Essay On Prison Education

Imprisonment comes with many problems, from “transitional issues for inmates post-release” (Contardo, 2008) to financial impacts due to the rising costs of incarceration. For years prison workers and other professionals have been trying to find a way to reduce these effects. One of the ways they have found is through an education system within the prison. Many see giving those in prison a chance to partake in a form of education as a way to negate ‘prisonization’. Prisonization, according to Harer (1994) as quoted in Contardo (2008) is the “process by which prisoners become alienated from prison rules, staff, and the larger society”. A large contributor to the process of prisonization is Gesham Sykes theory of deprivation. During his study he found

For example a successful screenwriting workshop could possibly lead to an “applied theatre [class which] allows the space to practise new roles”. A class like this is a great opportunity, while it helps with self-confidence and nurtures prosocial norms, it can help with inmates learning about culture and how to act/respond in certain situations. Additionally, learning varying forms of art “provides accomplishments, offers a different avenue for self-expression than violence, builds confidence” (Grant, 2010). To have certain abilities such as that to draw, “especially to render likenesses” (Grant, 2010) is highly prized and praised. Prisoners with these skills are often asked or even commissioned to do portraits and drawings for fellow inmates families, and even design tattoos for each other. In interviews with a few art teachers it has become clear that the task is nowhere near as daunting as it may first appear. In fact “the inmates themselves "are always so appreciative that you're doing something for them. There is so little productive for inmates to do, and it may be the only positive experience they have while inside."” (Grant,