BARRIERS TO SUCCESSFUL REHABILITATION Additionally, the majority of prisoners come from disadvantaged backgrounds and many have some form of learning difficulty. Previous experiences of formal education are likely to have been negative, and many offenders may not have obtained qualifications or may have dropped out of school early. Many prisoners have low self-esteem and negative attitudes towards formal education. Steady employment following release has been found to be one of the most important factors in reducing reoffending.17 However, employers can be reluctant to hire former prisoners, and prisoners can also face restrictions on employment and education as a result of their criminal records. Due to the problems they face in finding work, former prisoners are often forced to take the lowest paid and least secure jobs in the economy and can easily fall into debt. Additionally, many are not able to find suitable housing – a particular problem if their imprisonment has led to family breakdown. These factors combine with a lack of adequate post-release support to make successful rehabilitation extremely difficult for many. CONTEXT: Barriers to participation in prison programmes A 2012 survey of prison education and training in Europe18 found that in the majority of European Union (EU) member states, participation in prison education and training was lower than 25 per cent. In developing countries, prisoners’ participation in such activities tends to be much lower and there are often fewer activities available. The findings of the 2012 survey showed that the most common barriers to participation in these programmes were lack of motivation and previous negative experiences of education. Other barriers included the fact that there were greater incentives to take part in prison work than in education and training programmes, the limited number of spaces available, and learning opportunities that were not compatible with sentence duration (for example, for prisoners serving short sentences). A 2009 study of access to education in Slovenia found that education levels attained before prison were relatively low, with the reasons given for dropping out being lack of motivation, problems with drug addiction and learning difficulties.19 In Bulgaria, the ‘value system’ of female prisoners was identified as one of the reasons they had previously dropped out of education. For many, education had not been ‘part of their life priorities’.20 Penal Reform International and Thailand Institute of Justice | Guide to the rehabilitation and social reintegration of women prisoners | 09