Assignment:
Respond to the following: Answer the 2 discussion question. Include at least 1 reference.
A good response to a written question should combine your personal experiences with theory to support your work. Be thoughtful and insightful and it must demonstrate critical thinking and analysis. A good response to the question should be about 3 to 4 paragraphs, and address all of the issues that are raised. (Introduction, body and conclusion.) Thank you. When answering discussion questions use an example in your answer. These examples can be from your own experience or from something you've read in the news, on the internet, or from any other credible source.
Classification Systems
1. Discuss the different inmate classification systems. How would prisons be impacted without classification systems?
Literacy
2. Review the correctional brief "Literacy and Its Impact on Reoffending" (I have provided it below). Discuss your views regarding literacy programs and their overall impact on inmates, management of inmates and society in general?
Correctional Practice 9.6 Literacy and Its Impact on Reoffending
The federal prison system established a mandatory literacy program in 1982, requiring sixth-grade reading as the minimum literacy standard. This was changed to eighth-grade reading in 1986 and to a GED certificate in 1991. The adult basic education program has been very successful when completion rates are compared from 1981 to 1990, which saw an encouraging 724 percent increase in the number of inmates achieving basic literacy.
Twelve studies on the effects of education on reoffending are also encouraging. One investigator reported on three studies by David Fairchild. On the first, there was only a 15 percent reoffending rate for New Mexico inmates who had completed at least one year of college compared to 68 percent for the general population. Fairchild found zero recidivism for college graduates versus a reoffending rate of 55 percent for the general prison population studied at a California prison. Finally, Fairchild reported that none of the first 200 Indiana reformatory inmates earning a college degree offered by a university extension program returned to the reformatory.
Consistently favorable outcomes have been linked to education in Canada, where three out of four prisoner-students remained free of subsequent incarceration for at least three years. Significantly lower relapse and recidivism rates have been found for education and work release in Delaware and college education in North Carolina and Georgia.
Adult basic education programs show promise for decreasing recidivism even for inmates with learning disabilities. Technology education (particularly computers) provides inmates with marketable skills. Studies have concluded that the recidivism rate can be as low as 11 percent for inmates who successfully complete training and as high as 70 percent for those who do not. The National Literacy Trust of the United Kingdom reported a statistically significant connection between repeated offending and poor literacy.