Controversial Article Distorts Findings on Prison Education’s True Impact
A recent article published on 12 January has sparked controversy over its portrayal of prison education. Critics argue that the piece misrepresents a study and omits key evidence supporting higher education in prisons. The Alliance for Higher Education in Prison has now challenged both the article’s framing and its conclusions.
At the centre of the debate is an unpublished working paper titled A Second Chance at Schooling? Unintended Consequences of Prison Education. The study, authored by Anna Aizer, Shari Eli, Joseph Ferrie, and Adriana Lleras-Muney, examines how education may influence release conditions—but its findings differ sharply from the article’s claims.
The study itself does not conclude that prison education increases reincarceration. Instead, it highlights how release placement and supervision levels—rather than education—affect outcomes. Researchers Romaine Campbell and Logan Lee, whose work was cited, also found no direct link between education and higher recidivism rates.
The authors of the original study have stressed that their results should not be interpreted as evidence that education is harmful. They point to work-release programmes and technical violations as the primary factors tied to reincarceration, not participation in educational courses. The study further questions how education might influence release decisions, supervision intensity, and the risk of technical breaches. Critics argue that the article’s headline and framing are misleading. By focusing narrowly on recidivism—a metric widely considered incomplete—it overlooks the broader benefits of prison education. The Alliance for Higher Education in Prison warns that such sensationalist reporting could reinforce harmful stereotypes and undermine support for proven rehabilitation programmes.
The dispute centres on how research is presented and interpreted. The study in question does not support claims that prison education leads to higher reincarceration. Instead, it underscores the need to examine release conditions and supervision policies.
The Alliance’s response highlights the risks of oversimplifying complex issues. Without proper context, discussions about prison education may ignore decades of evidence showing its positive effects.
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