Prison education involves vocational training or academic education supplied to prisoners as part of their rehabilitation and preparation for life outside prison. Vocational education prepares learners for certain careers or professions, which are traditionally non-academic and directly related to a trade, occupation or vocation in which the learner participates. ... Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ... Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, good judgement and wisdom. ... This article refers to an imprisoned person. ... Rehabilitation is the restoration of lost capabilities, or the treatment aimed at producing it. ... A prison is a place in which people are confined and deprived of a range of liberties. ...

A typical statement of the aims of prison education is this, from the U.K. Forum on Prisoner Education: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in western Europe, and a member of the European Union. ...

“We believe that education in prisons should be centred on the needs of the individual prisoner, for whom it can hold the key to living without crime by building self-esteem, encouraging self-motivation, and providing new opportunities after release.”

Prison education is sometimes carried out within the prison system, and sometimes provided by outside bodies, such as educational establishments. Similarly, funding can come from governments or private charities.

Criticism

While sceptics claim that, in many cases, prison education produces nothing more than “better educated criminals” [1]  (http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1986/JASA3-86Bergman.html), many studies have shown significant decreases in recidivism. A study by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons found: “The more educational programs successfully completed for each six months confined, the lower the recidivism rate” [2]  (http://adulted.about.com/cs/prisoneducation/a/prison_ed_2.htm). Recidivism is the phenomenon of a person repeating an undesireable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior. ... For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ... The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a subdivision of the Justice Department, responsible for the prisons and jails of America. ...

External links

• Forum on Prisoner Education (http://www.fpe.org.uk/)
• European Prison Education Association (http://www.epea.org/)
• Correctional Education Association (http://www.ceanational.org/)
• Strode College: Prison Education Information (http://www.strode-college.ac.uk/simple.cfm?page_id=21)
• Prison Education (http://www.bopcris.ac.uk/bopall/ref20297.html) — First report from the Education, Science, and Arts Committee
• Women in Prison — Education & Training Connection (http://www.womeninprison.org.uk/WIPETC.htm)