However, in Eric Anthamatten’s article publish June 13, 2015 in The Atlantic “Incarceration, Emancipation, and Education” he discusses the value of education in prison not just for the prisoner, but for society as a whole. Anthamatten cites, “a 2013 RAND Corporation report “found strong evidence that correctional education plays a role in reducing recidivism” Anthamatten goes on to cite antidotal evidence when he writes, “Chrisfino Kenyatta Leal, the 2011 valedictorian of the Prison University Project in California, has said, “It occurred to me that at San Quentin the power of education had actually changed the culture within the prison … The more opportunities we in prison have to learn to value education and see possibilities for ourselves, the greater the chance we will break the cycle of incarceration not just for ourselves but for future generations to come.” So despite Bates’s initial feelings of hopelessness in working with hardened criminals there is research that proves otherwise.
I have a friend, who I went to graduate school with, who had been convicted of manslaughter as a young adult and spent ten years in jail where he earned his bachelor degree. I never knew the person who was convicted of the heinous crime that he confessed to. I knew the gentle soft spoken hard worker that sat next to me in class each night. I know him as one of the hardest working people I have ever met wo will never say no to someone in need. I sometimes wonder how a person could have changed so much. Did he make a tragic mistake? Was he formally the brutal killer that was described in newspaper articles? How might the victim’s family feel if they knew him now? After my friend was released from prison, he earned his master’s degree and is currently working on a PH.D. at Sanford University in public policy. Obviously, his passion is the importance of education for the incarcerated.
As you begin reading this novel, I would like for you to share your thoughts about education and prison. Is the purpose of incarceration to rehabilitate which means to help a person become a contributing member of society (perhaps/probably through education)? Or is the purpose of prison to punish offenders? On what do you base your opinions?
Anthamatten, Eric. “Incarceration, Emancipation, and Education” The Atlantic 13, June 2015. Online.
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/07/incarceration-education-emancipation/398162/