NCJ Number
87648
Date Published
1981
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The philosophy that education is a right for inmates is discussed in terms of three concepts: fraternal obligation, human dignity, and human development.
Abstract
Although tradition and legislation both support the right to education, broader philosophical grounds exist for this right. Prisoners are, in one sense, enemies of society. However, they are also, above all, human beings. More important, society has a human obligation to fraternity, to brotherly love, and to charitable action to fellow humans. Thus, humans should do good even to those who they feel do not deserve it. Moral or fraternal obligation is the only basic justification for the idea of inmates' rights to education. The principle of human dignity also underlies the inviolability of a prisoner's right to education. People's ultimate dignity lie not only in what they are but also in their ultimate becoming. Furthermore, education, both inside and outside the penal environment, is meaningless if it isn't regarded first as human development. Education as human development implies the acceptance of the inmate as a total being-becoming person. It also implies that values education should be a major concern of any educational project. Educating the inmate as a developing person also means that education must not be restricted to practical training. Being and becoming a person presupposes mature internalization and the deepest commitments. Education as human development means growth in the plurality and totality of the individual's human dimensions. This vision provides hope and promise for inmates by introducing them to the search for life's meaning. One footnote is included.