Motivation of Prisoners without Incentives - Coursework Example

After that, the satisfaction and responsibilities the prisoners get and the experiences they get from their supervisors decide the course of study and continuation of it. The link between unemployment and crime gives enough reason for the authorities to provide opportunities for education and training for prisoners. One of the principles that can motivate the prisoners to study is that the study and work in prison are similar to the outside world. In addition to that, the provision of employment for prisoners after their release gives that crucial inspiration to prisoners to study. Consequently, to convince prisoners to study without incentives, the authorities have to make the education atmosphere inside prison similar to the outside and assure them that the employability of prisoners is no less than the ordinary people after their release. In addition to making them confident that they will get a livelihood after their release, the studies of the prisoners in prison should help them to serve their sentences. As the outside world and mode of working changes fast, the reforms in education and training need a quick response to that change, should make prisoners aware of the changes, and must be in a condition to prepare them for the change. As it is compulsory to work in most prisons, it is better to make them work while studying as they can earn while studying and that helps in motivating the prisoners to study without any special incentives other than work (Simon, Frances H., 1999).

According to Simon and Frances, the literature on imprisonment did not concentrate much on prison work and education. As a result, very few studies are available that explain the nature of prisoners and their motivation of them to study without incentives. It depends on the experience of prisoners and supervisors and the extent to which the studies meet the needs of the prisoners after their release. The motivation depends on the matters that affect the prisoners and ex-prisoners at a personal individual level. The wider structural factors are secondary as the motivation is important to have the consent of the prisoners to study. The analysis of the prisoners will help in finding the factors that motivate the prisoners to study. By knowing the factors that affect the motivation positively or negatively the comparison between the kinds of methods followed to make the prisoners study is possible. The education and training assume importance as 85 percent of prisoners in countries. The prisons in the UK contain 85 percent of prisoners held at once and the prisoners aged around 21 are the majority. Consequently, the education and training them is a necessity to cope with the life after the sentence. The rising number of prisoners makes it necessary to find the motivational reasons to make them study without incentives, as they have to lose their income on work due to training and studies. However, Simon and Frances present a short history of prison work in the last two centuries that helps in understanding motivation for studies without incentives. Simon and Frances quote Howard about the squalor and idleness of the jails. In the above-mentioned context, Howard advocates a regime that thinks about solitary confinement. Moreover, religion and hard work also matter in motivation. In addition to the above factors, the prison cell should induce reflection and repentance, which in turn induces discipline, which is necessary for concentration on studies. The nature of the work and the future benefits of the study will be a factor in the motivation for studying without incentives. Howard talks about changing prison into a factory with discipline workers (prisoners), but it does not concentrate on motivating the prisoners to study without incentives. In that case, prisoners can be shaped into workers, but not as students. A student needs motivation and the absence of motivation pulls prisoners away from studying. Communication is more important in motivation and that is absent in the prison system that makes prisoners work, points out Howard. However, preserving health, and improving morals will help in motivating them to study.  As Simons and Frances concentrate on reforms in the prisons, they raise the issue of response to rising crime and an increasing number of prisoners. As solitary confinement is an issue in the book of Simon and Frances, making it minimal can increase communication and that can help in motivating the prisoners. They observe that the prisoners who worked under strict discipline care were more varied and healthy and as a result, it indicates that the variety in the types of prisoners and discipline will make them healthy and it will be easier for supervisors to motivate them for studies. The authors mention that the prisoners built buildings and breakwaters. As they are disciplined enough to work on complex issues, it is not a difficult thing to motivate them for studies, if the factor reasonable for motivation is pointed out (Simon, Frances H., 1999).

In addition to discipline and variety in confinement, the modern prison should not be a place that shelters destitute, vagrant, insane and deviant, but a place that can reform and change them into capable and responsible citizens. The factors of motivation defer from destitute and vagrant as well as insane and deviant. As prisoners are compliant with persons having the above four characteristics, it is important to spot the motivating factor or factors that are capable of removing their feelings of distress and hopelessness in them.