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| Why Arts Programs in Prisons Are So Important |
| By attn.com- Kathleen Toohill |
| Published: 06/22/2015 |
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Our inundated prison system (the United States claims less than five percent of the world’s population and almost 25 percent of its prisoners) has been criticized for not focusing enough on rehabilitation -- instead emphasizing punishment and deterrence. Programs that help inmates with job training, education, and personal development, including arts programs, may seem expendable to policy-makers. In the 1979 film "Escape from Alcatraz," an inmate's painting supplies are taken away after the warden discovers unflattering portraits of himself. The inmate, Doc, is so distraught by the loss of the tools that made his life in prison bearable that he chops off his fingers. While this may be a hyperbolic, made-for-cinema representation of the feelings an average inmate has towards painting, drama, and writing programs, numerous studies indicate that such programs can help decrease violence, improve interracial tensions, and bolster self-esteem within prisons. Many researchers have attempted to quantify the tangible benefits of arts programs in prisons. The Prison Arts Resource Project, an annotated bibliography from 2014 sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, describes over 48 studies evaluating the effects of arts programs in prisons. The project’s authors note in the introduction that in the 1950s and 1960s libraries slowly came to be institutionalized in American prisons. In 1972, educational opportunities were expanded to prisoners with Pell Grants that enabled inmates to earn baccalaureate and post-graduate degrees. (Sadly, in 1994 Congress disallowed the use of Pell Grants in federal and state penal institutions, however there's a bill currently proposed in Congress to reinstate them.) Read More. |
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