Legal Services for Prisoners - Essay Example

Legal Services for Prisoners Summary of the Contents According to the article, it can be asserted that the policy of prison education, which is also acknowledged as Inmate Education, has emerged as a new trend in early 21st century. Involvement in prison education programs is mostly observed in American correctional system. In this regard, the prime objective of the US correctional department is to convey educative knowledge regarding the outside world to the American prisoners with the aim of enhancing their respective rehabilitative aspects. One of the prime contents of the article can be summarized as that the US correctional department desired to establish a healthily lifestyle for the prisoners after the correctional period by implementing the policy of the above stated policy i.e. prison education. Thus, the American Central Security Control has designed effective prisoners’ education based programs with the aim of enhancing the job as well as rational skills, which will assist them to become more productive and law abiding citizen (Esperian, 2010). Evaluation of the Policy or the Program In relation to the article, it can be asserted that the Federal Bureau of Prisoners and the American Central Security Control wanted the policy or the program to be evaluated (Esperian, 2010). Based on this understanding, it can be claimed that the author of this article has evaluated the trend of prison educating program with the aim of identifying the criminal recidivism of the American citizens. More precisely, it can be asserted that the author has tried to identify the effectiveness of the varied prisoners educating programs. At the same time, the author has also tried to identify the involvement of the Federal Bureau of Prisoners in developing the different correctional education based programs (Esperian, 2010). Goals and Desired Outcomes of the Policy In order to identify the goals or the desired outcomes of the policy or the program under examination, it can be asserted that the American Central Security Control has tried to develop the job and rational skills of the prisoners with the aim of deriving varied productive outcomes. At the same time, through implementing this correctional program, the US Federal Bureau of Prisoners has endeavored to grow law abiding responsibilities amid the prisoners. Moreover, it can be also claimed that the American Central Security Control has also tried to reduce the tendency of criminal recidivism prevailing amid the American prisoners (Esperian, 2010). Connection of the Theory to the Policy or Program In order to highlight the relevant concept or theory to the above identified goals or outcomes, the “Social Learning Theory” can be apparently noted as relevant in this context. Justifiably, in this regard, it can be claimed that ‘Social Learning Theory’ is a particular aspect, which is highly associated with self-efficacy. Moreover, it can be stated that ‘Social Learning Theory’ leads to implications through which it can be possible to affect the attitudes of the prisoners towards positivity. Additionally, this ‘Social Learning Theory’ can also influence the deviant behavior of the prisoners in a positive manner in the society (John Howard Society of Alberta, 2012; Esperian, 2010). Plausible Explanation of the Theory In this regard, in order to identify the rival or plausible explanations, it can be claimed that ‘Restorative justice’ approach is not applicable in this regard. Thus, in this case, in order to justify the above stated concept, the approach of ‘Restorative justice’ signifies meeting the needs of the offenders at large (John Howard Society of Alberta, 2012; Esperian, 2010). Guidance of the Theory In order to decipher how the ‘Social Learning Theory’ has guided the author in the conduct of the evaluation, it can be claimed that every year approximately thousands of employees usually released from the US correctional house into the America community. In this regard, it can be apparently observed that even after re-entering into the society, the prisoners are not able to employ themselves due to their limited education as well as low literacy capabilities. As an effect, within a short span, most of the prisoners again gets involved in conducting anti-social activities and grow their criminal recidivism due to varied social needs. In order to reduce these problems from the American society, the American Central Security Control has implemented prisoner educating programs in the American Federal correctional system. Thus, with the aim of identifying the effectiveness of the program, the author has conducted this evaluation (John Howard Society of Alberta, 2012; Esperian, 2010). Evaluation In this article, in order to evaluate the goals and outcomes of the proposed policy, the author has incorporated qualitative as well as quantitative studies. Quantitative and qualitative analysis are complementary to each other, which has helped the author to evaluate the involvement, impact and effectiveness of the prisoner educating program. The main aim of evaluating the prisoner educating program is to identify whether the program has been able to assist the American Central Security Control in obtaining its predetermined business targets. At the same time, through the evaluation process, the author has also tried to identify the positive changes in the American society relating to recidivism behavior (John Howard Society of Alberta, 2012; Esperian, 2010). Research Methods In order to identify and evaluate the effectiveness of the prison educating program, the author has incorporated a mixed approach of research study. In this regard, it can be found that the qualitative research especially relies on reviewing varied literatures. On the contrary, quantitative method relies on collection of data. Thus, in order to collect data about the US prisoners and analyze the same, the author has applied primary along with secondary sources such as accessing peer-reviewed journals, articles, magazines, newspaper and books among others. At the same time, the author has also used US correctional department reports with the aim of understanding the actual scenario of the prisoner educating program. Besides, American Central Security Control’s online website and other relevant survey reports have been used by the author while conducting the evaluation (John Howard Society of Alberta, 2012; Esperian, 2010). Conclusive Viewpoint In order to conclude the article, the author has claimed that the prisoners’ educating program has reduced recidivism tendency amid the prisoners by a considerable level. At the same time, the author has claimed that through the help of this correctional educational concept, the American societies have has developed public safety in this modern day context as compared to the previous years. Apart from this, the author has also claimed that most of the American citizens have viewed this correctional educational concept in a negative manner (Deruy, 2013; Esperian, 2010). Unintended or Unanticipated Consequences Based on the analysis, it can be ascertained that with the evolution of prisoners’ educating programs, the author has been able to identify varied unintended or unanticipated consequences. In this regard, it can be claimed that the author has witnessed that the tendency of learning literacy has improved at large amid the prisoners. It has been also revealed by the author that the level of literacy amid the American prisoners has been improved in context to 1st -4th and 5th- 8th grade education programs. Apart from this, the American institutes have also offered secondary study facilities for the literacy interested prisoners. Thus, it can be evidently asserted that the tendency of gathering knowledge has increased amid Americans prisoners due to the high level commitment made by American Central Security Control (Deruy, 2013; Esperian, 2010). Effectiveness of the Prisoners Educating Program in American Community In order to identify the effectiveness of the prisoners educating program, it can be claimed that the correctional program has achieved its desire goals and objectives in a larger extent. In this regard, it can be stated that during the correctional period, prisoners educating programs have influenced the behavior of the prisoners in a positive manner. Apart from this, it has been also revealed that through the help of this correctional program the Federal government of the US has enhanced the level of dignity prevailed amid the prisoners, which certainly led American civilization towards positive advancement. At the same time, inmates’ education program has also reduced the rate of criminal recidivism of the American prisoners at large in a bigger manner. Thus, it can be evidently claimed that the effectiveness of the prisoners educating program has impacted in changing the entire societal norms (Deruy, 2013; Esperian, 2010). Results of the Evaluation In order to highlight the results of the evaluation, it can be claimed that the policy of prisoner educating program has accomplished the dignity of the prisoners’ in the modern American civilization. According to the analysis, it has been exposed that American inmates’ education programs especially focused on lessening recidivism. Moreover, educational programs have grown a parenting tendency among the prisoners (John Howard Society of Alberta, 2012; Esperian, 2010). Recommendations Based on the above analysis, the author has recommended that the correctional system of the country can be improved by keeping a close eye on the implications of the aforesaid policy. Apart from this, the author also suggested that the prisoners’ educating program can be implemented more successfully in the entire US market through enhancing the financial involvement of the governmental and non-governmental organizations. Moreover, the author asserted that through implementing the policy i.e. prisoner education program more effectively, the impact of the US correctional system can be improved, which will set a positive example in front of the global nations. Additionally, the author suggested that the proper execution of the prisoners educating program will reduce the criminal recidivism rate amid the US prisoners at large (Esperian, 2010). Application of the Method in the Article Process Evaluation The evaluation process will assist in determining the effectiveness of the policy i.e. the prisoner education programs. Apart from this, the evaluation process will also help in determining the reason for the execution and the implementation of the aforesaid programs. The study mainly aims at evaluating and reviewing the prisoner education programs in the context of the US correctional system. Moreover, it also defined how the prisoner education programs have provided significant benefits to the US citizens and contributed in changing the prevailing societal norms of the nation. This prisoner education program model has evaluated on the basis of the behavior of the prisoners. At the same time, the program has tried to identify the involvement of the US correctional department along with the governmental and non-governmental organizations in developing the same (Esperian, 2010). Outcome Evaluation In order to measure the outcomes of the evaluation design or process, it can be ascertained that the policy i.e. the prisoners educating program has enhanced the opportunities for the US civilization in terms of reducing the tendency of recidivism rate amid the prisoners. At the same time, during the evaluation, attempts have been made towards recognizing the approaches of the prisoners after their release from the correctional department. Thus, in order to evaluate the success of the prisoners educating programs, it is required to identify the number of prisoners who have transformed their life to a responsible citizen of the US (Esperian, 2010). References Deruy, E. (2013). What it costs when we dont educate inmates for life after prison. Retrieved from http://fusion.net/justice/story/us-fails-educate-inmates-life-prison-11751 Esperian, J. H. (2010). The effect of prison education programs on recidivism. The Journal of Correctional Education, 61(4), 316-345. John Howard Society of Alberta. (2012). Inmate education. Retrieved from http://www.johnhoward.ab.ca/pub/pdf/C36.pdf Read More