From Prison to PhD

From Prison to PhD

1. The article detailed the experience of Michelle Jones, a former imprisoned woman who entered a PhD program at NYU. The story examines Ms. Jones’ background, her crime, and the award-winning study she completed while imprisoned.

The main argument of this article is that people convicted of crimes have a shot at redemption in society if they make improvements, particularly in the area of education. The author also describes how imprisonments also can affect the lives of people once they are released. Ms. Jones’ message is accurately described in her message at the end of the article. She states that in order for people to survive the life of prison, they need to resort to the “…discipline to do their reading and writing in the chaos of that place [prison]…” All in all, Ms. Jones agrees that education is very important when it comes to the lives of those imprisoned. 

The article “From Prison to PhD” focuses on the education of imprisoned people and how this can aid them in the integration of society once they have served their sentence. As stated by Hager, efforts by “…universities, corporations, and state and local governments have begun to break down barriers that block formerly incarcerated people from education and employment (5).” This is immensely significant for a variety of reasons. One of the principal reasons is that it forces society to change their perspectives on those who have been previously imprisoned. Reformation is possible for those convicted of crimes if given the proper resources. Such include educational and career opportunities