NCJ Number
85533
Journal
Journal of Correctional Education Volume: 33 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1982) Pages: 8-15
Date Published
1982
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Prison goals, prison organization, and prison sociological dynamics invariably undermine correctional education programs, causing the same weaknesses to persist year after year.
Abstract
A recent survey of correctional education administrators indicated that they perceived the major problems in correctional education to be (1) staff shortages and turnover, (2) inadequate and multiple-sourced funding, (3) the education department's lack of power within the institution, and (4) the lack of adequate space. This diagnosis of the problems of correctional education parallels a 1928 critique of correctional education. While correctional education has clearly improved over the last 50 years, major problems have remained the same over the years, causing one to question why they have not been resolved, given the widespread awareness of their existence. Overall, major problems continue unresolved because educational programs in adult prisons have been kept at a second-class status because of the recognized function of prisons in American society, the administrative organization of prisons, and the differing roles and values of the groups that compose prison society. Specifically, the quality of correctional educational programs has been undermined by (1) the conflict between administrators within the prison; (2) the low priority of education in the prison setting; (3) the lack of adequate funding for educational programs; (4) the lack of comprehensive planning that characterizes most correctional education programs; (5) the conflict between custody, treatment, and educational philosophies; and (6) the hostility of security staff toward educational programs. Fourteen references are listed.