IMPROVING PRISON LIVES THROUGH LITERACY
Eleanor Gieser, Elizabeth Martin, and Lia Samuels
It seems impossible to believe that in the United States, there are more than 1.5 million individuals imprisoned in adult correctional facilities (Hrabowski 96). One would think that prisoners need an education more than those not imprisoned, not only to learn from their mistakes and become better people but so they can have a foot to stand on when/if they get out. Unfortunately, that is not how the U.S. prison system works, in fact, “Prisoners have a lower rate of literacy than the general public” (Hrabowski and Robbi 96) and while incarcerating 100 individuals for four years costs $10 million, it only costs $11 million ($1 million more) to give the same individuals a four-year college education while incarcerated (Hrabowski and Robbi 96).
Located only a few minutes from Widener University, the State Correctional Institute - Chester (SCI - Chester) is trying to address educational access. However, despite the facility’s offering basic education classes, literacy skills, G.E.D classes, and vocational programs (carpentry, barber school, HVAC), a common issue is that some incarcerated people won’t attend these classes because “they are likely to have poor self-confidence and a negative attitude about education because they viewed their early experiences as being negative” (Vacca 300). Even so, SCI Chester isn't giving up. A group of incarcerated men, Widener students, and their professor, Jayne Thompson, created the Expression Center, which is a safe place where individuals can learn basic literacy skills, work on writing projects, receive help in classes they are taking, and express themselves. The Expression Center is “dedicated to promoting reading and writing within the community and includes staff-led book clubs, reading support, and writing workshops” (Thompson). The Expression Center has the potential to reach those people who are hesitant to embark on education by addressing literacy and social skills. An inside student named Rusty who trained as a writing mentor for the Expression Center at SCI Chester talks about the benefits he experienced, “Before this project, I couldn’t and wouldn’t speak in group settings. I didn’t care to talk to people who were not in my comfort zone. And I had trouble trusting people who were not from the same cultural background.” The Expression Center was life-changing for Rusty by creating a safe space for him to open up and let him be himself because surviving the prison environment is difficult. The Expression Center’s programming and its successes are vital to the continuation of improving prisoners lives so other students may experience the same life changing moments as Rusty.
Time and time again, evidence supports that imprisoned individuals need an education to better themselves. Professor Jayne Thompson, the Widener faculty founder of the Expression Center and a long-time advocate of prison education, states, “I want people could go inside the prison with me—I have taken many students, administrators, and faculty inside—but I wish more people could enter and talk to incarcerated people. They are like the rest of us with our good moments and our not-so-good moments, our triumphs and our fears.” More prisons need to offer academic programs and create programs like the Expression Center because they improve the lives of the incarcerated. “I hope that educational access will change the men's lives for the better and that the writing center, the Expression Center at SCI Chester, will continue to show them the joys of reading and writing,” Thompson says. The U.S. prison system cannot be changed in a day, but with support and involvement, programs like the Expression Center can help individuals take a step in the right direction and improve their lives through literacy.
Works Cited
Hrabowski, Freeman A., and Jeremy Robbi. “The Benefits of Correctional Education.” Journal of Correctional Education, vol. 53, no. 3, 2002, pp. 96–99. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41971084. Accessed 14 Oct. 2022.
Rusty. Personal letter to Jayne Thompson. n.d. Personal collection of Jayne Thompson.
“Sci Chester.” Department of Corrections, https://www.cor.pa.gov/Facilities/StatePrisons/Pages/Chester.aspx.
Thompson, Jayne. Personal interview, November 1, 2022.
Vacca, James S. “Educated Prisoners Are Less Likely to Return to Prison.” Journal of Correctional Education, vol. 55, no. 4, 2004, pp. 297–305. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23292095. Accessed 14 Oct. 2022.