Limited Capacity to Treat: Examining the Effects of Prison Population Control Strategies on Prison Education Programs

• NCJ Number: 148941
• Author(s): J W Marquart; S J Cuvelier; V S Burton Jr; K Adams; J Gerber; D Longmire; T J Flanagan; K Bennett; E Fritsch
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 35 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Texas Dept of Criminal Justice
• Corporate Author: Sam Houston State University
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; Sam Houston State University; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Prison Education Research Project: Report 2

Annotation

This paper examines the effects of prison capacity constraints on an education program in the Texas prison system. Specifically, the focus of this research was the impact of a prison population cap on the ability of the Windham School System to deliver a prisoner education program.

Abstract

The introductory section discusses several issues related to this topic, namely measures taken by Texas State officials to control prisoner inflow, development of the prison allocation formula, and results of the population control policies and implications for prisoner education programs. An analysis of inmate participation in the Windham School System between 1990 and 1992 showed that correctional policies that aimed to regulate prison populations actually had a negative effect on prisoner educational programs. The move to comply with the population cap produced a situation in which the average number of months in prison was less than the average number of months an inmate required to advance one grade level or to attain vocational certification. Therefore, many inmates, because of their early release dates, were unable to take advantage of prison educational programs. 4 tables, 1 notes, and 34 references