Education within Prison Walls

Modern prison education attempts to bring the best practices of public education into the prison and to adapt them to the prison situation. It also attempts to develop these practices so that they will function satisfactorily in protecting society against further depredation by criminals. The problems involved in building genuine education programs and making them function as effective agencies in reforming the attitudes and habits of men and women who have rebelled in one way or another against social controls are numerous and complex. From the formulation of the philosophy and the establishment of objectives, through the molding of the public opinion, securing cooperation from institutional heads and personnel, planning and organizing a program, to devising techniques which will arouse and maintain the interests and efforts of the inmates, the path of the prison educator is beset with problems as interesting as they are unique and puzzling. This is one frontier which is by no means closed. And although they must use different techniques, tools, and weapons, the pioneers in correctional education face a region almost untracked and, in the opinion of those responsible for this book, full of possibilities for improvement.

This book cites concrete examples of how the foregoing problems have been and are being solved in a practical manner.