March 4, 2009
Behind Bars but Still Human:
Meeting the Educational Needs of Prisoners
Marcia Van Dyck and Virginia Kerr
ABC Prison Literacy, Princeton, NJ
Minutes of the 21st Meeting of the 67th Year
President George H, Hansen called to order the 21st meeting of the 67th year of the Old Guard at 10:15 AM in the Friend Building. Don Edwards lead the approximately 110 members in the invocation. John Frederick read the minutes of the last meeting. There were no guests or visitors. President Hansen announced that the Executive Committee will meet on March 11 in the Nassau Club Gun Room at 1:40 PM.
Claire Jacobus introduced the speakers, Marcia Van Dyck and Virginia Kerr.
Each received a Master's degree from the Teachers' College at Columbia University. They are associated with the ABC Prison Literacy Program. an outreach program of the Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton. Their presentation, entitled ''Behind Bars but Still Human: Educating or Not Educating Prisonersr'' contained five main points.
First, the incarceration rate in the U.S. is high by historical and international standards. One out of each hundred adults in the U.S. is incarcerated, a rate that has increased five fold since the early 1970s and that is ''dramatically higher'' than the incarceration rate in other Western democracies. And one out of 37 adults in New Jersey is under the supervision of the criminal justice system - in jail or prison, or on parole or probation, (Additional information on incarceration rates and other aspects of the criminal justice system are included in a recent report, which can be accessed at: pewcenter.org.
Second, incarceration rates vary by race, age, and education. In New Jersey, African-Americans are 14 percent of the total population but are 62 percent of the prison population. (These data are in printed version of presentation). Nationally, one in eight black men in the age group 25-29 is currently in prison or jail and 52 percent of African American male high school dropouts have prison records by their early thirties.
Third, a variety of reforms of the correctional system have been tried over the years, and many had very negative unintended consequences. The Pennsylvania system of the early 19th century relied on solitude: inmates were given work and morally uplifting reading, but had no contact at all with other inmates or persons outside the prisons. This approach was abandoned because mental illness became a pervasive problem.
We currently are having a healthy debate about the overuse and efficacy of imprisonments with many arguing that we should not spend money to imprison the "nonviolent, non-dangerous offenders.'' But one problem with this proposal is that it suggests the other class of offenders - namely violent offenders - deserve and need to remain in jail and do not warrant attention.
Fourth, increased education can reduce crime. A one year increase in schooling reduces violent crime by almost 30 percent, (which surely dictates that "we double our investments in the education of populations who are at-risk for falling into the criminal justice system”). Moreover, "numerous studies have demonstrated that prison-based education is the single most effective tool for lowering recidivism.'' And in New Jersey, the tutoring program run by prisoners for prisoners called Learning is for Everyone (LIFE) has been successful, as demonstrated in excerpts of a film produced for HBO and shown to the Old Guard. (ABC Prison Literacy was founded to support LIFE)
Fifth, there are numerous reasons why prison-based education is not more successful. Challenging students: "60 percent or more of prisoners; are functionally illiterate” and about 70 percent have learning disabilities. Limited resources: "less than 2 percent of New Jersey's correctional budget is devoted to educational programs". Public policy: "higher education for prisoners was discontinued as part of the 'get tough' policies that ramped up in the 1980’s.'' Unions: any reforms that result in "a retrenchment will be resisted by correctional officer unions and other actors with an economic stake in the status quo". Prison administrators: the LIFE program has been stymied by bureaucrats who have limited the access of volunteers. (There are, however, variations among New Jersey prisons in the extent to which bureaucracy is rampant).
Selective examples of questions and/or answers follow: (1) Virginia favored decriminalization of marijuana and some other drugs, which would eliminate about half of the prison population. (2) Some prison administrators in New Jersey are very good, but when Kevin Brown (spelling not clear) spoke out against the plantation system of prison administration in the state, the guards took offense at his remarks and drove him out of the state. (3) There is a huge bureaucracy in the state prison system, with lots of administrators just pushing paper. (One example is an administrator who has put the LIFE Program on hold in his prison until he retires in 18 months.) (4) Question: what is the motivation to train prisoners who are in for life instead of concentrating on prisoners who are due for release in a few years? Answer: (a) each prisoner is part of a network of family and friends and how we treat each prisoner serves as a model for how we want families and friends to treat others; and (b) each prisoner is a human, and is entitled to the treatment and respect that every human deserves.
Respectively submitted,
John F. Boon Jr.
Claire Jacobus introduced the speakers, Marcia Van Dyck and Virginia Kerr.
Each received a Master's degree from the Teachers' College at Columbia University. They are associated with the ABC Prison Literacy Program. an outreach program of the Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton. Their presentation, entitled ''Behind Bars but Still Human: Educating or Not Educating Prisonersr'' contained five main points.
First, the incarceration rate in the U.S. is high by historical and international standards. One out of each hundred adults in the U.S. is incarcerated, a rate that has increased five fold since the early 1970s and that is ''dramatically higher'' than the incarceration rate in other Western democracies. And one out of 37 adults in New Jersey is under the supervision of the criminal justice system - in jail or prison, or on parole or probation, (Additional information on incarceration rates and other aspects of the criminal justice system are included in a recent report, which can be accessed at: pewcenter.org.
Second, incarceration rates vary by race, age, and education. In New Jersey, African-Americans are 14 percent of the total population but are 62 percent of the prison population. (These data are in printed version of presentation). Nationally, one in eight black men in the age group 25-29 is currently in prison or jail and 52 percent of African American male high school dropouts have prison records by their early thirties.
Third, a variety of reforms of the correctional system have been tried over the years, and many had very negative unintended consequences. The Pennsylvania system of the early 19th century relied on solitude: inmates were given work and morally uplifting reading, but had no contact at all with other inmates or persons outside the prisons. This approach was abandoned because mental illness became a pervasive problem.
We currently are having a healthy debate about the overuse and efficacy of imprisonments with many arguing that we should not spend money to imprison the "nonviolent, non-dangerous offenders.'' But one problem with this proposal is that it suggests the other class of offenders - namely violent offenders - deserve and need to remain in jail and do not warrant attention.
Fourth, increased education can reduce crime. A one year increase in schooling reduces violent crime by almost 30 percent, (which surely dictates that "we double our investments in the education of populations who are at-risk for falling into the criminal justice system”). Moreover, "numerous studies have demonstrated that prison-based education is the single most effective tool for lowering recidivism.'' And in New Jersey, the tutoring program run by prisoners for prisoners called Learning is for Everyone (LIFE) has been successful, as demonstrated in excerpts of a film produced for HBO and shown to the Old Guard. (ABC Prison Literacy was founded to support LIFE)
Fifth, there are numerous reasons why prison-based education is not more successful. Challenging students: "60 percent or more of prisoners; are functionally illiterate” and about 70 percent have learning disabilities. Limited resources: "less than 2 percent of New Jersey's correctional budget is devoted to educational programs". Public policy: "higher education for prisoners was discontinued as part of the 'get tough' policies that ramped up in the 1980’s.'' Unions: any reforms that result in "a retrenchment will be resisted by correctional officer unions and other actors with an economic stake in the status quo". Prison administrators: the LIFE program has been stymied by bureaucrats who have limited the access of volunteers. (There are, however, variations among New Jersey prisons in the extent to which bureaucracy is rampant).
Selective examples of questions and/or answers follow: (1) Virginia favored decriminalization of marijuana and some other drugs, which would eliminate about half of the prison population. (2) Some prison administrators in New Jersey are very good, but when Kevin Brown (spelling not clear) spoke out against the plantation system of prison administration in the state, the guards took offense at his remarks and drove him out of the state. (3) There is a huge bureaucracy in the state prison system, with lots of administrators just pushing paper. (One example is an administrator who has put the LIFE Program on hold in his prison until he retires in 18 months.) (4) Question: what is the motivation to train prisoners who are in for life instead of concentrating on prisoners who are due for release in a few years? Answer: (a) each prisoner is part of a network of family and friends and how we treat each prisoner serves as a model for how we want families and friends to treat others; and (b) each prisoner is a human, and is entitled to the treatment and respect that every human deserves.
Respectively submitted,
John F. Boon Jr.