The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction currently houses over 46,000 inmates in 31 different institutions across the state of Ohio, and in 1998, 1,383 parole violators were returned to prison.

"The highest rates are among drug offenders. They go back into the same environment, so it is very hard for them not to re-offend," said Joe Andrews, spokesperson for DRC.

Lately, the effectiveness and consistency of prison rehabilitation has come under fire.

"We do not have a clear idea of what prisons are there for," said William Miller, assistant professor of sociology at Ohio University. "We should reconsider the use of prisons - period."

At Hocking Correctional Facility in Nelsonville, administrators try to encourage inmates to work, said Karen Collett, public information officer. Employment opportunities include a shoe shop, print shop, quality control and cleaning positions. Using the money they earn, inmates can purchase items for day-to-day use.

"If they want to make a change, they have to choose to attend these classes," she said.

On average, incoming offenders in Ohio read at the same level as a seventh grader. More than 85.5 percent of prisoners do not have a high school diploma, and about 30 percent of men and 20 percent of women are functionally illiterate.

For this very reason, inmates are encouraged to participate in education programs. Prisoners can take education classes that cover anything from basic education to college level courses. Prisoners can earn a technical degree, however they cannot earn bachelor's degrees.

Working hand-in-hand with the educational opportunities provided by DRC is the Industrial Training Program, which the Ohio Penal Industries runs. Prisoners enrolled in the program receive on-the-job training in basic shop skills, safety, quality assurance, production scheduling, shop mathematics and inventory control.

Employment opportunities are often times available to prison inmates. "The inmates do everything that they could do on the outside," said Joe Andrews, DRC spokesperson.

"They run all kinds of jobs - everything but run a prison in the prison," he said.

Inmates also can set up savings accounts for the money they earn while working.