Corrections education and employment assistance 'Down Under': Current and emerging practices and paradigms

This article provides a view of contemporary Australia in terms of patterns of offending and incarceration, the characteristics of its correctional systems, vocational education and training (VET) within correctional settings, and post-release employment of prisoners and offenders serving community-based orders (CBOs). A two-year case study of employment assistance for 2,458 Australian prisoners and offenders serving CBOs was evaluated. The voluntary 12-month programme targeted participants at moderate to high risk of reoffending. Overall, employment outcomes were positive with more than one-third of registrations resulting in employment. Employment outcomes varied for gender and participant status (prisoner/offender). Recidivism outcomes were analysed for the whole programme and for a random sample of 600 prisoner participants. Results indicated a very low overall recidivism rate (7.46 per cent) for programme participants, and comparison of pre-programme and post-release recidivism showed reduced recidivism on three recidivism measures. The findings are contextualized in terms of current thinking and emerging practices in offender treatment, with a focus on reintegration as ecological system engagement and integrated systems of support as central to promoting positive lifestyle change.

Computer-Based Education in Prison Schools

The PLATO Corrections Project (PCP) is implementing PLATO computer-based education in Illinois prisons. Since October 1975, the PCP staff has assembled a pre-GED and GED curriculum of over 400 already available PLATO lessons; has developed the PCP instructional management, communications, and evaluation system; has designed an instructor training package; and more recently has developed forty hours of mastery-based instruction in adult reading comprehension and vocabulary development. Some 2,000 students and 120 staff in three Illinois prisons have used the system for over 32,000 hours. The PCP network also has expanded to the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Data collected on student/instructor usage, attitudes, and achievement demonstrate that the PCP System is feasible, attractive, and effective in corrections education. Moreover, educational strategies employed in PCP's current curriculum development program will form the basis for a comprehensive basic skills curriculum for educationally disadvantaged youth and adults.