Kim Kardashian docu shows prison rehabilitation programs reduce crime and save taxpayers money
Although past studies and opinions of criminal justice reform experts have established that introducing rehabilitation and educational programs in prisons have reduced the chances of repeat offenders and lowered prison population thus saving taxpayers' money, there are still a number of states which do not offer such facilities for convicts in their detention centers.
One of the questions asked in the two-hour Oxygen documentary, 'Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project,' which premiered on April 5, is why states governments are hesitant to introduce educational or therapeutic programs in their respective prison facilities despite the evident benefits.
We reached out to experts hoping for answers to some of the questions raised by the documentary.
Kami N. Chavis, Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives and Professor of Law at Wake Forest University told MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) that it is inhuman how most states in the country treated criminals in prisons.
"We cannot afford to simply warehouse people while they are serving their sentences. Having an education and an opportunity to learn a skill can help them cope while incarcerated and provide an avenue and the ability to earn a living when they leave," she said.
A comprehensive study of corrective education in prisons was done by the RAND Corporation, drawing funds from The Second Chance Act, enacted in 2008.
"Their meta-analysis found that, on average, inmates who participated in correctional education had 43 percent lower odds of recidivating than inmates who did not which translates into a 13-point reduction in recidivism," Charles Edward Lewis Jr., adjunct professor of Health Sciences at the University of Southern California, said.
He added that "inmates who had not completed high school or its equivalent (about 40 percent)" but had "participated in high school/GED programs had 30 percent lower odds of recidivism," the study found.
A large portion of the documentary was devoted to studying the cases of first-time offenders, including juveniles, who had been awarded mandatory minimum sentences - which often ranged from several years in prison to life imprisonment. Since they were not hardened criminals and often ended up behind the bars at tender ages, Lewis Jr. said that there could be a possibility that rehabilitation programs in prisons may end up helping them receive reductions in sentences, that is if they successfully complete the program.
In addition, it also assisted inmates in finding jobs once they are freed and reintroduced into society. "The report found that inmates who participated in education programs had 13 percent greater odds of obtaining employment than inmates who had not. It also found that inmates who participated in vocational programs had 28 percent higher odds of obtaining employment," he said.
The RAND meta-analysis found that inmate education programs are cost-effective.
"Based on the cost of education programs versus the cost of incarceration, their cost analyses found reincarceration costs are $870,000 to $970, 000 less for those who receive correctional education. They estimate the cost of providing education per inmate to be $1,400 to $1,744. They calculated the break-even point—the risk difference in the incarceration rate required for the cost of inmate education to be equal to the cost of incarceration—to be between 1.9 and 2.6 percentage points," Lewis Jr. said.
But unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, most of the state prisons lack such educational or rehabilitation programs.
"Most prisons are run by state governments. The federal government prison system accounts for about six percent of the incarcerated population. Therefore, states must use precious tax dollars to provide education programs in prisons when they are often stretched thin trying to fund public education. Inmates are not seen as being among the 'deserving poor' who should receive these services from taxpayers," he said of the harsh reality.