NCJ Number
74724
Date Published
1979
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The role for Canadian community colleges in inmate education programs is assessed and recommendations offered.
Abstract
Although inmates can choose education as a regular activity, only about 20 percent of the 9,500 inmates in Federal penitentiaries are enrolled in educational programs. This may be due to the variation in the types and quality of programs available, problems of security, transfer policies, variations in protective custody, rigid daily schedules, and problems of maintaining teaching quality and student interest. A revitalization of inmate educational programs is necessary, and the community college is an appropriate institution to aid in this. Recommended conditions of this involvement are as follows: (1) a single college should contract with a particular correctional institution over an extended period; (2) highly-skilled, creative teachers with an understanding of an interest in prison schools and inmate students should be hired under 3-year contracts; (3) colleges should provide academic and vocational assessment, diagonostic and remedial programs, and language and life skills training; (4) colleges should also offer an individualized packaged course for inmates who lack access to regular prison education; and (5) colleges should extend their curricula in other dimensions of corrections, such as paralegal studies, law enforcement, and training programs for custodial staff, sheriffs, and probation officers. (Author abstract modified)