Prison work programs provide many benefits. It is good for inmates to have to get up, clean up and show up for work on time. Most of us have to do that, and the more inmates’ lives can parallel the real world, the easier it will be to transition back into the community after they are released.
Our mothers told us that “idle hands are the devil’s playground.” That is doubly true in prison. Having a job fills inmates’ time with productive activity, gets them out of the “prison culture” and puts them in contact with people in the mainstream of society.
There is also dignity that comes with seeing the sweat of your brow produce something good — a sense of achievement many inmates have never experienced before.
There is also a sense of pride that comes from knowing that your labor is valuable enough that you’re paid for it.
Work programs should teach offenders marketable skills. A recent article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution highlighted inmates helping restore a train depot. The taxpayers will save hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the carpentry skills the inmates acquire will prepare them for good jobs.
In addition, they will be able to point with pride at the finished product. Imagine the thrill it will give them to take their children to the restored depot and say, “See that woodwork? I did that.”
One caution: State officials are considering putting inmates to work harvesting fruits and vegetables across Georgia. While this may help with the shortage of pickers, don’t expect those inmates to learn a marketable skill.
Most Georgia inmates are from urban areas, and the terms of their parole require them to return to the community they come from, far from agricultural fields. So, harvesting crops will not translate to work when they are released.
Moreover, requiring state agencies to purchase inmate-made products gives no incentive to produce quality goods on time. Congress exempted the Department of Defense from “mandatory source” rules because the Federal Bureau of Prisons delivered so many shoddy products and missed so many deadlines for front-line equipment.
It is essential that such programs do not displace currently employed workers, and the inmates should receive the same pay as workers earn in the market economy.
Paying them less puts the program in unfair competition with private-sector businesses and its workers.
Structured properly, inmate work programs teach offenders marketable skills and give them a sense of accomplishment.
The wages allow them to pay restitution to those they have harmed and contribute to the support of their families. The pay also lets them set aside some of their earnings as “gate money” to help them make the transition from prison.
All these factors make prison work programs good for the community as well as the inmates.
Pat Nolan is vice president of Prison Fellowship, a Virginia-based nonprofit prison ministry.
About the Author
