Introduction to Argumentation: Education and Rehabilitation of Prison Inmates
Nicole Watford
ITT Tech
June 22, 2013

Education and Rehabilitation of Prison Inmates The strain on law enforcement agencies to control crime could be greatly reduced if we were able to decrease the number of repeat offenders by offering both rehabilitation and educational resources to those inmates eligible for parole. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, (http://www.bjs.gov) released prisoners with the highest rearrest rates were robbers (70.2%), burglars (74.0%), larcenists (74.6%), motor vehicle thieves (78.8%), those in prison for possessing or selling stolen property (77.4%), and those in prison for possessing, using, or selling illegal weapons (70.2%). Much of the prison population is made up of inmates that have never obtained a high school diploma. An inmate being paroled with nothing to show for his or her time except for a prison record will discover it very difficult to find gainful employment. Most find it easier to return to the actions and behavior that led to their imprisonment, which is why fifty percent of former inmates return to prison within three years of release. Drug and alcohol rehabilitation is also key in reducing the rate of prisoners being readmitted to the prison population, “77% of convicted jail inmates were alcohol or drug-involved at the time of their current offense” (James, 2002, p. 2). According the Legislative Analyst’s Office of California (http://www.lao.ca.gov) the cost in 2008 to incarcerate a prisoner for one year was $45,490 while the cost to educate and rehabilitate a prisoner was only $1,612 per year. Decreasing the rate of prisoner reentry means that valuable tax dollars can be saved and put to better use in under-funded programs that can improve the quality of life for our communities. By offering educational