Research Paper on:
Prisoners and Free Education

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listed below. Citation styles constantly change, and these examples may not contain the most recent updates. Prisoners and Free Education by ,  October, 2012 -properly! While access to education while incarcerated is regarding as basic to human rights in Europe, the provision of  a free education to prisoners is regarded as a controversial issue in the US. Examination of education literature indicates that multiple societal, as well as individual, benefits can be gained  by providing prisoners with access to educational resources. Therefore, a persuasive argument can be that prisoners should be provided with a free education while incarcerated. Contrary to international views,  which regards prisoner access to education as a fundamental human right, US law has made it clear in a number of cases that access to education while in prison, including  basic literacy instruction, is considered to be a privilege, not a right, and has no legal protection in the US judicial system (Lockard and Rankins-Robertson 24). Nevertheless, research studies have  repeatedly determined that prison education programs decrease the incidence of recidivism and, therefore, improve public safety (Lockard and Rankins-Robertson 26-27; Meyer 133). Arguments in favor of providing include the assumption  that the public, by incarcerating an individual, assumes responsibility for providing shelter and nutrition, as well as appropriate provision for physical and mental health, which includes provision of education (Lockard  and Rankins-Robertson 26). Furthermore, the argument that prison educational programs are "free" is erroneous, as a prisoner "pays" by being incarcerated, which involves "far greater personal cost" than tuition considerations,  which evidenced by the fact that no one "ever went to prison" for the express purpose of obtaining a "free college education" (Lockard and Rankins-Robertson 27). The research indicates