Panel says prison education is effective

A panel of educators and prison officials tackled issues of morality and the capacity for effectiveness of prison inmate education programs last night at Harvard University.

One panelist, Stefan LoBuglio, the Deputy Superintendent of the Corrections Department for Suffolk County, said approximately 15-40 percent of the 6.3 million offenders in the correctional system are currently enrolled in a variety of educational programs.

LoBuglio, who designs prison education programs, attributed the inaccuracy of the statistic to the lack of a database to track and monitor these programs on a national basis.

Overall, LoBuglio was optimistic about the ability for prison education to improve the current prison system.

“These programs can and do make a difference in the lives of these offenders,” he said.

However, he emphasized the need to rethink the way corrections are run in order to deal more comprehensively with the offender’s needs. He said he believes a primary way to address this issue is through prison education programs.

“I believe they work. I’ve seen transformations occur,” LoBuglio said.

Another panelist, Harvard professor Rebecca McLennan, took a more philosophical approach to the issue. McLennan asserted the main characteristic of prison education is that it is “inherently paradoxical.”

This specific type of prison reform, conceived in the late 19th century, “gave young men the necessary skills to survive in a modern economy.” However, McLennan said, by attaching prison education to the parole system, these reforms have become coercive, forcing offenders to become liberated.

Author and professor Robert Gordon offered a bleak picture of the current prison system. Reading graphic excerpts from autobiographical narratives from prisoners, Gordon focused on the unforgiving nature of corrections that traps offenders in a life of poverty and despair.

Although prison education does have the capacity to be effective, LoBuglio argued, the way the prison system and education programs are run will determine whether the program will be a success.

“They can exist,” he said. “It’s the difference between a well functioning prison and a poorly functioning one.”

LoBuglio said the outlook for prison education systems in uncertain, due to the lack of hard evidence either proving or disproving actual social benefits. However, LoBuglio assured this issue will become increasingly prevalent in the social and political arena.

“There’s a lot of interest,” he said. “It’s on the public agenda like never before.”