The

to Punish or to

By Paulo G. Salgueiro, Jr.

In the United States today, there is ongoing discussion of crime rates, the complexities of our criminal justice system, and the purpose of our correctional system.

Should our correctional system be focused on punishment or rehabilitation?

In my opinion, the goal of our correctional system should be both punitive and rehabilitative. Being in prison and losing one’s freedom is a punitive measure. The next element would be to rehabilitate those incarcerated. How do we know what is most beneficial to those incarcerated to ensure they become productive members of society?

Obviously, our correctional and criminal justice system is a complex one with many facets. What should the two major goals of our correctional system consist of? Our correctional system should focus on rehabilitating individuals to become productive members of society and to reduce its recidivism rate (the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend). The key is education. Why education? Education has been proven to decrease the chances of individuals being reincarcerated. Providing education also makes it more likely to obtain employment than those that do not participate in any postsecondary education programs. Alexandra Gibbons and Rashawn Ray explain that “Individuals who enroll in postsecondary education programs are 48 percent less likely to be reincarcerated than those who do not, and the odds of being employed post-release are 12% higher for individuals who participate in any type of correctional education.”

A common denominator among those incarcerated is their level of education. Kathryn Hanson and Deborah Stipek reported that “Dropouts are 3.5 times more likely to be arrested than high school graduates. Nationally, 68 percent of all males in prison do not have a high school diploma.

The RI DOC reported that 52% percent of their male population has a high school diploma or GED and that 35% have less than a 12th grade education. They also reported that 43% of their female population have at least a high school diploma or GED and that 28% have less than a 12 grade education.

Why does this matter? Why should taxpayers care? Taxpayers want to ensure their money is being well-spent. The Northwestern Prison Education Program reported that “a $1 million investment in incarceration will prevent about 350 crimes, while that same investment in [prison] education will prevent more than 600 crimes. [Prison] education is almost twice as cost effective as incarceration.” They also found that for every $1 invested in prison education, taxpayers save $4-$5 in re-incarceration costs during the first three years post-release.

To help put the scale of all this in perspective, the Prison Policy Initiative reports that the United States “incarcerates 716 people for every 100,000 residents, more than any other country. In fact, our rate of incarceration is more than five times higher than most of the countries in the world.” also wrote/co-produced a documentary, “Frederick’s Story” where he interviewed an incarcerated individual at the Bristol County House of Correction.

So now the question becomes, how do we as taxpayers want our money spent?