ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces readers to the concepts, theories, and evidence related to prison education and its effectiveness. It begins with a discussion of the infamous Martinson Report which claimed that nothing worked in the rehabilitation of criminals. However, despite this claim, research demonstrates many reasons why postsecondary education is effective in rehabilitation and the reduction of recidivism. Crime is largely an effect of class differences. When people are incarcerated, they are deprived of human and social capital necessary for economic success, something college classes behind bars provides them. The chapter concludes a history of prison education from 1966 when it began in Texas to 1994 when the revocation of Pell grants eliminated hundreds of programs, leaving only a dozen remaining.
