{"id":19214,"date":"2020-01-08T19:12:18","date_gmt":"2020-01-08T19:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=19214"},"modified":"2020-01-09T05:33:04","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T05:33:04","slug":"higher-education-in-americas-prisons-4-essential-reads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/higher-education-in-americas-prisons-4-essential-reads\/","title":{"rendered":"Higher education in America’s prisons: 4 essential reads"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jamaal Abdul-Alim<\/a>, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

In 2020, I\u2019m going to take you to prison. At least that\u2019s my plan as education editor, since there\u2019s a growing interest<\/a> among lawmakers and others in education behind bars.<\/p>\n

As a former crime reporter, I have a keen interest in this topic. That\u2019s because back when I was covering crime in my native Milwaukee in the 1990s and 2000s, I wrote quite a few articles about young men who turned to street crime<\/a> \u2013 and lost their lives<\/a> as a result. A common theme in their lives is that they didn\u2019t do well in school<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Research shows that providing education to such young men \u2013 and young women \u2013 when they become incarcerated makes them less likely to return to prison. A number of scholars, including several who have written for the education section of The Conversation in 2019, have witnessed this firsthand.<\/p>\n

1. The merits of second chances<\/h2>\n

Criminal justice professor Andrea Cantora<\/a> explains how her experience teaching behind bars has led her to believe in second chances<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know education can transform lives because I see it constantly in the incarcerated \u2013 and formerly incarcerated \u2013 people I\u2019ve met,\u201d Cantora writes.<\/p>\n

2. Restoring student grants for those in prison<\/h2>\n

Cantora also makes a compelling case for why federal student aid should be restored for people in prison<\/a>. Among other things, she says doing so will lead to better employment prospects for those who are serving time, thus saving taxpayers money and making communities safer.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who participate in academic or vocational programs while in prison are more likely to find work when released,\u201d Cantora writes. \u201cThey are also more likely to earn more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know education can transform lives because I see it constantly in the incarcerated \u2013 and formerly incarcerated \u2013 people I\u2019ve met,\u201d Cantora writes.<\/p>\n

3. Need seen for state student aid<\/h2>\n

The federal government isn\u2019t the only one restricting student financial aid for those who are serving time. As Bradley Custer<\/a>, a a recent graduate of the higher, adult, and lifelong education PhD program at Michigan State University, discovered in his groundbreaking research, many states also hold back student financial aid<\/a> from those who are incarcerated.<\/p>\n

While Congress continues to debate whether to restore federal student aid to prisoners, Custer suggests states lead the way and \u201cunlock financial aid for people in prison.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. Taking a closer look<\/h2>\n

Finally, if you want an up-close look at prison education in action, be sure to check out \u201cCollege Behind Bars,\u201d<\/a> a documentary Emerson College political science professor Mneesha Gellman<\/a>, who launched a prison education initiative herself, reviewed for The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my experience \u2013 and based on what the research shows \u2013 correctional facilities are more effective when they provide education,\u201d Gellman writes. \u201cBut it can\u2019t be just any kind of education,\u201d she continues in a piece that shows how students in her program are held to high standards just like they would be in college.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation\u2019s archives.<\/em>\"The<\/p>\n

Jamaal Abdul-Alim<\/a>, Education Editor, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jamaal Abdul-Alim, The Conversation In 2020, I\u2019m going to take you to prison. At least that\u2019s my plan as education editor, since there\u2019s a growing interest among lawmakers and others in education behind bars. As a former crime reporter, I have a keen interest in this topic. That\u2019s because back when I was covering crime […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":19215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292],"tags":[245,2275,7499,6826,687,5046,5014,2480,5065],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19214"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19214"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19222,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19214\/revisions\/19222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}