NCJ Number
151392
Journal
Rutgers Law Review Volume: 44 Issue: 3 Dated: (Spring 1992) Pages: 699-741
Date Published
1992
Length
43 pages
Annotation
Legal education can play a significant role in rehabilitating inmates and decreasing recidivism by changing inmates' perceptions of law and society, developing inmates' cognitive and analytical abilities, and imparting basic legal skills and knowledge.
Abstract
This article explores each of these components after a discussion of the role of legal education through an examination of the state of American corrections in the 1990's and the history of prison education and rehabilitation programs. Legal education can change inmates' perceptions of law and society as they learn why a society has laws, how laws are made, why the law is a changing entity, how laws can be challenged, and how to view the law from various perspectives. Legal education is also a tool for developing cognitive and analytical skills. Learning law in a participatory-learning environment develops these skills because inmates are asked to solve problems actively as opposed to responding with answers memorized from a textbook. Legal education can help inmates develop the legal skills and knowledge necessary to deal with daily problems. To rehabilitate inmates and decrease recidivism, inmates must learn how to cope legally with daily dilemmas, both inside and outside correctional facilities. Without these skills there is increased crime and violence inside correctional facilities, and inmates continue to return to the system because they cannot deal with their problems constructively in society. 188 footnotes