Educational needs from the perspective of prisoners in Serbia

Abstract

This empirical research aimed to investigate the convicts' opinions of education programs in penitentiaries. Data were collected from a convenient sample of 100 male prisoners detained in a high-security ward of the correctional institution in Sremska Mitrovica. The research aimed to examine the convicts' educational needs, as well as their assessment of the free activities organized within the institution, their perceptions of the significance of working with the treatment personnel, and the correlation between education and recidivism. The research results indicate that the inmates' attitudes toward education are largely positive, but that they are dissatisfied with the education programs offered in their correctional institution.