Education is hard to come by while in prison. Many people work to earn way below minimum wages while incarcerated but never focus on receiving an education or considering how it will benefit them, and society, once they are released. An article published by Northeastern Illinois University, talks about restorative justice through education. In 2017, Tim Barnett and Erica Meiners founded a program with the assistance of Prison+Neighborhood Arts Project that provides an education for those incarcerated, even in maximum security facilities. The program is called University Without Walls (UWW) and allows students to use professional work experience towards earning their degree. In society, having a degree can be seen as a sign of success and there is a stigma that once people are convicted felons that’s all they are. Many turn their lives around in prison and work towards bettering themselves and accomplishing more than they did before being incarcerated. Part of their second chance at life should be the option of earning a degree to help them succeed post incarceration.
Having the opportunity to educate themselves in prison provides people a way to prepare for life after incarceration. As stated in the article, “results show that inmates who earned associate and bachelor degrees while incarcerated tend to become law-abiding individuals significantly more often after their release from prison than inmates who had not advanced their education while incarcerated,” which shows that education in prison reduces recidivism. Education can provide people with new tools and ways of thinking that they had not previously been exposed to. It helps improve society once individuals are released, as they can use their time in prison more productively and to receive an education, which results in them being more likely to find a job even as a convicted felon. Education is an opportunity that should be available for all, even those who are behind bars and UWW is helping to make this possibility a reality.