For my first blog post in a year, thought I’d mention this report I’ve been reading by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, called: Target Crime With Literacy (2009).

Some interesting facts include:

• 42 out of 100 Canadian adults have low literacy skills.

• 65 of 100 people entering correctional facilities have less than a Grade 8 education or level of literacy skills.

• Men are more likely to have low literacy skills than women.

• A Canadian study showed that prison literacy programs can reduce recidivism by up to 30%, depending on the level of literacy the prisoner achieves. In a U.S. study, getting a college degree in prison reduced recidivism by 100%.

• In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that police officers cannot assume that the people they communicate with – orally or in writing – have understood the information fully. The results of this ruling are: A person is not adequately informed, legally, unless they have actually understood the information they received. Police cannot rely on a mechanical recitation of the standard police charge. Police must take steps to make sure the person understands.

• Low literacy is more than a reading problem. People with low literacy also have difficulties understanding oral and written information. Many tend to have different thinking strategies and problem-solving approaches.

• What seems to be a bad attitude may be a literacy problem.

• People with low literacy skills are likely to understand verbal and written information more slowly than others.

• Anger management training and drug rehabilitation programs usually involve reading, so these programs may not help an offender who has low literacy.

From page 1:
“Everyone who faces Canada’s justice system, as a suspect, witness, or victim, must cope with police and legal jargon. Since this is extra difficult for people with low literacy, this can be even more stressful for them than for skilled readers.

Not being able to read well makes it difficult for a person to cope with all aspects of the criminal justice system. At any stage, a person involved with the system will have to: answer questions, fill out forms, provide statements, read documents.”