Life Beyond Four Walls

Opportunities for Growth

With a recidivism rate that has flirted around the 70% range within the last five years, inmates have not been properly prepared for life after release. Most of the inmates currently residing in a correction center or prison only have a high school diploma. After their sentence is up, they leave with the same baseline skills needed to survive. Giving individuals the opportunity to grow, learn, and develop while serving sentences is an action the justice system can do to assist the inmate population for future opportunities. These opportunities help to increase employment, reduce violent behavior, and enhance the will to strive for high academic achievement in younger generations. 

​

Today, employment and how one receives a better job is closely related to the education one person has. A bachelor's degree has less value then a masters which has less value than a PHD. For those incarcerated, the lack of education and ability to receive a higher degree limits inmates freedom in obtaining a higher paying job. Pair that with the stigma and label of being a "criminal," opportunities are severely taken away from that inmate compared to its free counterpart. But if that support to learn is present, an inmate has a much higher chance of making it.

​

Violent behavior is common in people who are frustrated, unheard, and unwanted. They struggle to make their opinions matter and when they cannot express themselves, they turn to violent actions. In prison, one can easily forget how to act, talk, and behave in society. Surrounded by four walls, freedom is smothered and not present to the inmate. But the education needed is not about how to memorize a list of words from a book, the education needed relates to appropriate social behavior and adapting to a changing culture.

​

Children, in most cases, follow after their parents. They watch how their parents act, talk, and live. When that same child grows up and sees their parent not educated, it quickly creates an endless cycle of lack of motivation and will.The growth that happens within that cell block has to be beneficial and create a drive within that individual. It has to foster a new type of drive that can be reflected positively on the growth of themselves and their children.

​

Education is important. Education is valuable. Education is growth. For many individuals, the access to education is not limited. But what happens to those whose education is taken away. What happens to those who are incarcerated?  More importantly, what is being done to allow those individuals to grow and develop in the same way to those who are free.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​