Abstract:

Detainees reentering in a society face a wide range of challenges, from securing employment and housing to treating substance abuse and mental and physical illnesses to reconnecting with their families and communities (Wodahl, 2006). With nearly 11,000 inmates in Belgium today, a growing number of organizations are working hard to identify effective methods for helping inmates meet the challenges of reentry and successfully reintegrate into society (Department of education in Belgium, 2010). These approaches can include prison education programs (adult basic education and vocational secondary education), life-skills and job-readiness training, job placement assistance, mentoring services, and pre- and post-release case management (Solomon, 2004). This paper focuses on a prison secondary vocational education program for industrial painters in Belgium, which attempts to address factors that contribute to incarceration and assist with reintegration into society by providing formal credit secondary-level courses to inmates before their release from prison. Specifically, we describe a secondary correctional education program primarily offered by the Taxandria CVO Turnhout, in the prison of Wortel (Belgium) and identify both challenges and solutions in providing these services to inmates. We also highlight program features that may improve reentry outcomes. The paper concludes with a discussion of research areas warranting further attention from researchers and policy makers.

Keywords:

Prison education industrial painter.