A model for correctional education in Puerto Rico’s State prisons

Introduction
“Public opinion on crime and criminal justice has undergone a significant transformation over the past few years. Support for long prison sentences as the primary tool in the fight against crime is waning, as most people reject a purely punitive approach to criminal justice. Instead, the public now endorses a balanced, multifaceted solution that focuses on prevention and rehabilitation in concert with other remedies.” (Hart, 2002, p1)

In a report on crime prevention programs conducted at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, University of Maryland researchers found that teaching reading skills to juveniles worked significantly better to reduce crime than boot camp programs. In Alabama, the State Board of Education declared that correctional education appears to be the number one factor in reducing recidivism rates nationwide. And according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, there is an inverse relationship between recidivism rates and education. The more education received, the less likely an individual is to be re-arrested or re-imprisoned (Open Society Institute, Criminal Justice Initiative, 2002)

A model that works
One type of education that has proved effectiveness in rehabilitation is vocational education. The major purpose of vocational education programs in correctional facilities is to teach inmates vocational skills so that they can obtain work upon their release. During the past two decades, vocational education in correctional setting has focused upon rehabilitation and reintegration. Whereas much effort has been devoted to developing standards for vocational programs in correctional institutions, vocational educators have also sought to demonstrate program effectiveness in reducing recidivism (Imel, 1986).

Postsecondary level education at correctional institutions is a relatively new area under development. In the 80's partnerships between colleges and universities with correctional institutions showed a rapid increase. The availability of federal funding for postsecondary correctional programs, through the introduction of the Basic Education Opportunity Grant was one of the reasons for that increase.

However, since the U.S. Congress included a provision in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which denied all prisoners access to federal Pell Grants, nearly all federal funding for college education in prisons across the country was dropped (Locke, 2001). Today, the number of correctional educational programs is decreasing and is being primarily funded by volunteers. At least 25 states have cut back on vocational and technical training programs since the Pell Grants were cut. In 1990, there were 350 higher education programs for inmates. In 1997, there were 8 (Open Society Institute, Criminal Justice Initiative, 2002).

A recent study called Changing Minds, conducted at Bedfor Hills Correctional Facility in New York (2001) found that college-in-prison programs (1) reduce reincarceration rates and saves taxpayers money, (2) enable positive management of prison environment, and (3) transform the lives of students and their children and promote lasting transitions out of prison.

The project
This project proposes the creation of the Information Technology Training Institute (ITTI) in Puerto Rico’s correctional system. The institute will provide formal education to young people in jails allowing them to pursue academic and professional goals before their reintegration to society.

Organizational operation
The ITTI will operate through a consortium between the University of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico’s Correctional and Rehabilitation Administration, and the Puerto Rico’s Department of Education. The administrative facilities will be located at University of Puerto Rico and the instructional facilities will be located in a classroom to be designated by the correctional authorities. The Institute staff will include: (1) the Program Coordinator, (2) an Instructor, and (3) an Administrative Assistant. The Center for Applied Social Research at University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez will conduct follow up research to assess the effectiveness of the program in terms of participants employability, social upward mobility, social acceptance and reintegration, and recidivism.

The participants and the learning process
The program will start in August 2005 with an experimental group of 12 prison inmates between the ages 18-25 (adult learners) who had completed high school and whose remaining time in prison will not exceed 2 years. The students will meet three times a week for a two hours instructional session. During that period they will learn how to create web pages, as well as how to develop and maintain websites. By the end of the first year participants will receive a “Certificate” degree.

The program will teach the students the basics concepts of html programming and the fundamental concepts of web content and design. By the end of the one-year program the students will be able to design and implement web sites for public schools in Puerto Rico. The students will work in groups of two to foster a collaborative learning environment. The content of the web site will include students’ projects, stories, achievements, events, and a newspaper.

According to Zemke (1984) in many situations adults seek out learning experiences in order to cope with specific life-changing events. In most cases, adults are motivated with the learning experience because they have a use for the knowledge or skill being sought. In other stances adult learners see education as a way for academic redemption, making up for past academic transgressions or lifting out of academic marginality (Dirkx, et. al, 2001). To this students education represents an opportunity to build a sense of possibility or a sense of freedom and authority. Whatever the case, for the adult learner the learning experience is a means to an end and not an end in itself (Zemke, 1984).

Following the concepts of adult learning described above, the ITTI project seeks to provide a meaningful learning experience to the prison inmates. It will be meaningful in many ways: first, because it represents an opportunity to make-up for previous mistakes; second, because it also represent an opportunity to be productive as soon as they reintegrate to society; and finally, because they will also be part of successful stories because they will become the “official communicators” of those stories through the Internet.

Technology involved
The computers chosen for the instructional classroom are Apple’s iMac desktop computers (see Appendix). Apple computers were selected because of their compact design and also because they are a standard in the graphic design industry. The computers will be equipped with a wireless network card and will be connected through a wireless network base station (Apple’s Airport base-station). This will avoid the need of expensive multiple network connections. It will also be easier to move from one place to another in case you need to do so. Because of restrictions and limitations on Internet use by prison inmates, the classroom will not require a T1 or other high speed Internet connection. The performance of the students’ projects will be tested in the classroom’s computers through an intranet.

Operational cost
The experimental phase of the project will require an initial investment of $111,000 for the first year (Table 1). During that year 6 websites will be developed. Considering that the median cost of developing a small website is $65,000 (Carmichael, 2001) the economic impact of the project’s outcome should be considered. However, the most important outcome is the rehabilitation and reintegration of the participants to the society.

Table 1

The members of the consortium will pay for the operational costs of the project in the following way :

Table 2

A new business in the near future
One of the biggest challenges that rehabilitated persons face is their reintegration to society. Finding an employment opportunity is one of those challenges. One of the objectives of the ITTI project is to help in that reintegration process.

Once the experimental phase of the ITTI project proves its effectiveness the next step will be the transformation of the Institute into a Non-for-profit organization. The objective of the new organization will to provide Information technology and web development services to government agencies, religious groups and other Non-profit organizations. Most of those groups can’t afford to pay for those services at the current market prices. The new organization will be able to establish business relations with those entities and will sub-contract their former students as part of the organization’s working force.

As of my part in this project, I hope to be the Program Coordinator and the future CEO of the Non-for-profit organization.

References

Carmichael, Mike. (2001). 2001’s median prices for full-site development. Bt0B: The magazine for marketing strategists. [Online]. Available at http://www.btobonline.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=5973

Changing Minds: the impact of college in a maximum-security prison (2001). Collaborative research by the Graduate Center at the City University of New York.

Dirkx, John, Regina Smith and Marilyn Amey. (2001). Being a College Student: the Community College experience of under prepared adult learners. A Paper presented at the Mid-west Research-to-Practice Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education. (September 2001). Eastern Illinois University.

Education as crime prevention. Open Society Institute, Criminal Justice Initiative. [Online] Available at http://www.soros.org/crime/research_brief__2.html

Imel, Susan. 1986. Correctional Education: Selected Aspects. Overview. ERIC Digest No. 58. .98.

Locke, Michelle.2002. Prison college programs unpopular. Startribune online: http://www.startribune.com/stories/721/3336369.html.

Hart, Peter. (2002). Changing Public Attitudes toward the Criminal Justice System. A nation wide study prepared for The Open Society Institute. [Online]. Available at http://www.soros.org.

Zemke, Ron and Susan Zemke. (1984). Thirty things we know for sure about adult learning. Innovation Abstracts. (March 1984) Vol VI, No. 8.