Just as academic skills are needed to succeed in life, vocational skills are a must for inmates wanting to provide for themselves and their families (Guerrero, 2011). I would provide education classes to women in a prison facility because of the lack of access to women inside and outside of a prison. Women must work ten times harder than a man to get to the next level. Once a woman has children then the support to excel usually isn’t their either, so a woman must put their desires and dreams on hold. Women tend to deal with depression, lack of support, anxiety, and other delays more than some men. Therefore, women that did not have the opportunity or took another path to survive and ended up in prison should be given the chance to learn skills that will allow them to excel when released. The “right kind” of education works to both lower recidivism and reduce the level of violence. Moreover, appropriate education leads to a more humane and tolerable prison environment in which to live and work, not only for the inmates but also for the officers, staff and everyone else (Vacca, 2004). These courses would range from life, to academic, and vocational skills. At each level of courses, an inmate will be able to apply skills learned to their lives and potential job. In a study completed by student teachers and inmates, responses indicated that the women believe the course improves their ability to communicate with others more effectively, express themselves in writing, and increases their knowledge of life span development (Meyer, Harned, Schaad, Sunder, Palmer, & Tinch, 2016). My reasoning for having a variety of course is because basic education will hopefully give inmates are starting chance, but advanced learning and educational courses will give inmates a competitive chance at careers. They should be able to showcase their abilities in challenging courses because it is similar to challenging life choices as well.
Vacca, J. S. (2004). Educated Prisoners Are Less Likely to Return to Prison. Journal of Correctional Education, 55(4), 297–305. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23292095Links to an external site.
Meyer, C. L., Harned, M., Schaad, A., Sunder, K., Palmer, J., & Tinch, C. (2016). Inmate Education as a Service Learning Opportunity for Students: Preparation, Benefits, and Lessons Learned. Teaching of Psychology, 43(2), 120-125. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628316636278Links to an external site.
Guerrero, G. (2011). Prison-based education and vocational training programs. In Rethinking Corrections: Rehabilitation, Reentry, and Reintegration (pp.193-218). SAGE Publications, Inc, https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452230474