Education in prisons: a comparative examination of educational prison-based programmes in the prison systems of Norway, England and Wales

Abstract

Research has found that the prison population has lower levels of literacy and numeracy skills than the average population which in turn leads to connections with high rates of unemployment and ultimately with crime. For this reason, education within prison has been traditionally regarded as a way to accomplish the rehabilitation of offenders. However, there is less agreement about the broader purposes of education which, in turn, influences how education is conducted in prisons. This research has reviewed the educational prison-based programmes as displayed in the websites of each of the prisons in Norway, and England and Wales, data on the topic of interest published by government sources and the relevant literature on the evaluation of prison education of the two systems examined. The comparative analysis of this content has revealed that Norway has a holistic approach to prison education whereas England and Wales have developed an approach which is based on employability and risk prevention. The research has also established connections between these two styles of prison education and two different models of criminal justice system, the rehabilitative and the punitive respectively. The results also suggest that some structural factors which are a result of particular models of criminal justice systems and are already socially and culturally established strongly influence the style of education provided in the two systems examined.