DOCUMENT RESUME CE 067 951 ED 377 405 Ripley, Paul AUTHOR Prison Education's Role in Challenging Offending TITLE Behaviour. Mendip Papers MP 047. Staff Coll., Bristol (England). INSTITUTION PUB DATE 93 NOTE 23p. Staff College, Coombe Lodge, Blagdon, Bristol BS18 AVAILABLE FROM 6RG, England, United Kingdom (3 British pounds). Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) PUB TYPE (120) EDRS PRICE MFO1 /PCO1 Plus Postage. Adult Basic Education; Continuing Education; DESCRIPTORS *Correctional Education; *Correctional Rehabilitation; Criminals; *Curriculum Development; *Educational Needs; Evaluation Criteria; Foreign Countries; Moral Development; *Prisoners; *Program Development; Program Evaluation; Rehabilitation Programs; Vocational Education United Kingdom IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT Prison education can play a positive role in challenging offending behavior of prisoners. A drop in recidivism rates can be achieved by education that works toward attitudinal change, according to programs being implemented in the United Kingdom. To ensure that staff in prison education understand the implications of working toward the reduction of offending behavior, they need to be aware of general theories of crime and have an understanding of criminology. Education should provide help for prisoners who have inadequate social skills, provide opportunities for prisoners to develop artistic and other skills to gain self-respect, to help prisoners to acquire family life skills, and to help prisoners to understand the emotions and needs of the opposite sex. In order to meet these needs, the correctional education system will have to work toward a more balanced system, stressing both academic content and attitudinal change. Moral education needs to be stressed, as well as thinking and problem-solving skills. In the future, educational programs in prisons should have three distinctive features: basic education, vocational education, and cognitive skills development. New or revamped programs should be evaluated, using such criteria as thoroughness and intensity, research base, well-trained staff, inmates selected according to risk potential, relevance to the outside world, and multifaceted approach. (Contains 11 references.) (KC) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Prison education's The 4 Staff role in challenging College offending behaviour Paul Ripley MP 047 U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION orririe or Ec.c 3: via Resea,ch ano :,o....e^. THIS "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION GRANTED BY MATERIAL HAS BEEN CENTER ERIC his document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it Minor changes have been made to 6/{ improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this RESOURCES document do not necessarily represent TO THE EDUCATIONAL official OERI position or policy INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC).- c_174,1N'' 1-ts -Aiwa valki Prison education's role in challenging offending behaviour Paul Ripley 3 The views expressed in this Mendip Paper are those of the contributor(s). They should not be taken to represent the policy of The Staff College. About the author Paul Ripley, Education Officer, HM Prison Whatton education Paul has had considerable senior management experience in special schools, prison 1971 he was a and mainstream further education. Prior to entering the teaching profession in secondment professional soldier in the Corps of Royal Engineers. He has worked as a staff tutor on Nottinghamshire local authority. He has to T:ie Staff College from the prison service and and written extensively on prison education and has had his work published in the UK, Europe North America. Series edited and designed at The Staff College by Pippa Toogood and Susan Leather, Publications Department, and produced by the Reprographics Department. Published by The Staff College, Coombe Lodge, Blagdon, Bristol BS18 6RG Telephone (0761) 462503 Fax 0761 463104 or 463140 (Publications Department) Registered with the Charity Commissioners © The Staff College 1993 All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in -my form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Prison education's role in challenging offending behaviour Paul Ripley Contents The role of prison education This paper argues that there is a positive role for The role of prison 1 . education to play in challenging offending education behaviour. It will not, however, be a simple task to change either the curriculum or the regime. The regime 2 Education .cervices 2 Educators must be aware of the tensions change will bring about. The education programme, in its Integration 3 philosophy and practice, should underpin the challenge. A drop in recidivism rates is possible, 5 Theory of crime and much can be achieved by attitudinal changes. Treatment programmes 6 To ensure that staff in prison education understand The core treatment 7 the implications of working towards the reduction of offending behaviour, they first of all need to be programme for sex aware of general theories of crime and have an offenders: education's understanding of the study of criminology. All role at HMP Whatton too frequently teachers have not concerned themselves with the circumstar.7.es that have The supportive curriculum 8 brought the prisoners to their predicament. They Justice and fairness 9 have instead concentrated upon the subject matter. Counselling takes place within the confines of 10 Aims of moral education educational guidance and other general in the curriculum contributions which may, in a haphazard manner, be useful in reducing recidivism. The processes Delivery of programmes 11 have not been directed by any understanding of the processes of crime, its causes and its effects. Evaluation 13 This is not only commonplace in respect of teaching staff bu: is also true for many different types of Resource availability for 14 prison staff. non-sex offender programmes All members of the prison service should be aware References 14 of the theories of crime and criminology and how they relate to their practical working experience. By understanding crime it is possible to start to understand the criminal. This paper examines Mendip Papers Ili 5 attitudes towards criminal behaviour, and management structure will change. To ensure that there is some continuity and conformity to a illustrates how education programmes may fit more national pattern, the then Director General of the readily into regimes as the curriculum becomes a Prison Service, Joe Piling, issued guidelines to force for reducing recidivism. governors on the balance of regime activities (1992) indicating what will constitute education services. When these services are formally The regime contracted out to providers the interpretation will be decided upon by governors and civil servants. The Home Office White Paper Custody, care and How they will be monitored to ensure that the justice defined the aim of the regime to be: terms of the contracts are met is not yet clear. The criteria for education services outlined in Joe To provide a better prison system. This Pilling's guidelines to governors highlighted the will require more effective measures of need for those services to: security and control; a better and more constructive relationship between provide appropriate help for those prisoners - prisoners and staff; and more active, who have inadequate social skills; challenging and useful programmes for prisons. provide opportunities for prisoners to (Home Office 1991) develop artistic and other skills to gain a sense of personal achievement and self The Prisons Board interpretation of this has been respect; that a particular emphasis will be placed upon work. This will not only contribute towards the provide opportunities for prisoners to - cost of the service but will give inmates the work acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes experience they need in order to lead law abiding for a satisfactory family life; and useful lives after release (Pilling 1992). It is important to place both the White Paper and the help prisoners to understand the emotional - Prisons Board's deliberations within the general needs of the opposite sex. framework of national educational development. Clearly, the educational programme should focus Education is increasingly being viewed as forming upon the area of social dissonance, as inadequate a part of the economic infrastructure of society. There social skills obviously include offending. The movement towards more vocational education, is no reason why much if not all of the curriculum the role of Training and Enterprise Councils cannot actively support this focus on order to (TECs) and Local Enterprise Companies (LECs), challenge offending behaviour. accreditation by National Vocational Qualification (NVQ): all these - and other indicators - show Providers of education services in prisons need to how the liberal tradition of education is on the take positive steps towards working with decline. Prisons reflect this tendency no more nor programmes designed to address offending less than mainstream p-st -16 education. In behaviour. This requirement is certain to be addition, prisons are becoming more conscious of included in the programme contracted by the prison This relates their duty to give value for taxes. governor with his/her area manager. Prisons are closely to the work ethic, an ethic which believes grouped into geographical areas with a senior that prisoners should contribute to their upkeep if governor having overall responsibility to the possible and be prepared to be productive on director general of the Prison Service for his or completion of their sentences. her area. The area managers draw up a contract which becomes the measure by which an institution's effectiveness and the governor's Education services performance is measured. The prison governor's contract is reviewed annually by the area manager. 1993 heralds a significant change in how education Funcuon 17 of the contract is the part which relates Its philosophy will is to be delivered in prisons. to educational and library activities. Governors will change towards being work orientated. Its be including in Function 17 of their contract, or its Mendip Papers 6 equivalent on re-definition of the contract, the supportive, integrated modes of educational delivery rather than being a discrete service addressing of offending behaviour. providing for clearly identified academic or The relevant criteria are as follows: vocational aims. Is the educational programme targeted at To achieve this integration, educators need to join 1. offending behaviour problems or other the debate on crime. This debate uses such phrases problems that are prevalent amongst as 'community', participation', 'group work', prisoners (e.g. alcohol and drug abuse) `interdepartmental co-operation'. These phrases directly impacting on offending? imply a co-ordinated effort within prisons but a closer look at the reality of the situation will show wasteful duplication, policy confusion and 2. Are the contents of the programme and the techniques to be used clearly defined? Is differences. the justification for believing that the programme is likely to be effective in To enable a relatively novel initiative to be reducing levels of re-offending (or in implemented, when it is potentially fraught with offering other tangible benefits to the danger, the education service must ensure it is able offender or the establishment) clearly to contribute to the innovation and that the stated? institution accepts the innovation. This will only occur if there is a fusion of the different parts of 3. Does the programme give priority to those the regime. prisoners who have identifiable needs in the problem area and appear at greatest risk Integration of re-offending? 4. Is the programme properly structured and Miles (1965)) suggested that: Is it adequately resourced to managed? provide consistency and continuity of A healthy organisation not only survives Is its delivery part of the treatment? in its environment, but continues to cope governor's contract with his or her area adequately over the long haul and manager? continuously develops and extends its surviving and coping abilities. 5. Have staff conducting the programme received appropriate training? Miles defined three dimensions: 6. Is the programme for the individual prisoner goal focus, - part. of a sentence plan which will address other major problem areas that the offender communications adequacy, - may have? optimal power equalisation. - Is the programme being evaluated? Or is 7. information about e.g. programme delivery The organisation contracted to provide education and observed results being collected so that must ensure it is aware of these dimensions and is independent evaluation would be possible? able to adjust the education programme to their needs. 8. Does the programme provide for further work to be done on the release of the Goals must be achievable with existing or available offender - e.g. by the probation service or resources and must also be appropriate - i.e. more voluntary agencies - to assist rchabi'itation or less congruous with the demands of the and help prevent relapse? environment. The education manager will need to establish the resources needed to support and For education staff to be fully effective both in the develop offence focus programmes and to ask the provision of education and offence focused work, following questions: the departments will have to move towards more Mendip Papers 3 7 Will the post-April 1993 arrangement allow the Are there resources? - on-site co-ordinator of education the autonomy vital to attain optimal power equalisation or will Where have they come from? - the tendering process diminish the autonomy and power availability? The very basis of the What are the consequences of using them? - hierarchical nature of prison management has been to use more or less coercive means to achieve ends. It may well be that the consequences in terms of The use of resources as a coercive tool of the education programme are such that either more management is a common practice. of resources (extremely unlikely) or a change programme (more likely) are the two options Such implications concerning the organisation's available. health should be considered when the role of education is about to be altered - especially if it Communications need to be adequate. Prisons becomes a role which has not traditionally been as organisations are not renowned for their believe seen to be education or which other groups excellence of communications. They are not to be rightfully theirs. Information should travel both distortion free. vertically/horizontally and also in and out of the McDougall et at (1992) suggested that any People need to have sufficient institution. organisational change will go through a number information and should be prepared to give are good of stages (see Figure 1). if there Only information. communications could such sensitive work be Following this model, the introduction of started. behaviour modification or offence focus programmes must, in the preparation stage, be seen If there are good communications systems, there by teachers as enhancing their role. They may is a play for optimal power equalisation. Miles feel frustration through losing a piece of work they argued that subordinates should be able to exert have always enjoyed. The introduction of offence influence upwards and, even more importantly, focus work should be done in an imaginative perceived that their boss should also be able to fashion, by management supporting staff in influence upwardly with his or her boss. If these developing a new dimension to their work. This situations exist in the organisation, there will still should minimize the loss felt when a traditional be intergroup struggles - that is only natural. But part of the programme is replaced by offence focus there will not be the same scope for explicit or work. Is this possible in a prison? implicit coercion. Figure 1: Stages in organisational change 1. Preparation 2. 4. Encounter Stabilisation 3. Adjustment 4 I Mendip Papers 8 The encounter period, when staff first start working that it may be possible to begin to describe - on the offence focus programme, can create the nature of such treatment on the basis of the underlying features of anti-social uncertainty for everyone. McDougall's view was that if this stage is viewed as a problem, it will conduct in general. create problems, whereas if it is seen as a challenge it has a chance of success. The support of This calls for a rethinking of the professional role management is essential, and stress must be of the teacher. Traditionally the teacher has played recognised and cared for. a tutor/counsellor role. Subject matter has been delivered in a variety of modes. The effective During the adjustment stage staff should be able teacher carrying out offence focus work needs to have a professionalism which has its roots in to firm up their work. For the teacher this means re-evaluating exactly what is comprised by the criminology, sociology and human behaviour. The curriculum. Changes in the working environment perception that education is the only area of solace will be evident. for the prisoner needs to be set right. Prisoners need to know that whatever they do for their At the stabilisation stage staff understand what education is simply a part of the whole that will be they are doing, have defined their roles and are freely shared with other colleagues both inside contributing efficiently. In education departments and outside the prison. This may be uncomfortable the offence focus work should be an integral part for some teachers, but it is vital. of the curriculum - indistinguishable from any other work by the support and commitment given As a basis for professional development teachers need to know about the nature of crimes and to it by either management or staff. criminality. This will enable them to understand the basis of development in the offence focus Theory of crime programmes. A starting point for discussion would be in the general theory of crime. For a fuller understanding of the role of prison Criminality education it is necessary to define and examine what teachers, within their professional role, should Gottfredson and Hirsch (1990) suggested that expect to know about the offences of their students and the theory of crime. criminal acts provide immediate, easy or simple gratification of desires. They provide money without work, sex without courtship, revenge Wolford (1990) saw that educators, who constitute one of the largest specialised professional groups without court delays. A major characteristic of people with low self-control is a tendency to within corrections (prisons), have been viewed as part of an institution within an institution. This respond to the immediate environment, to have a remote role needs to be challenged. Teachers have 'here and now' orientation. People lacking in self- a role which goes beyond the pedagogic. The control also tend to lack diligence, tenacity, or offence should not be ignored. The prisoner's persistence in a course of action. This does not in criminal and social record is not information that itself imply a propensity towards criminal activity. is available to only a few members of the It does imply that a higher degree of self-control instimtion. Teachers need to know more about the has a modifying effect upon criminal behaviour. offence and its perpetrator. They need to be aware Low self-control can lead to an immediate reaction rather than a reasoned response. Much criminal that: action is reactive. Proactive criminality is a minority activity. offending is part of a wider, more persistent - social/psychological deficit; Criminal acts are exciting, risky or thrilling. They these other psychological/social deficits involve stealth, danger, speed, agility, deception, (e.g. re employment, education and social or power. People lacking in self-control tend, therefore, to be adventuresome, active and relationships) may therefore have equal physical. legitimacy as targets for a specifically prison `treatment'; and 9 Mendip Papers 5 Little has been produced as yet in terms of generic Criines provide few or meagre long-term benefits. treatment programmes for offenders. Much has Criminality is not equivalent to a job or a career. been done, and is still being done, in the treatment On the contrary, crime interferes with long-term of sex offenders. Generally this has followed a commitments to jobs, marriages, family or friends. medical model - such as that at HMP Grendon - Thus, people with low self-control tend to have but more recently a behavioural model has been unstable marriages, friendships and job profiles. developed, particularly in those prisons with They tend to be little interested in or unprepared specialist provision for sex offenders. This for long-term occupational pursuits. development, initiated by the Directorate of Inmate Crime requires little skill or planning. The Programmes in the Home Office, is a useful model to examine when considering the introduction of a cognitive requirement for most crimes is minimal. general offence focus programme. It follows that people lacking in self-control need not possess or value cognitive or academic skills. The key factor is how does education fit into this The manual skills required for most crimes are What type of curriculum should be picture. minimal. People who are prone to criminal acts developed? need not possess manual skills that require training or apprenticeship. The curriculum Crimes often result in pain or discomfort for the victim. Property is lost, bodies are injured, privacy Wright (1989) suggested that: is violated, etc. There is a tendency for people with low self-control to be self-centred, indifferent Though teachers are themselves moral or insensitive to the sufferings and needs of others. agents, with their own commitment to It does not follow that people with low self-control moral values, they at present lack a clear are unkind or antisocial. On the contrary, they and agreed understanding of what it may discover the immediate and easy rewards of means to be professionally concerned charm and generosity. Since crime involves the with moral education. pursuit of immediate pleasure, it follows that people who lack self-control will also be likely to Offence focus work is all about moral education. pursue immediate pleasures that are not criminal. Moral education, along with counselling, should They will tend to smoke, drink, use drugs, gamble replace the subject matter traditionally seen as the and engage in illicit sex. major plank of the prison educator's professional response. Understanding the nature of criminality may prepare staff for the difficulties they will face in Wright explored the concept of a framework for delivering an educational programme of offence moral education to be the basis of post-16 focused work. It will need to be delivered with a Wright argued that a framework education. The teacher must have new set of skills. drawing upon the principles he alluded are counselling and directive skills as well as academic sometimes lacking in colleges should form the skills if the offender is to benefit. basis of the implicit relationship between student Wright's framework for moral and teacher. education would, with some minor adjustments Treatment programmes for the penal environment, provide a set of principles capable of being used in offending behaviour programmes. These principles would Treatment can be defined as the ccncept that comprises everything we do consciously to underpin the direct challenges offered to offenders by educating and training them in a community influence the inmate's ability to refrain from which offers work support as its basis for criminal activity in the future. This implies that development. the way staff deal with inmates in daily life, the physical layout of prisons and the entire prison The major difficulty would be in ensuring that the regime are important elements in the treatment principles are understood and adhered to by all programme. This concept is struggling to emerge grades and types of staff. Education can take a in English and Welsh prisons. 10 6 Mendip Papers