An evaluation on the main problems encountered in educational processes in prisons

Penitentiary institutions are institutions that contain concrete examples of the freedom-binding punishment aspect of legal sanctions, especially those who cannot adapt to social life, threaten social peace and security, cause violation of the bodily integrity of individuals, and tend to commit the crime in such acts, are placed within a certain amount of punishment. The confinement of criminals to penitentiary institutions for a certain period of time and then their release does not mean that they have gained a behavioral change, are reformed and are ready to adapt to society. The improvement of the individual is only possible through educational activities. The education and improvement works carried out in penitentiary institutions apply a certain training program to the individual, develop it and raise awareness against crime. If the rehabilitation dimension of prisons does not function properly, it does not seem possible for individuals involved in crime to gain the aforementioned gains. In this respect, it is important for social welfare whether the training programs carried out in penitentiary institutions reach their goals and how the officials who take an active role in the training process evaluate the process. This research aims to reveal the professional problems of prison teachers, who have the qualifications of being the planner, director and implementer of the educational studies carried out in penitentiary institutions and take an active role in the improvement process, and whether their education processes have reached the targeted dimensions, what the obstacles are in the process, and It aimed to determine what can be done to increase the improvement levels of the convicts. Data were collected through scanning in order to photograph the current situation in the study and to reach descriptive information. As a data collection tool, a personal information form aiming to determine sociodemographic characteristics and an interview form consisting of 16 structured open-ended questions that will lead to the solution of the research problem and the answers to the research questions were prepared. The relevant form was accessed via the Google Forms web address, and the access address was sent to all penal institutions by the Ministry of Justice General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses within the framework of official correspondence. In addition, the access address was shared via social media platforms such as e-mail and WhatsApp mobile application. Out of 380 teachers working in prisons, 113 participated in the study. Prison teachers' responses to variables such as age, gender, branch, years of professional experience, and the institution they work for were compared using the frequency (F) and percentage (%) method. Content analyzes of the answers given to 16 open-ended questions were made, and frequency (F) distributions were tabulated within the framework of the necessary coding. The findings were interpreted with the support of the literature. As a result, it has been determined that the legislation determining the job descriptions of prison teachers is not clear, therefore they have to work with a lot of workload and they do not have the authority in proportion to their responsibilities. It has been found that the administrators and personnel of the institution do not sufficiently support and care about the educational work, that the physical conditions of the prison are not suitable for quality education studies and that they should be developed, especially that a limited number of professional studies can be done. It was concluded that the teachers thought that the educational activities carried out did not reach the targeted level. By reviewing the job description of the prison teaching profession by experts, defining only the duties suitable for the title of teaching and undertaking responsibilities in this context or recognizing the authority of a superior in current conditions; frequent briefings on the importance of training for prison managers and staff; It has been suggested that the physical facilities of the prison should be made suitable for comprehensive and versatile education studies and that vocational training should be emphasized. Keywords: Prison Teaching, Penitentiary Institution, Educational Studies, Vocational Education, Convicts and Prisoners