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Reducing recidivism and incarceration through education
Ist Teil von
Australian bar review, 2024-05, Vol.54 (1), p.42-59
Ort / Verlag
Sydney: LexisNexis
Erscheinungsjahr
2024
Link zum Volltext
Beschreibungen/Notizen
Incarceration levels in Australia have increased dramatically over the past 4 decades and are among the highest in the developed world. At the same time, Australia has one of the highest recidivism rates. This is despite a large number of rehabilitation programs being trialled and implemented. Prison has some demonstrable benefits. It ensures that inmates do not commit crime in the community during their sentence and is a means of achieving the proportionality principle for serious offences. However, the cost of imprisonment is now nearly $150,000 per year for each offender and this is not financially sustainable. This article proposes a partial solution to growing prison numbers. There is one trait that research clearly establishes will lower the likelihood of recidivism and incarceration numbers. People with higher levels of education are considerably less likely to be incarcerated. Despite this, the portion of prisoners in Australia undertaking education in prison has significantly declined in recent years. This is a policy failure. More resources need to be directed towards prisoner education programs. This will make the community safer and reduce the overall cost of crime to the community and the damage it does to victims of crime.