of the problem with practical education for prisoners is that everybody else have to pay for it. So, law abiding (or not caught yet) citizens get all jealous about the perk they are not getting.